UnVaultHelp Center

Unvault Copyright Policy

Effective: September 21, 2026 · Version 1.0

1. Purpose and scope#

1.1 Unvault (BVI) Ltd (Unvault) respects the rights of creators and expects the people who use its Services to do the same. This Policy explains how a rights holder can tell us that material shown through the Services infringes their copyright, what we do when we receive a valid notice, how the person who posted the material can respond, and what happens to accounts that infringe repeatedly. It forms part of the Unvault Terms of Service; capitalised words have the meanings given there.

1.2 This Policy applies to material that Unvault displays, hosts, caches, or indexes through the Services: Collection and item artwork and media, metadata, Collection names and descriptions, Drop pages, profile content, and anything else a user submits. It applies to material from Collections launched through Unvault and to material from Collections created elsewhere that the Services index.

1.3 Unvault is a non-custodial interface. Digital Items live on public blockchains, and their media is usually hosted by their Creators on decentralised storage or their own servers. Unvault cannot delete a Digital Item, alter a smart contract, or remove media from storage it does not control. What Unvault can do — and does, on a valid notice — is stop displaying the material through the Services, remove it from search and discovery, and restrict the Wallet or Collection responsible.

2. Before you file#

2.1 Check that copyright is the right complaint. Copyright protects original creative expression: artwork, illustrations, photographs, music, video, and text. A complaint about a name, logo, or brand is a trademark matter and follows the Trademark Policy. A complaint that an item was stolen from your Wallet follows the Disputed Items Policy. A complaint about fraud, impersonation, or other misconduct goes to trust@unvault.com.

2.2 Consider fair use and licences. Some uses of copyrighted material are lawful — for example, where the user has a licence, or where the use qualifies as fair use, fair dealing, parody, or commentary under the law that applies. Filing a notice that misrepresents infringement can make you liable for damages, including the other party's legal fees. If you are unsure, take legal advice before filing.

2.3 Duplicate Collections. A Collection that reproduces the artwork of another Collection without permission, under the same or a similar name, is the most common form of infringement we see. Where the original Creator files a notice, we also review the duplicate Collection as a whole under the Terms of Service, and we may remove it entirely rather than item by item.

3.1 Where to send it. Send notices to copyright@unvault.com, or by post to: Copyright Agent, Unvault (BVI) Ltd, c/o Leeward (BVI) Limited, Suite 5, Oleander Building, Port Purcell, Tortola, VG1110, British Virgin Islands. Email is faster and is the method we recommend.

3.2 What a notice must contain. Unvault acts on notices that meet the requirements of the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3)) and, for notices from the European Union, the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Article 16). A notice must include:

  • (a) identification of the copyrighted work you say has been infringed (or, for several works on one site, a representative list), with a link to or copy of the original where possible and the date it was first published;
  • (b) identification of the material you say is infringing, with enough detail for us to find it: the Unvault URL of each item or Collection, the network, the contract address, and the token IDs concerned;
  • (c) your name, postal address, telephone number, and email address, and, if you are acting for the rights holder, the rights holder's name and your authority to act;
  • (d) a statement that you believe in good faith that the use of the material is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  • (e) a statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner of the right allegedly infringed or authorised to act for the owner; and
  • (f) your physical or electronic signature.

3.3 Incomplete notices. If a notice is missing information we need, we will tell you what is missing. We do not act on anonymous notices or on notices that do not identify the material clearly enough for us to find it.

3.4 Bulk notices. Rights holders who expect to file frequently may ask copyright@unvault.com for a structured template and a dedicated contact.

4. What happens after we receive a notice#

4.1 Review. We review notices in the order received and aim to act on complete, valid notices within two business days. Notices about content sexualising minors, or about a live Drop, are prioritised.

4.2 Action. Where a notice is valid, we will remove the identified material from display in the Services, remove it from search, discovery, and rankings, and label the affected Collection or items so that other users understand why they are hidden. Where a Collection is substantially infringing, we remove the Collection from the Services. Where the same Wallet has launched the Collection through Unvault, we may also disable its ability to create Drops or Pools.

4.3 Notice to the affected user. We send the notice (with your contact details, as the law requires so that the user can respond) to the Wallet or Creator whose material was removed, using the contact details we hold or a message in the Services, and we explain how to send a counter-notice.

4.4 What we cannot do. We cannot burn, freeze, or transfer a Digital Item, change its metadata, take down media hosted on third-party or decentralised storage, or prevent the item from being traded on other venues or directly on-chain. If you need those outcomes you must pursue the Creator, the host, or the other venue.

4.5 On-chain Creator Earnings and DIVIT. Removing a Collection from the Services does not stop the Protocol Contracts from applying that Collection's on-chain royalty configuration to trades settled elsewhere, and Unvault does not control the funds in a DIVIT Pool. A court order directed to the Collection's Creator may address those funds; Unvault cannot.

5. Counter-notices#

5.1 Who may send one. If material you posted was removed under this Policy and you believe the removal was a mistake or that you are authorised to use the material, you may send a counter-notice to copyright@unvault.com.

5.2 What a counter-notice must contain.

  • (a) identification of the material that was removed and the Unvault URL where it appeared;
  • (b) your name, postal address, telephone number, and email address;
  • (c) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that you believe in good faith that the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification;
  • (d) a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the United States federal district court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or, if you are outside the United States, of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada), and that you will accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice or their agent; and
  • (e) your physical or electronic signature.

5.3 What happens next. We forward the counter-notice to the person who sent the original notice. If, within 10 business days of receiving the counter-notice, that person does not tell us that they have filed a court action to restrain the alleged infringement, we may restore the material within 10 to 14 business days. If they do tell us that an action has been filed, the material stays down until the matter is resolved.

5.4 Non-United States rights holders. Where the original notice was filed under the law of another jurisdiction, we apply the equivalent procedure required by that law and will tell both parties the timetable.

6. Repeat infringement#

6.1 We keep a record of notices and counter-notices by Wallet address and by Creator. A Wallet or Creator that is the subject of two upheld notices within 12 months is warned. A third upheld notice within 12 months results in permanent removal of the Wallet's Collections from the Services and termination of its access to Drops, Pools, badges, and promotional rewards. A single notice may result in immediate termination where the infringement is flagrant — for example, a Collection that is a wholesale copy of another.

6.2 A notice that is withdrawn, or that is resolved in the user's favour through a counter-notice or a court decision, does not count.

7. Misuse of this process#

7.1 Notices that knowingly misrepresent that material is infringing, and counter-notices that knowingly misrepresent that material was removed by mistake, may result in liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f) and equivalent laws. We may also refuse to act on further notices from a person who has repeatedly filed unfounded complaints, and may restrict the Services for users who use notices as a tool of harassment or competition.

8. Transparency and records#

8.1 We retain notices, counter-notices, and our responses for at least five years, and may share them with the parties, with the authorities where required by law, and in anonymised form in transparency reporting.

9. Contact#

Copyright Agent, Unvault (BVI) Ltd c/o Leeward (BVI) Limited, Suite 5, Oleander Building, Port Purcell, Tortola, VG1110, British Virgin Islands copyright@unvault.com

For trademark complaints: trademark@unvault.com. For stolen items: see the Disputed Items Policy. For everything else: trust@unvault.com.