Copyright & Takedowns
How to report infringing material on FlickFuel, how to dispute a removal, and how repeat infringement is handled.
If your work has been used on FlickFuel without permission, send a notice to admin@flickfuel.online with the seven items in section 2. We act on complete notices within 2 business days. If your film was removed and you believe that was wrong, section 4 tells you how to file a counter-notice.
1. Our position
FlickFuel is an originals-only festival. Every entry carries an originality attestation, and we screen uploads with perceptual hashing across keyframes and audio fingerprinting against commercial music catalogues before a film becomes visible. We remove infringing material when we are told about it, and we terminate repeat infringers.
This page sets out our process under the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Australian Copyright Act 1968, and the equivalent notice-and-takedown regimes elsewhere.
2. Sending a takedown notice
Email admin@flickfuel.online with the subject line COPYRIGHT NOTICE — FlickFuel, and include all of the following. A notice missing any of it may not be actionable, and we will tell you what is missing.
- Your physical or electronic signature, as the copyright owner or a person authorised to act for them.
- Identification of the work you say has been infringed — title, and a link or copy if one exists.
- Identification of the material on FlickFuel you say infringes it, specific enough for us to find it: the film title and the FlickFuel film link or identifier, and the timecodes if only part of the film is affected.
- Your contact details — name, postal address, telephone number and email.
- A statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
- A statement that the information in the notice is accurate.
- A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or authorised to act on the owner’s behalf.
Take this seriously. Knowingly misrepresenting that material is infringing exposes you to liability for damages and costs under 17 U.S.C. §512(f) and to equivalent liability in Australia. We do not act on notices we believe are being used to silence criticism, competition or commentary.
3. What we do when a notice arrives
| Step | Timing |
|---|---|
| We acknowledge receipt | Within 2 business days |
| We review the notice for completeness and obvious abuse | Within 2 business days |
| Where the notice is complete, we remove or disable access to the film and notify the Maker with a copy of the notice | Promptly, usually same day |
| The film is withdrawn from the current Festival; any pending award is held | Immediately on removal |
| We retain the master privately for dispute purposes | 12 months |
4. Counter-notice — if your film was removed in error
If your film was removed and you believe it was removed by mistake or misidentification, email admin@flickfuel.online with the subject COUNTER-NOTICE — FlickFuel and include:
- Your physical or electronic signature.
- Identification of the film that was removed, and where it appeared before removal.
- A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you believe in good faith the film was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification.
- Your name, postal address, telephone number and email.
- A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the district of your address (or, if outside the United States, of the courts of New South Wales, Australia, and of any district in which we may be found), and that you will accept service from the person who sent the notice.
We forward a complete counter-notice to the person who sent the original notice. If they do not tell us within 10 to 14 business days that they have filed court proceedings to restrain the activity, we may restore the film. A restored film cannot re-enter a Festival that has already closed.
5. Repeat infringers
| Strike | Consequence |
|---|---|
| First | Film removed. Warning recorded against the account. |
| Second | Film removed. Suspension from the current and next Festival. Grant eligibility paused. |
| Third | Account terminated. Unpaid grants forfeited. Re-registration barred. |
A strike is removed if the notice is withdrawn, a counter-notice succeeds, or the strike is overturned on appeal. Strikes otherwise expire 12 months after they are recorded.
6. Trademarks, likeness and privacy
Use the same address for a trademark complaint (identify the mark, its registration if any, the goods or services, and the material you say infringes it), for a complaint that your likeness or voice has been used without permission, and for a request to remove non-consensual intimate imagery — which we treat as urgent and act on immediately rather than on the timetable above.
7. Designated agent
Notices under the DMCA and under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 should be addressed to:
Copyright Agent — FlickFuel
Indrevo, a business name of Blackhold Group Pty Ltd (ACN 702 584 790)
Suite 17, 89–97 Jones Street, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia
admin@flickfuel.online
Registration of the designated agent with the United States Copyright Office is in progress; until it completes, notices sent to the address above are received and actioned on the timetable in section 3.
8. Transparency
We publish an annual count of notices received, films removed, counter-notices filed and films restored. We do not publish the identity of anyone who sends or receives a notice.