This article outlines Udemy’s Piracy Detection Program and includes answers to frequently asked questions we receive regarding it.
- What is piracy and how does it affect courses on Udemy?
- What is Udemy’s Piracy Detection Program?
- Which courses are included in the Piracy Detection Program?
- What do I need to do to be part of the Piracy Detection Program?
- If my course is eligible for the Piracy Detection Program, will I need to pay to participate?
- If my course on Udemy is not part of the program, can I still get help with any instances of piracy that I find?
- If I host my content on another platform, how will Link-Busters know it’s not an infringing webpage?
- What should I do if I find a website that offers a pirated version of my course?
- What happens after I submit a report of piracy through the piracy reporting form?
1. What is piracy and how does it affect courses on Udemy?
Piracy is the unauthorized or unlicensed use or reproduction of another’s copyrighted content. In order to combat piracy, Udemy has partnered with an anti-piracy vendor, Corsearch, to work on your behalf, by seeking instances of infringement and to have them removed from major search engines to stop traffic going forward.
Instructors can fill out the third-party piracy reporting form that allows them to report instances of piracy.
2. What is Udemy’s Piracy Detection Program?
Under the Piracy Detection Program, our anti-piracy vendor monitors Google search results and known pirate websites for any piracy-related listings in the links that Google provides. When our anti-piracy vendor finds a piracy-related link, they send a legal notice called a “takedown notice” to major search engines to stop traffic from going forward
The Piracy Detection Program provides proactive monitoring for infringement of popular Udemy courses. In addition, we are able to provide reactive support for all other Udemy courses. If you find your content available on another platform without your permission, complete and submit our third-party piracy reporting form.
3. Which courses are included in the Piracy Detection Program?
Since paid courses with a high volume of traffic are more commonly targeted by pirates, the Piracy Detection Program focuses on helping these higher-risk courses. While the specific courses eligible for the program will vary over time, the program is designed to support the top 10,000 highest-trafficked paid courses on Udemy.
4. What do I need to do to be part of the Piracy Detection Program?
If you have agreed to Udemy’s Instructor Terms, you don’t need to take any action to be part of the program. Eligible courses will be automatically opted into the program. If one of your courses becomes eligible, we’ll send you an email letting you know which of your courses has been added to the program.
5. If my course is eligible for the Piracy Detection Program, will I need to pay to participate?
The Piracy Detection Program is provided for eligible courses at no charge to instructors.
6. If my course on Udemy is not part of the program, can I still get help with any instances of piracy that I find?
Our anti-piracy vendor will help any instructor fight infringement, even if a particular Udemy course isn’t eligible for the Piracy Detection Program. If you find your course available on another platform without your permission, please fill out our third-party piracy reporting form. Once our anti-piracy vendor receives your complaint, they will investigate and, if appropriate, send a takedown request to major search engines to stop traffic going forward.
7. If I host my content on another platform, how will Link-Busters know it’s not an infringing webpage?
Link-Busters employees review Piracy Detection Program scan results to avoid sending legal notices to legitimate websites. Focusing on piracy-related websites reduces the risk that a takedown request is sent to a website that you use to market or sell your courses.
Link-Busters will also whitelist specific domains flagged by Udemy instructors to make sure that they do not file takedown requests against them. If you market or sell your courses on another website and would like to add that site to Link-Busters’ whitelist, please email us at piracy@udemy.com with the URL of the website.
8. What should I do if I find a website that offers a pirated version of my course?
If your course is eligible for the Piracy Detection Program, it’s possible our anti-piracy vendor has already submitted a takedown notice to have the instances of infringement removed from major search engines to stop traffic going forward. Piracy detection scans are run on a daily or weekly basis, depending on several factors, including previous patterns of piracy. Should you find a link, however, you can bring it to our attention by filling out our third-party piracy reporting form.
If your course is not eligible for the Piracy Detection Program, you can also report infringing websites directly through the third-party piracy reporting form.
9. What happens after I submit a report of piracy through the piracy reporting form?
When you fill out the piracy reporting form, our anti-piracy vendor sends a takedown request to remove instances of infringement from major search engines to stop traffic going forward. These requests require special handling, and are typically submitted within a week.