ArtSeal Copyright Complaint Policy

Beta v0.1 — pending attorney review; material changes will require renewed acceptance.

Effective 31 July 2026. Operator: Gimped Hero Games, LLC, doing business as ArtSeal.

Designated agent for copyright notices

Service provider: Gimped Hero Games, LLC Alternate names: ArtSeal, artseal.app Designated agent: Copyright Agent, Gimped Hero Games, LLC Address: 901 Tower Drive, Suite 420D, Troy, MI 48098, United States Telephone: +1 (947) 366-0288 Email: seth@gimpedherogames.com

The agent is registered in the U.S. Copyright Office's DMCA Designated Agent Directory ↗ (registered 31 July 2026; a designation must be renewed at least every three years).

This document makes no claim about ArtSeal's status under 17 U.S.C. §512. Registering an agent and publishing a process are two of that section's conditions, not a conclusion that its safe harbor applies. ArtSeal's attorney is reviewing that question, and this policy will be updated with the answer.

1. Purpose

ArtSeal hosts artist profiles, listing text and user-selected display images. This policy gives copyright owners and users a process for notices and counter-notices. The statute controls what it requires: 17 U.S.C. §512 ↗.

ArtSeal's response to a notice is an operational platform action. It is not a ruling about authorship, ownership, infringement, fair use, or liability.

2. Sending a copyright notice

A copyright owner, or someone authorized to act for one, who believes material on ArtSeal infringes a copyright should send a written notice to the designated agent above containing substantially all of the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the owner, or of a person authorized to act for the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed — or, where several works at one site are covered, a representative list.
3. Identification of the material claimed to be infringing, and information reasonably sufficient for ArtSeal to locate it. Include each exact ArtSeal URL, listing ID or record ID you have.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to contact you: name, mailing address, telephone number and email address.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act for the owner of the exclusive right allegedly infringed.

Do not send passwords, government-identification documents, unrelated personal information, or the only copy of your evidence. The Copyright Office explains the process at copyright.gov/512 ↗.

3. What ArtSeal does with a notice

ArtSeal will:

1. log receipt, the affected URLs or objects, the reporter's contact details and the case;
2. assess whether the notice substantially contains the elements in Section 2;
3. act expeditiously where the material must be removed or disabled;
4. take reasonable steps to notify the affected user and provide them a copy of the notice;
5. preserve only what the situation requires;
6. record the event for the repeat-infringer policy below; and
7. follow the counter-notice process in Section 4.

Removing a public image does not alter an immutable evidence record or a public blockchain transaction. ArtSeal can remove the display and explain that the underlying record remains; it cannot erase metadata already submitted to a public network.

4. Counter-notice

If your material was removed or disabled and you believe that was a mistake or a misidentification, you may send a written counter-notice to the designated agent containing substantially all of the following:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material that was removed or disabled, 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 or disabled 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 of your address — or, if your address is outside the United States, any judicial district in which ArtSeal may be found — and that you will accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice, or from that person's agent.

ArtSeal will promptly send a compliant counter-notice to the original complainant and tell them the material will be restored. Under Section 512(g), restoration follows not less than 10 and not more than 14 business days after receipt of the counter-notice, unless ArtSeal first receives notice that the complainant has filed a court action seeking to restrain the alleged infringement.

5. Repeat infringers

ArtSeal terminates, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who are repeat infringers, and accommodates standard technical measures.

In deciding what counts, ArtSeal distinguishes an allegation from an adjudication; a facially complete notice from an incomplete report; a notice that was answered by a counter-notice; duplicate notices about the same material; retractions and court outcomes; and submissions that are malicious or materially false.

ArtSeal deliberately publishes no numeric strike rule in this version. The detailed standard — what counts, when a warning issues, who decides, and how a decision is appealed — is with ArtSeal's attorney and will appear in a later version.

6. Misrepresentations

Section 512(f) can impose liability on someone who knowingly, materially misrepresents that material is infringing, or that it was removed by mistake. Before you send a notice or a counter-notice, consider whether authorization, fair use, public-domain status, a license, or another rule applies.

ArtSeal cannot give legal advice to either side.

7. Other intellectual-property and impersonation complaints

Trademark, publicity, impersonation, privacy, contract and similar complaints may not fit this process. Send them to seth@gimpedherogames.com or through Contact, with the affected URL and a short explanation. ArtSeal may apply the Terms of Service or the Acceptable Use / Content Policy without treating the dispute as a copyright matter.

8. Privacy and records

Notices and counter-notices contain names, contact details, signatures, statements under penalty of perjury, and sometimes sensitive facts. ArtSeal uses them to handle the claim, communicate with the parties, maintain the repeat-infringer process, and comply with law. They may be shared with the affected user, the complainant, advisers, providers, or authorities as the process requires.

Their retention period is one of the periods still to be set (see the Data Retention Policy). Notice bodies, addresses, telephone numbers and signatures are never placed in public verification records or blockchain metadata.

9. Changes

Each version of this policy carries a version label, an effective date and a published hash of its text. If the designated agent's details change, they are updated both here and in the Copyright Office directory.