Copyright & DMCA Policy

1. How copyright works on Circular

FRW is the operator of the Circular marketplace, not the seller or the buyer of any listed item. Sellers are responsible for their own listings. Under our Seller Terms, a seller must use their own original photos for items that are not FRW products, and must have the right to use any image they upload. Official brand or stock imagery is not permitted, and FRW stock imagery is available only for verified FRW items matched to a seller's purchase history.

Even with those rules and our pre-listing review, user-generated content can sometimes include material posted without the copyright owner's permission. If that happens, the process below lets a copyright owner ask us to remove it, and lets a seller respond if their content was removed by mistake.

2. If you believe your work is infringed

If you are a copyright owner, or authorized to act for one, and you believe a photo, description, or other material in a Circular listing infringes your copyright, you can send us a takedown notice. The fastest way is the form below, or email our designated point of contact for copyright notices using the details at the bottom of this page.

A valid takedown notice must include every element required by Section 512(c)(3) of the DMCA. Our form collects each of these so nothing is missed. If a notice is missing required elements we may not be able to act on it, and we may reach out to ask you to complete it.

3. What a valid takedown notice must contain

To be effective under 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3), your notice must include all of the following. These are the fields our takedown form collects:

• Your physical or electronic signature (a typed full legal name counts as an electronic signature).
• Identification of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed. A representative list is acceptable if multiple works are covered.
• Identification of the material you claim is infringing, with information reasonably sufficient for us to locate it, such as the Circular listing URL or listing ID and, where possible, the specific photo or text.
• Contact information reasonably sufficient for us to reach you: your mailing address, telephone number, and email address.
• A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the owner's behalf.

4. What we do when we receive a valid notice

When we receive a takedown notice that satisfies the requirements above, we will remove or disable access to the material we identify as infringing, typically the affected listing or photo, within a reasonable time. We will take reasonable steps to notify the affected seller that the material was removed and why, and we may forward your notice to that seller.

Removing a listing under this process may affect a pending sale. If a listing is taken down after a buyer has ordered but before the item ships, we handle the order under our standard cancellation and refund terms. A record of the removal may count as a strike against the seller under our Seller Terms.

5. Counter-notice: if your listing was removed by mistake

If you are a seller and your listing or content was removed under a copyright notice, and you believe the removal was a mistake or a misidentification, you may send us a counter-notice. Do not send one unless you have a good faith belief that the material was removed by error, because a counter-notice is a legal statement made under penalty of perjury.

A valid counter-notice must include every element required by Section 512(g)(3) of the DMCA. Our counter-notice form collects each of these.

6. What happens after a counter-notice

When we receive a valid counter-notice, we will promptly forward a copy to the party who filed the original notice and let them know we may restore the removed material in 10 to 14 business days.

We will restore the material in not less than 10 and not more than 14 business days after we receive your counter-notice, unless the original complaining party first notifies us that they have filed a court action seeking to keep you from the activity. If that happens, the material stays down while the dispute is resolved between you and the complaining party. FRW is not a party to that dispute.

7. Repeat-infringer policy

FRW will, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, disable or terminate the Circular accounts of sellers who are repeat infringers. This is consistent with our Seller Terms, under which repeated policy violations may result in payout holds, strikes, or removal from Circular.

We may also remove specific content or restrict an account before a pattern is established when we reasonably believe it is warranted.

8. False claims carry penalties

The DMCA is a two-way street. Under Section 512(f), anyone who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing, or that material was removed by mistake, can be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys' fees. Please do not use this process to target content you do not have a good faith basis to dispute.

Filing a false or bad-faith notice or counter-notice on Circular may also result in loss of access to the marketplace.

9. Trademark and other intellectual property

This policy covers copyright. If your concern is a trademark, counterfeit, or authenticity issue, note that our Seller Terms already require sellers to list only authentic items they own and prohibit counterfeit or misrepresented items. Those reports are handled under the FRW Guarantee and our Seller Terms rather than under this process.

If you are not sure which process applies, contact us and we will route your report to the right place.