DMCA and Copyright

Read this first: we host no user files

This is the part that resolves most copyright enquiries about an image tools site. ImgCruncher does not accept uploads, does not store user images and does not publish a gallery of anyone's files. Every tool runs inside your browser, so an image you process here exists only on your own device and is never transmitted to us.

That means we cannot remove a picture someone processed with our tools, because we never had a copy and no such copy exists on our servers. If you have found your photograph published somewhere, the takedown request needs to go to the site actually hosting it, or to its host or registrar.

What we can act on is material published by us: the text of our guides, our original diagrams, and the photographs used to illustrate articles.

If our own content infringes your copyright

We illustrate guides with images we believe we are entitled to use, mostly openly licensed photographs and diagrams we produced ourselves. If we have made a mistake, tell us and we will fix it quickly. We would far rather correct an attribution or remove a photograph than argue about it.

Sending a takedown notice

Send your notice through the contact page with "DMCA" or "Copyright" in the subject. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a valid notice must include all of the following, so please do include them or we may have to come back to you:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner, or a person authorised to act on their behalf.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work you say has been infringed. If several works are covered by one notice, a representative list is acceptable.
3. Identification of the material you say is infringing, with enough detail for us to find it. A direct URL on this site is the single most useful thing you can provide.
4. Your contact details: name, address, telephone number and email address.
5. A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in your notice is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner or are authorised to act for the owner.

Notices that are missing the URL, or that identify no specific work, cannot be acted on. That is not us being difficult: without those two details there is nothing precise to remove.

What happens after you send one

1. We acknowledge receipt, normally within a few working days.
2. We review the notice and the material identified.
3. If the claim is valid, we remove or disable access to the material promptly and confirm that to you.
4. If the material was supplied by someone else, we notify them and pass on your notice so they can respond.
5. If we believe the use was lawful, for example a clearly licensed image or a use covered by fair dealing or fair use, we will tell you why rather than simply ignoring you.

Counter-notice

If your material was removed and you believe that was a mistake or a misidentification, you may send a counter-notice. It must include:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material that was 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 consenting to the jurisdiction of the appropriate court, and that you will accept service of process from the party who filed the original notice.

We may forward a counter-notice to the original complainant. Where the law requires, restored material may be reinstated after the statutory waiting period unless the complainant files a court action.

False claims

The DMCA provides penalties for knowingly making a material misrepresentation, in either a notice or a counter-notice. Please be sure before you send one.

Repeat infringers

We terminate access for repeat infringers where that is technically meaningful. Since the site has no accounts, in practice this means removing offending material and, where necessary, blocking abusive traffic.

Using our material

You are welcome to quote a passage from a guide with a link back to the original. You may not republish an article in full, present our measured results as your own, or lift our diagrams without permission. If you want to use something more substantial, ask through the contact page. We usually say yes.

Copyright in the images you process

Using our tools grants us no rights over your images and gives you no rights over anyone else's. Removing a watermark from a photograph you do not own does not make it yours, and our terms prohibit using the tools to infringe. If you are unsure who owns an image, our guides on image licensing and embedding copyright information in your own photos are a reasonable starting point, though neither is legal advice.

Contact

All copyright correspondence goes through the contact page. Related: terms and conditions, editorial policy.