They filed a counter-notice. What now?

When a platform removes content after your copyright report, the uploader can push back. A counter-notice, which YouTube calls a counter notification, is their formal statement that the content was removed by mistake or that they had the right to use it.

The process comes from US law: section 512(g) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The platforms apply the same shape worldwide, including to UK creators and uploaders. It’s a platform process, not a UK legal procedure.

A counter-notice isn’t a verdict. The platform doesn’t decide who owns the work. It sets a clock. If you, the person who reported, don’t show that you’ve taken legal action within that time, the platform can put the content back.

Section 512(g)(3) lists four elements:

• “A physical or electronic signature of the subscriber.”
• “Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed”.
• “A statement under penalty of perjury that the subscriber has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification”.
• “The subscriber’s name, address, and telephone number”, with consent to the jurisdiction of a US federal court and agreement to “accept service of process” from the person who reported.

YouTube’s version follows the statute closely. The uploader gives their full legal name, address and phone number, explains “why you believe the removal of the content was a mistake or misidentification”, links the removed content, and signs. They swear two statements, including: “I consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the district in which my address is located, or if my address is outside of the United States, the judicial district in which YouTube is located, and will accept service of process from the claimant.”

That’s why a counter-notice is serious for the person who sends it. They give their real identity, swear to it under penalty of perjury, and agree to be sued.

You have three realistic choices.

• Let it go. If their explanation is reasonable, or the copy isn’t worth a legal fight, do nothing. The content will usually come back.
• Retract your report, if on reflection your takedown was wrong. That’s the honest route, and it clears the strike.
• Take legal action to keep the content down, and give the platform evidence of it within the deadline. This needs a solicitor and a real claim.

What you shouldn’t do is contact the uploader informally, argue in the comments, or post their details. The personal information in a counter-notice is there for a possible legal claim, nothing else.

Act the day a counter-notice arrives. The clock runs from the counter notification itself, and it counts US business days, not UK working days. US public holidays don’t line up with UK bank holidays.

1. 1

   The uploader files

   In YouTube Studio they open the removed video’s copyright details, choose “Submit a counter notification”, give their contact details and rationale, agree to the statements and sign. They can also send it by email to copyright@youtube.com.

2. 2

   YouTube checks it

   “If your counter notification is missing any required information, it may be rejected.”

3. 3

   YouTube forwards it to you

   You receive the uploader’s details and statement. One counter-notice can cover several videos that share the same copyright strike.

4. 4

   Your 10 US business days run

   YouTube says the claimant “must respond with evidence of legal action taken to keep your content from being reinstated to YouTube.”

5. 5

   The content comes back, or stays down

   “If the claimant doesn’t do this within this 10-day time period, your content will be reinstated to YouTube (unless you have deleted it).”

6. 6

   The uploader can withdraw

   They can cancel their counter-notice “as long as the claimant hasn’t responded” yet, by replying to YouTube’s confirmation email.

A counter-notice can also be filed after a channel has been terminated. YouTube answers “Yes” to that question on its help page.

TikTok

On TikTok, the uploader appeals through the in-app removal notification. TikTok’s counter-notification form is only reachable in the app. TikTok requires “your contact information and any evidence to support your claim”, otherwise “your appeal may be denied”.

For uploaders outside the EU, which includes the UK, TikTok says it may “forward your entire appeal to the original reporter, including any contact information you provide”. TikTok adds: “The copyright claimant may use this information to file a lawsuit against you.” It may reinstate the content if it receives no notice of a court action, and “The decision to reinstate any content is at TikTok’s sole discretion.”

TikTok also lists appeal reasons it “generally” won’t accept without valid supporting evidence:

• “Only a small portion of the work was copied and not the entire work.”
• “There are others who are also posting similar content.”
• “You don’t claim to own the copyright to the content.”
• “You didn’t know you weren’t allowed to post the content without permission.”
• “Posting the content is protected under the right to freedom of speech.”

TikTok also says it may remove a strike from the uploader’s account if their appeal is approved, or if you retract your report.

Facebook and Instagram

Meta tells uploaders whose content was removed: “You’ll receive instructions about how to appeal in the message that we send you.” Meta refers to the counter-notification concept but doesn’t publish the mechanics, so follow whatever Meta sends you. Meta says that when content is restored after an appeal, or because the rights owner withdrew the report, it takes that into account under its repeat infringer policy.

If the counter-notice shows your report was wrong, retract it. Perhaps the clip was licensed, the uploader made the footage, or the video genuinely reviews your work. On YouTube, retracting will “Clear the copyright strike from the uploader’s channel, unless other video(s) are associated with the strike” and “Restore the uploader’s content to YouTube, unless the uploader deleted the content.”

You can retract in YouTube Studio: Copyright, then the Removal requests tab, then “Retract removal”. Or email copyright@youtube.com. YouTube’s rules for an email retraction are strict:

• It must come from the original claimant or an authorised representative.
• It must come “from the same email address or company domain that was used to submit the original removal request”.
• It must include links to the content, a retraction statement and your full legal name as an electronic signature.
• It must retract the request, not just the strike. YouTube says it “can’t accept a retraction of only the copyright strike”.

An example retraction statement to adapt:

I hereby retract my claim of copyright infringement against the video at [link]. [Your full legal name]

YouTube itself gives “I hereby retract my claim of copyright infringement” as its example wording.

The DMCA has a remedy for lies on both sides. Section 512(f) makes anyone who “knowingly materially misrepresents” that material was infringing, or “was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification”, liable for damages, costs and legal fees. The test is knowing, material misrepresentation. A genuine disagreement or an honest mistake doesn’t meet it.

That cuts both ways, so check your own report first. Confirm it claimed only your work: no title, no licensed music, no archive footage you don’t own. If your report included something that wasn’t yours, the counter-notice may have a point on that part.

This is general information, not legal advice.

• Section 512 is US law. It has no direct force in the UK. The platforms apply the counter-notice process by contract. Whether a UK court would apply section 512(f) to a UK uploader is unsettled, and a solicitor is the right person to ask.
• “Evidence of legal action” means a real claim. Platforms look for a court action seeking to keep the content down. Whether a particular UK claim satisfies a platform’s requirement is something to confirm with a solicitor before the deadline, not after.
• A letter before claim comes first in the UK. Before issuing proceedings, you set out your claim and give the other side a reasonable time to reply. Factor that in: a 10-business-day window is short.
• The small claims track is for money, not speed. The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court’s small claims track suits copyright claims worth £10,000 or less, and the loser seldom pays the winner’s legal costs. If the goal is to stop reinstatement within days, speak to a solicitor straight away.

For most single re-uploads, going to court to beat a counter-notice isn’t worth it. If a counter-notice is plainly false and the copier is doing real damage, get advice early, because the clock doesn’t stop while you decide.

A counter-notice tests your original report, so the report has to stand up on its own. One Reel reported twice stayed up while every other report came down, which is why we keep each report to one clear work and keep a dated record of every filing. When a counter-notice arrives, that record is what you, and any solicitor, will work from. If you’re getting a report ready, the free pack at the top of this page fills in the form for you to check and submit.