DMCA vs Right of Publicity: Which Takedown Fits

Something is online that should not be there. Maybe it is a fake account using your face and name. Maybe it is an image someone made to look like you, or intimate content you never agreed to. You want it gone, and you want to do the right thing the first time, so you do not lose days waiting on a notice that gets rejected.

Here is the part almost nobody explains up front. There is no single "takedown." There are a few different routes, and platforms sort your request by which one you pick. If you send the wrong kind of request, a reviewer can close it as invalid even when your case is completely real. This guide shows you how to match your situation to the route that actually fits.

Why the route matters more than the wording

When you report content, a platform sends your request into a specific lane. A copyright claim goes to the copyright team. An impersonation claim goes to a different team with different rules. An intimate-imagery claim goes to a privacy or safety queue that often takes it more seriously.

Each lane asks you to assert different things. A copyright notice asks you to swear you own the work. An impersonation report asks you to show the account is pretending to be you. If you file a copyright notice over a photo you do not own, the reviewer is not being cruel when they reject it. You told them the wrong thing. Using the right route is not a formality. It is the difference between a request that holds up and one that bounces.

Route 1: DMCA, only when you own the work

The DMCA, specifically section 512 of US copyright law, is a copyright tool. It works when you are the owner of the exact file being used. The clearest example is a selfie you took yourself, or a photo or video you created. You own that image the moment you press the shutter, so you can send a copyright takedown notice to the site or host displaying it without permission.

DMCA does not fit when:

• Someone made a new image of you, like an AI-generated or edited picture. You did not create that file, so you do not hold its copyright.
• A photographer or someone else took the picture. They own it, not you, even though it is your face.
• The harm is really about impersonation or privacy, not about who owns a file.

This is the single most common mistake. People reach for "DMCA" because it is the term they have heard, then the notice fails because they do not own the work. If you did create the image yourself, copyright is a strong route. If you did not, keep reading.

Route 2: Right of publicity, for impersonation and misuse of your likeness

If the problem is that someone is using your name, face, or identity to pretend to be you or to profit off you, the tool is your right of publicity, not copyright. This is your right to control the commercial and public use of your own likeness.

In practice you do not usually file a formal "right of publicity" document with a platform. You use the platform's impersonation or fake-account form, the one built for "someone is pretending to be me." That form is the correct lane. It asks you to confirm your identity and show that the account or post is passing itself off as you.

Use this route for a fake profile, a bot account using your photos, a page claiming to be you, or an image that misuses your likeness without being intimate content. If you are dealing with a fake account or a stolen identity, our guide on what to do when someone is impersonating you walks through the exact forms. For an edited or synthetic image of you that is not sexual, see how to remove a deepfake of you.

Route 3: NCII, for intimate images, and this is never copyright

If the content is intimate, real or fake, this is its own category with its own rules, and it is not a copyright matter. NCII stands for non-consensual intimate imagery. It covers leaked private photos and also sexual deepfakes and "fake nudes" that were generated or edited to look like you.

Please do not route this through DMCA. It sends your most urgent case into the slow copyright lane and can get it closed as invalid. Intimate imagery has faster, more protective paths built specifically for it:

• The platform's own privacy or non-consensual intimate imagery report form.
• StopNCII.org for adults, which creates a digital fingerprint, a hash, of the image so participating platforms can block it. The image itself stays on your device.
• The TAKE IT DOWN Act, a US federal law signed in May 2025. It requires covered platforms to remove reported NCII, including AI and deepfake versions, within 48 hours of a valid request from the depicted person or their authorized representative.

If any intimate image involves a minor, the path is different and urgent. Report it to the NCMEC CyberTipline rather than the routes above. For the adult forms and the exact language that works, see our page on removing fake nudes of you.

A quick way to pick your route

1. Is the content intimate or sexual, real or fake? Use the NCII route: the platform privacy form, StopNCII.org, and the TAKE IT DOWN Act. Minors go to NCMEC.
2. Is someone using your name or face to pretend to be you, or is it a non-sexual edited image of you? Use the impersonation and right of publicity route and the platform's identity form.
3. Do you personally own the exact photo or video being used, like a selfie you took? Use the DMCA copyright route.
4. Not sure? Do not guess. Picking wrong is what gets a valid case rejected.

You do not have to figure this out alone

This is a lot to hold when you are upset, and the routing rules are exactly the kind of thing that is easy to get wrong. That is the part LinksGone handles. You tell it the situation and paste the link, and the free tool points you to the correct route, then walks you through filing the notice step by step, in your own name.

A few things worth knowing. To take content down we only need the link, never the image itself, so your photo never leaves your device. The takedown is free, every link and every platform, with no card required, and you stay the person filing. We cannot promise a specific outcome or timing, because that is up to each platform, but we can help your request reach the right place with the right wording. If you want to understand the process first, you can read more on our learn page. Whenever you are ready, the tool is there, and you can start the moment you feel able to.