Internet Archive takedown request and itch.io takedowns: what a granted request leaves behind
Short answer. An Internet Archive takedown request goes by email to [email protected] with the exact URLs, the time period to exclude and, for your own site, the period you controlled it. The Archive reviews it and promises nothing in advance; a granted request hides the captures from public view. itch.io takedowns go to [email protected] as a DMCA notice, and itch.io publishes each notice on a public page that carries the filer's name and country.
Most guides to getting someone else's account or content deleted stop at the moment a platform says yes. The more useful question comes after it: what is still there once the request is granted? An Internet Archive takedown request hides snapshots but does not touch the live site. A granted itch.io notice removes a game page and adds a new public page with your name on it. A pastebin deletion leaves every copy that was made in the hours before. Knowing the residue in advance decides which desk to try first, and whether a request is worth filing at all.
This guide covers twenty-one desks by that test: the Internet Archive, itch.io, Patreon, Substack, Medium, Kick, Course Hero, Redbubble, DeviantArt, Amazon, Depop, OfferUp, craigslist, Discord, Mastodon, Fandom, Quora, Crunchbase, Pastebin, YouTube, and the registrars and hosts behind a malicious domain. Two earlier guides cover neighbouring ground: how far a single notice reaches, and ten copyright desks side by side. Nothing here is legal advice, and every copyright notice described below is a statement made under penalty of perjury.
What does a granted takedown leave behind?
A granted takedown removes or hides the specific item a desk accepted, and almost always leaves three things: a record of the request, copies made before removal, and the account or domain that posted it. The Internet Archive hides captures rather than deleting the live page, itch.io publishes the notice, and a registrar suspension keeps the domain registered. The table below sets out the residue desk by desk.
The residue matters because it changes the order of work. If a desk publishes notices, the filer's name becomes searchable, which is a cost for a harassment victim and none at all for a studio. If copies spread before removal, the second request goes to wherever those copies landed. If only named items come down, the request has to list every address.
| Desk | Route | What goes | What stays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet Archive | Email [email protected] | Captures for the URLs and period you name | The live site; copies saved elsewhere; no outcome promised |
| itch.io | DMCA notice to [email protected] | The game or asset page | A public notice page with the filer's name and country |
| Patreon | Form or [email protected] | The post or page reviewed | The creator account unless repeat infringement; your name may reach the creator |
| Substack | [email protected] | The post named | The newsletter; the notice is "not private" |
| Redbubble | Notice and Takedown Report | Each listing you name by address | Unnamed listings of the same design |
| Pastebin | pastebin.com/dmca or the report link | The paste | Scraped and mirrored copies |
| Registrar (malware) | Abuse contact from WHOIS/RDAP | DNS resolution, often by a hold status | The registration; the server and files at the host |
| YouTube | Copyright webform | The video named | The channel unless it reaches three strikes |
How do you file an Internet Archive takedown request?
An Internet Archive takedown request is an email to [email protected] that lists the URLs, the time period you want excluded, the period during which you controlled the site or account, and any context that helps the review. The Archive's help centre says a request "will initiate a review by our team" and that it does not "make any guarantees beforehand about the outcome of a request." Copyright claims run under the separate Copyright Policy.
An Internet Archive takedown request reaches two different collections, and the outcome differs between them. For the Wayback Machine, a granted request excludes captures from public view at web.archive.org. For books scanned into the lending library, authors and publishers file the same way, and the Authors Guild advises writers who normally work through a publisher to send the request through the publisher instead.
On 4 September 2024 the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the ruling in Hachette v. Internet Archive that scanning and lending digital copies of in-copyright books infringes copyright.Authors Guild, reporting the Second Circuit decision, September 2024
The ruling bound the four publishers in the suit, and the Authors Guild reports that the Archive has also honoured takedown notices from authors and publishers who were not parties. One residue survives any book request: copies made for readers with print disabilities sit under a separate provision of the Copyright Act, and the Authors Guild notes that takedowns are not effective against them.
For an archived web page, the request has to come from someone with standing. The help page asks for "the time period during which you had control of the site," which is the Archive's way of separating a site owner from a stranger who wants someone else's old page hidden. A third party asking the Archive to hide another person's pages has no listed route outside copyright, the intimate-image policy, or a court order.
itch io takedowns: how does a stolen game itch.io takedown work?
itch.io takedowns run on the DMCA. The itch.io terms direct copyright notices to [email protected], and a counter-notice consents to a federal court in San Francisco. A stolen game itch.io takedown removes the infringing page, and itch.io then publishes the notice itself at an address under itch.io/takedowns, where anyone can read the filer's name, country and the URLs claimed, with the email address redacted.
