At SkyTechNG, we believe that the customer comes first. As a result, we have developed policies over the years which ensure that we respond responsibly to copyright and trademark complaints made to us regarding domains and hosted content, and that we do so in a manner that respects our customer.
Copyright claims are covered by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), whereby a copyright holder may issue a formal complaint known as a DMCA Takedown Notice. If you believe that you have a valid copyright claim related to a SkyTechNG customer, you may submit a DMCA Takedown Notice in accordance with this policy.
DMCA Takedown Notice. If we receive a DMCA notice from a copyright holder regarding a domain or hosted content, we will follow the requirements set in place by the DMCA. We will:
You should be aware that if SkyTechNG acts only as the domain registrar, and does not provide hosting services in respect of the disputed content, we do not have the technical ability to take action in response to a DMCA notice. In these circumstances, we will forward a copy of the DMCA notice to our customer but will not take any other action.
Further, SkyTechNG will determine in its sole and absolute discretion what constitutes repeat infringement.
DMCA Counter-Notice Procedure. If we receive a proper DMCA Takedown Notice from a copyright holder, we will email a copy of the notice to our customer to provide them with the opportunity to submit a DMCA Counter-Notice. We will advise our customer of the following:
If our customer responds with a proper Counter-Notice, we will:
Trademark complaints are outside the scope of a DMCA Takedown Notice. However, if you believe your trademark complaint may also constitute a copyright infringement, and it is published on a website using SkyTechNG’s hosting services, you may choose to submit your complaint according to the DMCA Takedown Notice procedure outline above.
Below is SkyTechNG’s procedure for processing trademark complaints in various scenarios.
Domain Names. If you believe that a domain name and its use violates your trademark, you may either pursue the matter in a U.S. court of law or have the matter adjudicated under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”) or, where available, the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (“URS”). These are the two forums for adjudicating such issues.
The UDRP is a mandatory administrative proceeding adopted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) to resolve disputes regarding the registration of domain names. All ICANN accredited registrars are required to follow the UDRP. As an ICANN accredited registrar, SkyTechNG and its customers are bound by the UDRP. Nothing in this policy should be construed to modify or supersede the UDRP. More information regarding the UDRP is available here. Information about the URS is available here.
Trademark Owners. If you believe that you have a trademark complaint that is not related to a domain name, and that does not fall under a copyright claim, you may submit a valid and formal notice of a trademark complaint as outlined below. We will forward your complaint to our customer. It should include:
You should be aware that, other than forwarding your trademark complaint to a customer, we cannot take any further action without a U.S. court order or a UDRP, or URS, ruling.
We will do everything in our power to fairly protect your right to freely use the Internet. However, repeated violation of this policy, or repeated infringement of copyrighted works, trademarks or other intellectual property, will lead to termination in appropriate circumstances. SkyTechNG will, in its sole and absolute discretion, determine what constitutes repeat infringement.
If you have any questions about how SkyTechNG deals with trademark and copyright complaints, please contact us by email or regular mail at the following address:
SkyTechNG Legal Department
9 Kitchner Street, GRA
Gboko
Benue State, Nigeria
dmca@skytechng.com