DMCA
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Hugs Made respects the work of artists, photographers, illustrators and writers, and we expect the same from everyone who uses our site. This page explains how to tell us if you believe something on hugsmade.shop infringes your copyright, what information we need, what we do when we receive a notice, and how a person whose content was removed can respond. It follows the notice-and-takedown approach of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). For trademarks, character designs and other intellectual property concerns, see our Intellectual Property Policy.
At a glance
- Where to send a notice: support@hugsmade.shop with the subject line “Copyright notice”.
- What to include: the six elements listed in section 3.
- Our first reply: within 24 hours on business days, confirming receipt.
- What we do: review the notice and, where it is complete and valid, remove or disable the material.
- Counter-notices: accepted at the same address, as described in section 6.
1. What this page covers
Hugs Made is a single store selling its own personalized gifts. There are no third-party sellers on hugsmade.shop. Copyright questions therefore usually concern one of these:
- a design, illustration, photo or text shown on a product page, category page or elsewhere on the site;
- a product design itself, such as artwork on a mug, ornament or sign;
- a review or other content submitted by a customer;
- personalisation content a customer asked us to print, such as a photo or a drawing.
If you believe any of this uses your copyrighted work without permission, this page tells you how to reach us.
2. Before you send a notice
A copyright notice is a formal legal step, so it is worth a moment of care. Please consider whether the use might be permitted, for example because it is licensed, falls under fair use, or is a different work that only looks similar. If you are unsure, you are welcome to write to us informally first at support@hugsmade.shop; many concerns are resolved simply by talking. Knowingly making a false claim that material is infringing may make you liable for damages under US law.
3. What a copyright notice must include
To act on a notice, we need all of the following in writing:
- Your signature. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorised to act on their behalf. Typing your full name at the end of the email is enough as an electronic signature.
- The work. Identification of the copyrighted work you believe is infringed, such as a link to the original, a description, or a registration number if it is registered.
- The material on our site. The exact address (URL) of each page on hugsmade.shop where the material appears, with enough detail for us to find it, for example “the main photo on this product page”.
- Your contact details. Your name, postal address, telephone number and email address.
- Good-faith statement. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use of the material is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.
- Accuracy statement. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or authorised to act on the owner’s behalf.
Send the notice to support@hugsmade.shop with the subject “Copyright notice”. Written notices may also be posted to Hugs Made, 8601 Beach Blvd Apt 722, Jacksonville, FL 32216, US, but email is faster.
4. What happens after we receive a notice
| Step | What we do |
|---|---|
| 1. Acknowledge | We confirm receipt by email within 24 hours on business days. |
| 2. Check completeness | We check that the notice contains all six elements. If something is missing, we tell you what we need. |
| 3. Act | If the notice is complete and the claim appears valid, we remove the material or disable access to it, and stop selling an affected design. |
| 4. Inform | Where the material was submitted by someone else, such as a customer review, we tell that person what was removed and why, and give them a copy of the notice with personal contact details removed where appropriate. |
| 5. Close | We confirm to you by email what action was taken. |
5. Customer personalisation and photos
Customers personalize gifts by typing text and sharing photo links in the Order notes box at checkout. Customers confirm that they have the right to use what they send. If we believe a personalisation request clearly uses someone else’s copyrighted work, such as a well-known illustration or a professional photo with a watermark, we may decline the order and refund it in full. Customer photos are used only to make that customer’s gift and are deleted 30 days after delivery, so they are not published on our site.
If you believe an item we made for a customer used your work, write to us with as much detail as you can. Because personalisation is private to each order, we may not be able to share the customer’s details, but we will review the matter and act appropriately.
6. Counter-notices
If material you submitted was removed because of a copyright notice and you believe it was removed by mistake or misidentification, you can send a counter-notice to support@hugsmade.shop with the subject “Counter-notice”. It must include:
- your physical or electronic signature;
- identification of the material that was removed and where it appeared before removal;
- a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification;
- your name, address and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for the judicial district of your address (or, if you are outside the United States, any judicial district in which Hugs Made may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice.
When we receive a complete counter-notice, we send a copy to the person who filed the original notice. Unless they tell us within the period allowed by law that they have started a court action, we may restore the material.
7. Repeat infringement
We may close the account of, or refuse further orders or submissions from, anyone who repeatedly submits material that infringes other people’s copyright.
8. Our own content
The Hugs Made name, logo, site design, our own photos, product designs and text are protected too. If you would like to use any of them, please ask first. Our Terms of Service explain what is and is not permitted.
9. Notices that are not about copyright
This process is only for copyright. For a trademark, a character, a brand name or other intellectual property, see our Intellectual Property Policy. For a problem with an order, such as a damaged item or a misspelled name, please use our Contact Us page or our Returns & Exchanges Policy. For privacy requests, see our Privacy Policy.
10. Examples of helpful notices
- An illustrator finds that a floral wreath design on one of our ornaments looks like her published artwork. She sends the URL of the product page, a link to her original illustration with its publication date, her contact details and the two required statements.
- A photographer notices a photo on a category page that he took. He names the page, links to the original on his portfolio, and signs the notice with his full name.
- A writer sees a verse from her poem on a sign design. She identifies the poem and the book where it was published and explains that it was used without a licence.
Each of these gives us what we need to act quickly. A notice that only says “you are using my picture” without a link or the required statements will take longer, because we will need to come back to you for details.
11. How long things take
We confirm receipt of every notice within 24 hours on business days. How long the review takes after that depends mostly on whether the notice is complete. A complete notice about a clearly identified page can usually be reviewed quickly. A notice that needs more information, or that concerns a design used across several products, takes longer because we check every page where the material may appear. We keep you informed by email at each step, and we tell you when the matter is closed.
12. Keeping your information private
We use the contact details in a notice or counter-notice only to handle that matter. When we pass a notice to the person who submitted the material, we may remove personal details that are not needed, such as a home telephone number, unless the law requires us to share them. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information in general.
13. Questions people ask about copyright here
Can I ask you to print a character or logo I love on a gift?
Only if you own the rights or have permission from the owner. Popular characters, team logos and brand names usually belong to someone else. We may decline those requests and refund the order in full.
Can I use a photo I found online for a photo gift?
Please use photos you took yourself, or photos of you and your family that you have the right to use. Professional portraits often belong to the photographer, so check with them first.
Do you publish customer photos?
No. Customer photos are used only to make the customer’s gift and are deleted 30 days after delivery.
What if a design I bought from you looks like someone else’s work?
Tell us which product and why. We will look into it in the same careful way as a formal notice, and your order is still covered by our 60-day returns with a free return label.
Do you have a registered DMCA agent?
Notices are handled directly by Hugs Made through our support address, support@hugsmade.shop, which is monitored on business days.
14. Good faith on both sides
We take notices seriously and act on valid ones promptly. We also try to be fair to everyone involved, which is why we check every notice for completeness, inform the person who submitted the material where appropriate, and accept counter-notices. If you are not sure whether to send a formal notice, an informal email to our support address is always welcome.
15. Contact
Email support@hugsmade.shop with the subject “Copyright notice” or “Counter-notice”. Postal address: Hugs Made, 8601 Beach Blvd Apt 722, Jacksonville, FL 32216, US. You can also submit a ticket or visit our Help Center.