The public record is the residue of itch.io takedowns that surprises filers. One notice published on 8 August 2025 for a game called NeuroDive shows the filer's full name, the country Turkey, the infringing page, and a GitHub repository offered as proof of authorship. The same notice records that a first notice, sent on 5 August 2025, had gone unanswered for more than 24 hours. itch.io takedowns are fast to file and not always fast to act on.
Searches for itch io takedowns often come from developers whose original game was quarantined while a copy stayed up. Developers on the itch.io forums describe exactly that pattern in threads about itch.io takedowns, and the forum posters say plainly that they cannot show why it happens. The defensive step is the same either way: keep dated source files, commit history and build logs, because the itch.io takedowns record is public and the counter-notice route needs evidence of authorship.
The sharpest case shows what a report filed at the wrong level does. In December 2024 itch.io went offline after a brand-protection vendor working for Funko filed a fraud and phishing report about a single page imitating a Funko game. The report reached the domain registrar, which disabled the whole itch.io domain; Funko later said it had not asked for the entire site to come down. A copyright notice through the normal itch.io takedowns route would have touched one page.
How do Patreon, Substack, Medium, Kick and Course Hero handle a takedown?
The five creator platforms all accept a DMCA notice, and they differ in what happens to the filer's details. A patreon takedown goes through a form or [email protected], and Patreon may pass the complainant's name and contact details to the creator. Substack says information in notices "is not private." Medium forwards notices to the Lumen database. Kick takes email only, and Course Hero runs its own infringement form.
Patreon takedown and a Patreon account takedown
A Patreon takedown removes the post or page that the copyright team reviews; Patreon's help pages say the team reviews notices before disabling anything. A patreon account takedown, meaning the whole creator page, is a repeat-infringer outcome or a terms decision, and a single notice does not produce one. Impersonation of a creator is a separate report through Patreon's support desk rather than a copyright form.
How to take down a Substack post
To take down a Substack post that copies your work, send a notice to [email protected]. Substack's dispute page, updated 19 February 2025, says information submitted in notices is not private, and it describes a 10-business-day window after a counter-notice before restoration. A request to take down a Substack newsletter as a whole goes to the content guidelines, which cover harassment, doxxing and spam, not to the copyright address.
Medium content takedown
A Medium content takedown request goes to [email protected]. Medium's help pages say notices are forwarded to Lumen, the Harvard-hosted takedown database, and that disputed material can come back after 10 days. Medium's own 2014 transparency report listed 8 copyright notices and 6 removals, a reminder that the volume is small and each notice is read.
Kick channel takedown
A Kick channel takedown for copyright starts by email: Kick's DMCA policy gives an address and no web form or postal route, and it states no strike number or expiry. The policy says blatant infringers can be removed at Kick's discretion. A whole-channel ban for conduct, such as harassment during a stream, goes through the in-stream report button instead.
How to submit a takedown notice to Course Hero
To submit a takedown notice Course Hero will act on, use the infringement form at coursehero.com/copyright-infringement or email [email protected], according to the university copyright guides that document the route. Course Hero's own policy page is a script-rendered shell that could not be read for this guide, so the response time is not confirmed here. Teachers usually file per document, listing each upload by address.
Redbubble takedown request and DeviantArt: how does stolen digital art removal work?
Stolen digital art removal on print-on-demand and art-sharing sites works one address at a time. A Redbubble takedown request is a Notice and Takedown Report from the rights holder or an agent, listing each product page; Redbubble removes the pages named and does not search for the rest. DeviantArt takes notices through a form that needs a free account or by email to [email protected], under a three-strike repeat-infringer rule.
Send a takedown notice to Redbubble
The search "send takedown notice redbubble" has one practical answer: use the Notice and Takedown Report form, or [email protected] as the fallback. Each Redbubble takedown notice should name every product address in the form /people/[user]/works/[id]; MarqVision's guide puts a typical response at 1 to 3 business days. A redbubble stolen art takedown that names one listing out of thirty leaves twenty-nine on sale.
In Wallster v. Redbubble (C.D. Cal., 31 May 2024), notices that named 3 URLs and described 28 more listings without addresses led to the removal of the 3; the court held Redbubble was not obliged to investigate.Eric Goldman, Technology & Marketing Law Blog, 7 July 2024
The Wallster ruling is the clearest statement of the residue on a marketplace: a Redbubble takedown covers what the notice locates, and nothing more. What Redbubble makes a filer show is set out in what Redbubble makes a filer prove, and the same address-by-address logic applies to image-host copyright claims.
