Reporting Copyright Infringement (DMCA Policy)


The Digital Millennium Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. Section 512 ("DMCA") provides a legal procedure by which you can request that the operators of HawaiiGaga.com take-down your copyrighted work(s) appearing on the Website without your permission. This procedure requires that You send a written DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement (“Infringement Notice”), as specified under the DMCA and as set forth below, to our designated agent for notice of copyright infringement (“Designated Agent”).

If You are a copyright owner, or are authorized to act on behalf of a copyright owner, and You believe that copyrights are being infringed upon in connection with any content (“Content”) displayed on the Website, please contact our Designated Agent in writing with the information set forth in the Infringement Notice Content section below, as follows:

Philip A. Nicolosi
Phil Nicolosi Law, P.C.
7210 E. State Street, Suite 208
Rockford, IL 61108
(815)314-0022

Please send your Infringement Notice by email to: dmca@philnicolosilaw.com.
Please use the following subject line: “Notice of Infringement.”

This Policy follows the procedures provided in the DMCA, which prescribes a notice and takedown procedure, subject to the registered user’s right to submit a counter-notification claiming lawful use of any disabled Content. In the event any of the provisions in our policy conflict with any applicable requirements under the DMCA then the requirements under the DMCA shall supersede and control and the hereby incorporated into this policy by reference. If we are notified of any claimed copyright infringement, or otherwise become aware of facts and circumstances from which infringement is apparent, we will respond expeditiously by removing the Content or disabling access to the Content that is the subject of the alleged infringing activity.

Infringement Notice Content:

If You believe that any Content appearing on this Website constitutes copyright infringement, you must submit the following information to us in writing consistent with the DMCA: 1) an electronic or physical signature of any person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the protected interest; 2) a brief description of the copyrighted work that You claim has or is being infringed upon; 3) a description of the location on the Website where any allegedly infringing Content may appear, including the URLs of web pages and/or hyperlinks; 4) Your address, telephone number, and email address; 5) a statement by You stating that You have a good faith belief that the infringing use is unauthorized; 6) a statement by You, under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in any notice to us pursuant to this Policy is accurate and that affirms that You are the copyright owner, or that You are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner(s).

Disputing Claims of Infringement:

You may protest any alleged claim of infringement pursuant to any DMCA by submitting a counter-notification as described below. Anyone who has posted Content that allegedly infringes a copyright may send our Designated Agent a counter notice pursuant to Sections 512(g)(2) and 512(g)(3) of the DMCA. When our Designated Agent receives your counter notice, the Designated Agent may, in its/his/her sole discretion, reinstate the alleged infringing materials not less than 10 nor more than 14 calendar days after it receives the counter-notification, unless our Designated Agent receives notice from the claimant that they have filed a legal action to restrain the allegedly infringing activity. In some cases, where the infringement is done knowingly, we reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to terminate the user account of any user who has submitted/posted infringing Content. This decision will be based upon the facts and circumstances surrounding each instance of infringement. We will comply with the appropriate provisions of the DMCA in the event a counter-notification is received by our Designated Agent.

In order to send a proper Counter-Notification, You must send a written notification to our Designated Agent including the following information:

i. Identification of any Content that has been removed or to which access has been disabled on our Website and the location which the Content appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;

ii. State, under penalty of perjury, that You have a good faith belief that the Content was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled;

iii. Provide Your name, address, telephone number and, if available, email address;

iv. State that You consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located or, if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which You may be found, and You will accept service of process from the complaining party who notified us of the alleged infringement or an agent of such person.

False or Misleading Notices:

We shall determine the sole manner in which we decide to treat any non-compliant notices in whatever manner appears to be reasonable given the facts and circumstances presented. Any claimant or user who submits a DMCA Notice, Counter-Notification or any other notice which contains any false or materially misleading information will automatically forfeit any rights under this Policy and such notice shall be considered null and void by us.

Notice to Rental Owners, Managers, and Advertisers:

All vacation rental listings and advertising are required to include only lawfully-acquired creative works as Content. You are responsible for all information appearning on your rental listings or advertising pages. Your advertising and access to this Website may be disabled and/or terminated upon receipt of any Infringement Notice that indicates that infringing material has been submitted or posted by You. However, You are afforded the opportunity to provide a response to any alleged claims of infringement, as set forth above. We will reinstate any allegedly infringing Content and/or reinstate access to your account on this Website within a reasonable amount of time in the event we determine that reinstatement of the Content is warranted pursuant to the terms of this Policy.

Repeat Infringers:

If any of our Website users violate this Policy or any other Policy more than once, such users’ account/membership will be subject to immediate termination.

Merits of Claims of Infringement:

You acknowledge and understand that we and/or our Designated Agent are not responsible for determining the merits of any claims of infringement of the Content submitted on this Website. We do not make any determinations based upon our interpretation of any relevant copyright or trademark laws or otherwise. We only respond to any claims of infringement according to the DMCA and according to this Policy as a “service provider” within the meaning of the DMCA.