IP, DMCA & Counterfeit Policy

This policy forms part of the Terms of Service.

Plain-language summary. If someone is using your copyrighted work, trademark, patent, or design on Sznmart without permission, tell us and we'll take it down. If your listing gets taken down and you think that's wrong, you can push back. Repeat infringers lose their accounts. Counterfeits are never allowed and we don't need a rights holder to complain before we act on one.

1. Our position

Sznmart does not permit the sale of counterfeit goods or the use of anyone's intellectual property without authorization. We respond to notices of infringement, remove infringing content, and terminate repeat infringers.

We are not in a position to adjudicate ownership or validity of intellectual property rights. We act on properly submitted notices; we do not resolve disputes between rights holders and sellers. If your dispute needs a decision on the merits, it belongs in court.

2. Designated agent for copyright notices

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512), our designated agent to receive notices of claimed copyright infringement is:

[DMCA AGENT NAME] [LEGAL ENTITY NAME] [REGISTERED ADDRESS — must be a physical address] Email: [IP AGENT EMAIL] Phone: [PHONE]

⚠️ Action required before launch. The DMCA safe harbour is not available unless you (a) designate an agent with the US Copyright Office through its online registration system and pay the fee, (b) keep that registration current — it must be renewed every three years, and (c) publish the agent's contact details on your site. Do all three. A published agent with no Copyright Office registration provides no protection.

3. Copyright — submitting a takedown notice

To be effective under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), a notice must be a written communication to our designated agent that includes all of the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed — or, if multiple works at one site, a representative list.
3. Identification of the material claimed to be infringing, with enough detail for us to locate it. Include the full URL of the listing, image, or review.
4. Your contact information — 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 that the information in the notice is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner.

Incomplete notices may be rejected. We will normally tell you what is missing.

3.1 Misrepresentation

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), knowingly materially misrepresenting that material is infringing exposes you to liability for damages, including costs and attorneys' fees. Consider whether the use might be fair use before you file. We report abusive filers and may block a serial abuser from submitting further notices.

3.2 What we do

On receiving a valid notice we will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material, notify the seller or poster, and give them a copy of the notice, including your contact details. Filing a notice means consenting to that disclosure.

4. Counter-notification

If your content was removed and you believe it was a mistake or a misidentification, you may file a counter-notice with our designated agent containing:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material removed and the location where it appeared before removal.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification.
4. Your name, address, and telephone number.
5. 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 US, any judicial district in which Sznmart may be found — and that you will accept service of process from the person who filed the original notice or their agent.

What happens next. We forward the counter-notice to the original complainant. If they do not notify us within 10 business days that they have filed a court action seeking to restrain the activity, we may restore the material in 10 to 14 business days.

Filing a counter-notice in bad faith carries the same § 512(f) liability as a bad-faith notice.

5. Trademark infringement

The DMCA does not cover trademarks. To report trademark infringement, email [IP AGENT EMAIL] with:

1. The trademark at issue, its registration number and jurisdiction, or a description of your common-law rights and the basis for them.
2. Evidence of your ownership or authority to act.
3. The URLs of the listings at issue.
4. An explanation of how each listing infringes — counterfeit mark, confusingly similar mark, unauthorized use in a title or image, or another basis.
5. Your contact information.
6. A statement that you have a good faith belief the use is unauthorized, and that the information is accurate.

We do not act on trademark reports that amount to:

• objection to lawful resale of genuine goods (the first sale doctrine permits this)
• objection to truthful comparative reference to your brand
• objection to nominative fair use — naming your product to describe compatibility, for example "case fits [Brand] Model X"
• pricing disputes, distribution-agreement disputes, or grey-market complaints unrelated to trademark rights
• a general request to remove all listings of your brand

Those are commercial disputes, not infringement, and we will decline them.

6. Patents and design rights

Patent infringement is rarely apparent from a listing. We will act on a patent complaint where you provide:

• the patent number and jurisdiction
• evidence of ownership or exclusive licence
• the URLs at issue
• a claim chart or equivalent analysis mapping the accused product to at least one asserted claim
• or a court order, ITC exclusion order, or a final determination of infringement

Absent a court order or a substantive claim analysis, we will generally refer the parties to each other rather than remove a listing on an unsupported assertion.

7. Right of publicity and privacy

To report unauthorized use of a person's name, image, voice, or likeness, email [IP AGENT EMAIL] with the URLs, identification of the person, the basis for your authority to act, and an explanation. We remove content that uses a real person's likeness commercially without consent.

8. Counterfeits

Counterfeit goods are prohibited outright. We do not require a rights holder complaint to act.

We may remove listings, cancel orders, refund buyers, withhold or claw back payouts, and terminate seller accounts where we identify a counterfeit — based on a rights holder report, a buyer report, our own review, test purchases, price and image analysis, or a pattern of complaints.

If you receive a counterfeit item: report it through Your Orders → Report a problem within [30] days of delivery. You get a full refund, you are not required to return the item, and where credits were forfeited on a Bid Zone win they are restored. We may ask you to destroy the item or surrender it, and we may pass your report to the rights holder and to law enforcement.

Sellers of counterfeits face immediate termination, forfeiture of pending payouts to fund buyer refunds, referral to the rights holder, and referral to law enforcement.

9. Repeat infringers

We maintain a repeat infringer policy as required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(i).

• Each valid, uncontested notice results in a strike against the account.
• A strike is removed if the material is restored following an unchallenged counter-notice, or if the notice is retracted or determined to be invalid.
• Three strikes within 12 months results in permanent termination of the account and all associated accounts.
• A single counterfeit finding, or a single deliberate infringement, may result in immediate termination without a strike sequence.
• Terminated infringers may not open a new account.

We may act faster where the volume or severity warrants it.

10. Sznmart's own intellectual property

The Sznmart name, logo, site design, software, and original content are ours. See Terms of Service Article XVI. Report misuse of our brand — including phishing sites, fake storefronts, and unauthorized use of our marks — to [IP AGENT EMAIL].

11. Seller responsibilities

Under the Seller Agreement, you warrant that you have the right to sell every item you list and to use every image, description, logo, and mark in your listings. You indemnify us against IP claims arising from your listings (Seller Agreement Article XVI).

Before listing, confirm: you own or have licensed the images; you have the right to use the brand name in your title; the goods are genuine and lawfully acquired; and you are permitted to resell them in the destination market.

Getting a takedown notice is not automatically a violation — mistakes and overreach happen. But failing to respond, repeatedly attracting valid notices, or relisting removed content is.

12. Brand protection programme

If you are a rights holder with a portfolio to manage, contact [IP AGENT EMAIL] about enrolling. Enrolled brands get a dedicated reporting channel, faster handling, bulk submission, and proactive screening of new listings against enrolled marks.

13. Transparency

We publish a periodic report on notices received, actions taken, counter-notices filed, and accounts terminated. [Link when published.]

14. Contact

IP, DMCA & Counterfeit Policy · Version 2.0 · Effective [EFFECTIVE DATE]