Take down DeviantArt account reposts
To take down DeviantArt account galleries that repost your art, file a notice for each deviation; DeviantArt's copyright policy says it deletes on proper notice and terminates repeat infringers on three strikes. The account goes only when the strikes add up, so one notice for a gallery of twenty stolen pieces should list all twenty. The "72 hours" response figure that circulates in search results does not appear on DeviantArt's policy page.
How do you take down an Amazon, Depop, OfferUp or craigslist listing?
A marketplace listing comes down through one of two routes: an intellectual property report from the rights owner, or a policy report from anyone. To take down an Amazon listing for counterfeit or copied goods, the rights owner uses Amazon's infringement form or Brand Registry; a shopper cannot take down Amazon listing pages for infringement, only report them for policy. A craigslist ad is flagged, and enough flags remove a free ad automatically. Depop and OfferUp rely on in-app reports reviewed by staff.
Amazon says it identified, seized and disposed of more than 15 million counterfeit products in 2024 and blocked more than 99% of suspected infringing listings before a brand reported them.Amazon Brand Protection Report, 2025
That proactive figure is the reason a single report to take down an Amazon listing often meets a listing that has already gone, or one that returns under a new ASIN. The residue on Amazon is the seller account, which survives a removed listing unless a pattern builds.
To take down Depop listing pages, use the report option on the listing in the app; a rights owner with a counterfeit or copied design claim files an intellectual property report instead. Depop's own IP form could not be confirmed for this guide, so check the Depop Help Centre for its current address before filing. An offerup seller takedown also starts in the app, from the seller's profile menu, and OfferUp ended its Purchase Protection programme in 2025, so a report no longer carries a refund route with it.
The answer to how to take down craigslist ad posted about me is short: flag it. Craigslist's flagging FAQ says free ads flagged by enough users are removed automatically and that millions of ads come down each month that way, which makes craigslist the one large platform that documents removal by volume. A compliant ad can be reposted, so a defamatory ad that returns needs a court order or a report to the police rather than more flags.
How do you take down a Discord server, a Mastodon account, a Fandom article, Quora content or a Crunchbase page?
Communities and wikis have no single takedown address; each runs moderation in layers. To take down a Discord server, report its messages and users, because Discord has no report button for a whole server. A mastodon account takedown depends on the instance that hosts the account. Fandom articles answer first to the wiki's own administrators, Quora content to Quora's moderation and copyright desk, and Crunchbase pages to its support team.
Take down Discord server content: report the messages
Discord removes a server when the content in it breaks policy, so the reports that matter are message reports with links. Discord's safety pages put most review at 24 to 48 hours. The residue is the members: a deleted server's owner can open another within minutes, which is why Discord's ban-evasion rules target the account, not only the server.
Mastodon account takedown
A mastodon account takedown request goes to your own instance's moderators through the report button, with an option to forward the report to the account's home instance. Hachyderm's moderation documentation explains that remote moderators see only forwarded reports, that Mastodon does not share moderation actions between instances, and that a reporter does not see whether an account was warned, frozen, limited or suspended. Suspension on one server leaves the account live on its home server.
Take down Fandom article content
To take down Fandom article content, start with the wiki's administrators, listed on the wiki's admin page, because each community sets its own deletion rules. Copyright and private-information requests that admins will not act on go to Fandom staff. Fandom's DMCA page refused automated reading for this guide, so its notice address is not confirmed here; use the contact link in the footer of any Fandom wiki.
Quora content takedown
A quora content takedown for copyright runs through Quora's copyright page, and policy breaches such as harassment are reported on the answer itself. Quora's copyright page returned an access error when checked for this guide, so the notice fields are not confirmed. A deleted answer leaves the question page and any quoting answers in place.
Take down Crunchbase company page entries
To take down Crunchbase company page entries, email [email protected] with the profile link and the reason. Crunchbase's help article on removed profiles says deletions usually follow a moderation flag, naming categories such as small local businesses and software piracy, and staff on its community forum have removed duplicate profiles and wrong acquisition entries. Personal profiles run through Crunchbase's privacy channel instead.
Takedowns of accounts on the larger social networks follow the same layered pattern; the reporting paths for an X (Twitter) takedown and for deleting someone else's TikTok are covered in their own guides.
How does a pastebin takedown request work?
A pastebin takedown request goes through the report link on the paste or, for copyright, through the form at pastebin.com/dmca. Pastebin's terms forbid posting other people's personal information, but they also say the site does not pre-screen pastes and acts at its sole discretion, with no stated response time. A pastebin sensitive data takedown removes the paste; it does not reach copies that scrapers saved before removal.
