Copyright and takedowns

You own what you make. When you upload to Frameleaf, you keep the rights to your work. This page explains what you need the rights to before you upload, how to report work that infringes yours, and what happens after a complaint.

You keep ownership

Uploading doesn't transfer your copyright to us. You give us a licence to host, store and show your work so we can run the service, and that licence ends when you delete the work (allowing for a short backup period and anything the law requires us to keep). The full wording is in our terms of service.

Only upload what you have the rights to

You can upload:

• work you made yourself, including work made with AI tools whose terms let you use the output the way you're using it
• material you have permission to use, such as licensed music, stock footage or a collaborator's contribution

Check each AI tool's terms. They differ on who owns the output and what you can do with it.

AI output doesn't clear someone else's rights

Using an AI tool doesn't make it OK to use material that belongs to someone else. You still need permission for:

• characters, logos or settings owned by a film studio, publisher or game company
• clips from films, TV, games or other creators' videos, including as source material
• commercial music you don't have a licence for
• another creator's comic pages, artwork or story text

Generating a lookalike of a copyrighted character, or running copyrighted footage through a tool, doesn't change who owns it.

Fan work

Fan work, such as stories, comics or videos based on someone else's characters or worlds, isn't automatically allowed. Some rights holders tolerate it; others don't. If a rights holder sends us a valid complaint about fan work, we'll remove it. Credit the original and don't present your work as official.

Trademarks

Don't use brand names or logos in a way that suggests a brand made, sponsored or endorses your work.

Report infringement

If you own the rights to something that appears on Frameleaf without your permission, or you're authorised to act for the owner, send us a takedown notice by email to copyright@frameleaf.co.uk.

You can also flag a work quickly with its Report option: choose "Copyright or trademark infringement". For a formal takedown, send the full notice by email.

What to include

1. Your name and contact details: an email address, and a postal address or phone number.
2. A description of the work you own, with a link to the original if it's online.
3. The URL of each page on Frameleaf that you want removed.
4. A statement that you believe in good faith that the use isn't authorised by the owner, its agent or the law.
5. A statement that the information in your notice is accurate, and that you're the owner or authorised to act for the owner.
6. Your physical or electronic signature. Typing your full name is fine.

If something is missing, we'll ask you for it, which slows things down. We may share your name and the details of your complaint with the uploader so they can respond.

What happens next

1. We review your notice.
2. If it's valid, we remove the work or restrict access to it. The uploader sees a notice with the reason; everyone else sees a "not found" page.
3. We tell the uploader what was removed, why, and how to respond.

If a notice isn't valid or complete, we reply and explain why. Please don't send notices you know to be false. We may ignore notices that misuse the process and suspend accounts that send them.

Counter-notices

If your work was removed and you believe it was a mistake, for example because you own it, you have a licence, or the complaint is about something else, you can send a counter-notice. Use the appeal link in the removal email or notification, or open a request at /support/new?category=appeal and choose the appeal category. We keep a removed work for 90 days so it can be restored if your counter-notice succeeds.

Include:

• the title and URL of the work that was removed
• why you believe the removal was a mistake, with any licence or permission details
• your name and contact details
• a statement that the information in your counter-notice is accurate

We review it and may share it with the person who complained. If we're satisfied, we restore the work. If the dispute continues, we may ask you and the rights holder to resolve it directly, and the work stays down in the meantime.

Repeat infringers lose their accounts

Each valid copyright complaint counts towards the usual warning and suspension steps in the community guidelines. We suspend the accounts of people who repeatedly upload work they don't have the rights to.

Questions

For anything else about copyright on Frameleaf, email copyright@frameleaf.co.uk.