Adriel Corp respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects the same of everyone who uses our website. This DMCA policy explains how copyright owners can ask us to remove material they believe infringes their rights, how affected users can respond, and how we handle those requests.
Last updated: 14 October 2026
Adriel Corp is based in South Africa, where copyright is governed by the Copyright Act 98 of 1978 and online take-down notifications are addressed in section 77 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (“ECTA”). Because our website is accessible internationally, we also accept notices that follow the procedure in the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512 (“DMCA”). You may use whichever procedure suits you; we treat valid notices under either in the same way.
1. Our approach to copyright
We create original content for our website and blog, and we use third-party images only under appropriate licences. Photographs on our website are sourced from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licences, and attribution is provided on our Image Credits page. Even so, mistakes can happen, for example if a licence was misdescribed by its source or an attribution is incomplete. If you believe something on our website infringes your rights, we want to hear about it and put it right.
This policy covers material on our website, including pages, blog articles, images and any user-submitted content such as blog comments. Questions about the ownership of software we develop for clients are dealt with in our Terms & Conditions.
2. Before you send a notice
Please consider whether the use of your work may be permitted by law, for example as fair dealing under the South African Copyright Act or fair use under US law, or under a licence such as a Creative Commons licence that you or a previous rights holder granted. If the issue is simply a missing or incorrect attribution, a short email is often the quickest way to resolve it, and we will gladly correct the credit or remove the material.
Sending a notice is a legal step. If you are unsure whether material infringes your rights, you may wish to seek legal advice first.
3. Submitting a DMCA takedown notice
To be effective under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), your notice must be in writing and include:
- a physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorised to act on their behalf;
- identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if several works are covered by a single notice, a representative list of them;
- identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and that you want removed, with information reasonably sufficient for us to locate it, such as the exact URL of the page or image;
- information reasonably sufficient for us to contact you, such as your name, postal address, telephone number and email address;
- a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and
- a statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorised to act on behalf of the owner.
4. Submitting a take-down notification under ECTA section 77
Under section 77(1) of ECTA, a take-down notification must be in writing, addressed to us, and include:
- the full names and address of the complainant;
- the written or electronic signature of the complainant;
- identification of the right that has allegedly been infringed;
- identification of the material or activity that is claimed to be the subject of unlawful activity;
- the remedial action you require us to take;
- telephone and electronic contact details, if any, of the complainant;
- a statement that the complainant is acting in good faith; and
- a statement by the complainant that the information in the take-down notification is, to their knowledge, true and correct.
Section 77 can also be used for other unlawful material, not only copyright infringement. We follow this procedure as a matter of good practice for content on our website.
5. Where to send your notice
Our designated contact for all copyright and take-down notices is:
Notices sent by email are accepted as written notices in accordance with ECTA. Please send each notice only once; repeated identical notices slow down our response.
6. What happens after we receive a notice
- We will acknowledge receipt and review the notice for completeness. If important information is missing, we will ask you to supply it.
- If the notice is complete and appears valid, we will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material identified.
- Where the material was submitted by a user, such as a blog comment, we will take reasonable steps to notify that user that it has been removed and provide them with a copy of the notice, with personal contact details handled in line with our Privacy Policy.
- Where the material is our own content, we will either remove it, replace it, correct the attribution or, if we believe our use is lawful, explain our position to you.
We may keep records of notices and the actions we take, and we may share a copy of a notice with the affected user or, where appropriate, with organisations that collect takedown notices for transparency purposes, with personal contact details removed.
7. Counter-notification
If material you posted was removed and you believe this happened because of a mistake or misidentification, you may send us a counter-notification. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3), it must include:
- your physical or electronic signature;
- identification of the material that was removed or to which access was disabled, and the location where it appeared before it was removed;
- a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification;
- your name, address and telephone number; and
- a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the US Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or, if your address is outside the United States, any judicial district in which the service provider may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted the original notice or their agent.
When we receive a valid counter-notification, we will forward a copy to the person who submitted the original notice. Unless they inform us that they have started court proceedings to restrain the alleged infringement, we may restore the material within 10 to 14 business days after receiving the counter-notification. For section 77 notifications, an affected user may also send us a written response explaining why the material is lawful, and we will consider it in good faith.
8. Repeat infringers
Where we offer user accounts or allow user submissions, we will, in appropriate circumstances, disable or terminate the accounts and posting privileges of users who are found to be repeat infringers of copyright or other intellectual property rights.
9. False or misleading notices
Please make sure your notice or counter-notification is accurate. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), a person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing, or that it was removed by mistake, may be liable for damages, including costs and legal fees. Under section 77(2) of ECTA, any person who lodges a notification knowing that it materially misrepresents the facts is liable for damages for wrongful take-down. We may disregard notices that appear to be abusive, fraudulent or sent in bad faith.
10. Related policies
For more on how we handle the personal information included in notices, see our Privacy Policy. For the general limits of our website content, see our Disclaimer. Our Terms & Conditions, Cookie Policy and Refund & Cancellation Policy cover other aspects of using our website and services.
11. Contact us
If you have any questions about this DMCA and copyright policy, or need to report an incorrect image credit, please email [email protected] or use our contact page. Our physical address is available on request by email.