Data stolen from Sony Pictures and posted on Pastebin drew 155,000 views before it was removed following Sony's takedown notice.Infosecurity Magazine, reporting Pastebin's 2012 policy change
Pastebin's own owner said in 2012 that pastes reported for private information could be removed immediately, and users at the time complained that manual review took up to 24 hours, long enough for search engines to crawl the page. For leaked credentials, rotating the keys and passwords is the first step and the pastebin sensitive data takedown is the second; the guide to removing leaked content covers the copies.
How does a malicious domain takedown work?
A malicious domain takedown has two levers: the host, which can remove the files, and the registrar, which can stop the domain resolving. For a malware domain takedown, report to the host first and to the registrar's abuse contact found through WHOIS or RDAP. Since 5 April 2024, ICANN's contracts require registrars to take prompt mitigation action when given actionable evidence of DNS abuse, which includes malware and phishing.
ICANN's own advisory gives worked examples. For a domain registered to impersonate a bank, the expected step is a hold status within about two business days; for a compromised subdomain on a legitimate site, the registrar notifies the registrant and allows around three business days. ICANN also says the timelines are illustrative rather than contractual. Website content such as a fake shop falls outside the DNS abuse definition, so a malware takedown has to show malware, phishing, pharming or a botnet.
ICANN issued Trustname.com a breach notice on 16 July 2026 after the registrar confirmed a malware domain as abusive and gave its customer three days to move it instead of suspending it; ICANN terminated the registrar's accreditation on 27 August 2026.ICANN compliance notices, reported by Domain Incite, 2026
The residue of a registrar action is the registration itself: a hold stops resolution but the domain stays registered, and the server and files stay at the host until the host acts. The Anti-Phishing Working Group counted 1,069,681 phishing attacks in the second quarter of 2026, which is why the guide to who switches a scam site off treats a malware takedown as a race against re-registration.
How do you take down a YouTube video?
To take down a YouTube video that uses your work, file through YouTube's copyright webform, one request per video or a list of videos. YouTube's help page says "you can't submit a copyright removal request for an entire channel or playlist." A video that breaks the Community Guidelines rather than copyright is reported from the video's own menu.
A granted request leaves the channel standing unless it reaches three active copyright strikes, and a strike expires after 90 days once the uploader completes Copyright School. Volume shapes the system: TorrentFreak reported that Content ID made 2,502,941,368 claims in 2025, with 0.51% disputed. The route for taking down a whole YouTube channel runs through strikes and policy reports, not a single notice.
When does an online takedown fail?
An online takedown fails most often for one of four reasons: the request names the wrong right, it names too few addresses, it goes to the wrong level of the stack, or the material has already been copied. Each of the twenty-one desks above removes only what its own rules cover. A personal dispute filed as a copyright claim is a false sworn statement, and a counter-notice will bring the content back.
The level problem is the one the itch.io outage showed, and the reason itch io takedowns belong at the site, not the registrar: a report sent to a registrar about one page can take down a whole site, and a report sent to a site about a domain does nothing. The address problem is the one Wallster showed. The copying problem is the Pastebin one. None of the three is fixed by filing more reports, and craigslist is the only desk here that documents volume as a removal signal.
Clearline handles takedowns as documented casework through the content removal service, starting with which desk holds which right and what each one leaves behind. No service controls a platform's decision; what a review can do is make sure the first request is the right one.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an Internet Archive takedown request take?
The Internet Archive gives no timeline. Its help page says a request starts a review and that it makes no guarantees about the outcome in advance. Include the exact URLs, the period to exclude and the period you controlled the site, because a complete request is the only part of the timing a filer controls.
Does itch.io publish takedown notices?
Yes. itch.io publishes copyright notices on public pages under itch.io/takedowns. A published notice shows the filer's name, country and the URLs claimed, and the filer's email address is redacted. Anyone filing should expect the name to be searchable.
Can I get someone else's whole account deleted with one copyright notice?
Rarely. Most desks remove the item named and close an account only under a repeat-infringer rule, such as three strikes at YouTube and DeviantArt. A whole-account removal for conduct, such as impersonation or harassment, goes through a policy report rather than a copyright notice.
Does a malicious domain takedown delete the domain?
Usually not. A registrar typically places a hold that stops the domain resolving, and the registration remains. The files stay on the server until the hosting provider removes them, which is why a malware report goes to the host and the registrar together.
Will deleting a paste remove the leaked data everywhere?
No. A pastebin takedown request removes the paste from Pastebin only. Copies saved by scrapers, mirrors or other users before removal stay online and need their own requests, and leaked passwords or keys should be changed before any takedown is filed.
Not sure which desk to send it to?
Send the addresses and say what you own or what was posted about you. The review names the desk for each item, what a granted request will remove, and what it will leave online.