Frankencart — Copyright Policy and Notice Procedure

Version 0.1 (draft) · Last updated: 2026-07-20

Draft — not yet reviewed by counsel. Designating a DMCA agent is a formal step: to rely on the safe harbour under 17 U.S.C. §512(c) the agent must be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and the details published here. Registration has a fee and must be renewed. Do not publish this document claiming safe-harbour protection until that registration exists.

1. Our position

We respect copyright and respond to valid notices.

Before filing, please read section 2 — it will usually tell you whether we are the right recipient, and it explains something about this Service that differs from most platforms.

2. What we do and do not host

Frankencart hosts no game files. The Service ships with no ROM images and no copyrighted game data. It is a tool that runs in the user's browser and operates on files the user supplies from their own device.

Those files are read locally and are never uploaded to, transmitted through, or stored on our systems. There is no upload endpoint. This is how the software is built, not merely how we ask people to use it.

Consequently:

• We cannot remove a game file a user loaded, because we never had it.
• We can act on material we do host — website content, documentation, images, recipe metadata, and code in our repositories.
• We can act on infringing material posted in the Frankencart Discord, and we do: sharing game files there is prohibited by our [Acceptable Use Policy](./ACCEPTABLE-USE.md) and is grounds for a ban.

If your concern is that people use general-purpose emulation tools with material they do not own, we understand the concern, but a takedown notice to us cannot reach those files. What we can do — and do — is prohibit their distribution in our community and refuse to help anyone find them.

3. Sending a notice

Send notices to our designated agent:

[DMCA AGENT NAME] [POSTAL ADDRESS] [EMAIL] *(Agent registered with the U.S. Copyright Office: [REGISTRATION DETAILS])*

To be effective under 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3), a notice must include:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or an authorised agent.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed.
3. Identification of the material claimed to be infringing, with enough detail for us to locate it — a specific URL wherever possible.
4. Your contact details: address, telephone number, and email.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorised to act for the owner.

Incomplete notices may not be actionable, and we may ask for the missing parts.

4. What we do on receipt

We aim to acknowledge within [N] business days. Where a notice is valid and concerns material we host, we will remove or disable access to it expeditiously and notify the person who posted it, including a copy of the notice.

5. Counter-notice

If your material was removed and you believe that was a mistake or a misidentification, you may send a counter-notice containing:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the removed material and where it appeared.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief it was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification.
4. Your name, address, and telephone number, and a statement consenting to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for your district (or, if outside the United States, any district in which we may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the complainant.

We may restore the material in 10–14 business days unless we are told the complainant has filed an action seeking a court order.

6. Misrepresentation

Under 17 U.S.C. §512(f), knowingly and materially misrepresenting that material is infringing — or was removed by mistake — can incur liability for damages, including costs and legal fees. Please be sure before filing.

7. Repeat infringers

We terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe. Sharing game files in our community is treated as such conduct.

8. Trademarks

For trademark concerns — including any belief that Frankencart's naming or presentation implies an affiliation that does not exist — contact [CONTACT EMAIL]. We claim no affiliation with, or endorsement by, any game publisher, and no rights in anyone's titles, characters, or artwork.