Intellectual Property Policy
As a venue for Aiken’s small business owners, ShopAiken.com takes intellectual property rights very seriously. We comply with intellectual property laws and industry best practices in order to maintain the integrity of our marketplace.
This policy is a part of our Terms of Use.
1. ShopAiken.com’s Role
2. Notices of Intellectual Property Infringement
3. Counter Notices
4. Repeat Infringement
5. Notice Withdrawals
6. Resources
1. ShopAiken.com’s Role
ShopAiken.com is a marketplace comprised of individual third-party vendors who run their own shops, create their own policies, and are responsible for their inventory, shipments, and complying with the law. We provide a venue, but ShopAiken.com does not manufacture goods, hold inventory, or ship items on behalf of our vendors. The content uploaded on ShopAiken.com’s marketplace is generated by independent vendors who are not employees, agents, or representatives of ShopAiken.com. vendors are responsible for ensuring they have all necessary rights to their content and that they are not infringing or violating any third party’s rights by posting it.
ShopAiken.com reserves the right to disable any listing, shop, or account that we believe violates our Terms of Use, including this Intellectual Property Policy or our Prohibited Items Policy. ShopAiken.com also reserves the right to take action against abusers of ShopAiken.com’s Intellectual Property Policy or our Terms of Use.
ShopAiken.com can’t speak on behalf of intellectual property owners, nor is ShopAiken.com in a position to offer legal advice or make legal determinations whether a shop’s content infringes someone else’s intellectual property. ShopAiken.com will remove material cited for alleged intellectual property infringement when provided with a proper notice.
2. Notices of Intellectual Property Infringement
ShopAiken.com strives to respond quickly when we receive proper notice of intellectual property infringement by removing or disabling access to the allegedly infringing material. When ShopAiken.com removes or disables access in response to a notice, ShopAiken.com makes a reasonable attempt to contact the affected member, provide information about the notice and removal, and, in cases of alleged copyright infringement, provide information about how to submit a counter notice. ShopAiken.com may also provide a copy of the infringement notice, including the name and email address of the reporting party, to the affected member.
ShopAiken.com may request additional information before processing a notice, such as identity verification of the reporting party or documentation regarding the claimed right. ShopAiken.com may reject notices or counter notices that contain information we believe is false, fraudulent, incomplete, or otherwise submitted in bad faith. ShopAiken.com also reserves the right to take action against abusers of this policy.
3. Counter Notice
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), ShopAiken.com accepts counter notices for copyright notices only. When ShopAiken.com receives a DMCA counter notice, we will provide a copy of the counter notice to the original complaining party. The removed material may be replaced or access to it may be restored 10 business days after the counter notice is processed, unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the allegedly infringing party and informs ShopAiken.com of this action.
4. Repeat Infringement
ShopAiken.com terminates selling privileges of members who are subject to repeat or multiple notices of intellectual property infringement in appropriate circumstances and at ShopAiken.com’s discretion. If we believe a member has attempted to open a new shop after termination of the initial account, we reserve the right to refuse all services to that member. These actions apply to any accounts we believe are associated with or operated by the affected member. Per our Terms of Use, ShopAiken.com reserves the right to terminate account privileges at any time, for any reason, and without advance notice.
5. Notice Withdrawals
ShopAiken.com only accepts withdrawals of infringement notices directly from the intellectual property owner or authorized representative who submitted the claim. The withdrawal must clearly state that it is a formal withdrawal and sufficiently identify the member and/or material (such as by providing the username, shop name, and ShopAiken.com listing URLs).
Once ShopAiken.com receives a formal withdrawal of a notice of infringement, ShopAiken.com makes reasonable attempts to contact both parties involved to confirm receipt from the party submitting the withdrawal and to inform the member affected by the withdrawal. Please note that infringement matters are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and withdrawals do not guarantee changes to a member’s shop status.