Copyright and DMCA Policy

 

Last updated: 2026-06-05

1. Our commitment

The IT History Society (“ITHS,” “we,” “us”) is a not-for-profit historical society that exists to preserve and make accessible the history of information technology for research and educational purposes. We respect the intellectual-property rights of others and expect the researchers, volunteers, and members who contribute to our database to do the same. Much of the material on ithistory.org is submitted by third parties. We make a good-faith effort to use only material that is in the public domain, available under an open license (such as Creative Commons), or used in a manner consistent with fair use, and we maintain records of attribution and license terms wherever possible.

If you believe that material on our site infringes your copyright, we want to know, and we will act promptly. Every page that displays an image also carries a one-click link to report a suspected infringement; the formal procedure below is available as an alternative.

2. How to report claimed copyright infringement (DMCA notice)

If you are a copyright owner or an agent authorized to act on the owner’s behalf, you may submit a written notice to our Designated Agent (Section 4 below). To be effective under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), your notice should include:

  1. A physical or electronic signature of the owner or a person authorized to act on the owner’s behalf.
  2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
  3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing, with enough detail for us to locate it — please include the full URL of the page and, where possible, the specific image.
  4. Your contact information (name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address).
  5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
  6. A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the owner’s behalf.

Please note that under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f) a person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing may be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees.

3. What we do when we receive a valid notice

Upon receiving a notice that substantially complies with the requirements above, we will expeditiously remove or disable access to the material in question and will take reasonable steps to notify the contributor who submitted it. Removal is not, and should not be construed as, an admission that any infringement occurred.

4. Designated Agent

Notices of claimed infringement should be directed to our Designated Agent:

Copyright Agent, IT History Society
IT History Society
534 Third Avenue, Suite 1248
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Email: [email protected]

Our Designated Agent is also registered with the United States Copyright Office’s DMCA Designated Agent Directory.

5. Counter-notification (for contributors)

If your material was removed or disabled and you believe that removal was the result of mistake or misidentification, you may submit a written counter-notification to our Designated Agent. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3), a counter-notification should include:

  1. Your physical or electronic signature.
  2. Identification of the material that was removed or disabled and the location at which it appeared before removal.
  3. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification.
  4. Your name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or, if outside the United States, that you consent to the jurisdiction of any judicial district in which ITHS may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted the original notice or that person’s agent.

6. Repeat-infringer policy

It is the policy of ITHS, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, to limit, suspend, or terminate the contribution privileges or accounts of researchers, volunteers, members, or other contributors who are determined to be repeat infringers — that is, who have repeatedly submitted material that infringes the copyrights or other intellectual-property rights of others. We may also remove infringing material and take such other steps as we deem appropriate.

7. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by the “Last updated” date above. This page is provided for general information and is not legal advice.

See also our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.