Copyright

This article explains the options available to you if someone has pirated and posted your content on a platform based in China. 

• Review options available to you if you find that someone has pirated and posted your course on another platform, outside of China.

While our Piracy Detection Program proactively monitors for piracy infringements, our anti-piracy vendor may not be delisting URLS from major Chinese search engines. 

As such, for a quicker resolution and more hands on approach, copyright owners should directly report to the platform or search engine where the infringing activity is occurring. Learn how to report pirate sites through our third-party, anti-piracy vendor.

Please note, if you choose to use our anti-piracy vendor, we are unable to provide status updates after submission of the form.

Submitting a Takedown Notification on Other Platforms

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) is a United States federal law that established standards and procedures for copyright owners to submit notices to platforms hosting third party content. If a platform did not wish to be held liable for copyright infringement because a user posted copyright protected content, then it had to abide by the procedures within the DMCA, such as responding to DMCA notices. As the DMCA is a United States law it does not apply to China. 

While the DMCA does not apply in China, China did enact its own version in the 2000s. As such, most popular websites in China do have dedicated legal processes and support pages for reporting copyright infringement. 

Please find links regarding copyright infringement for the following platforms below:

Submitting a request to delist content from major search engines

Copyright owners typically have difficulty getting their copyright protected content removed from torrent and pirate sites. If you find your copyright protected content on a platform that fails to comply or respond to a copyright infringement notice, you may wish to instead file a request with major search engines to delist the link. Delisting a link does not remove the content, but it does make it harder for someone to potentially find and download a pirated version of your course.

Please find articles on how to report copyright infringement to search engines in China below:

报告其他平台上版权侵权行为的讲师指南（中国）

本文解释了如果有人在中国的平台上盗版并发布您的内容，您可选择采取的行动。 

• 查看如果您发现有人在中国以外的其他平台上盗版并发布您的课程，您可选择采取的行动。

虽然我们的盗版检测计划积极监测盗版侵权行为，但我们的反盗版供应商可能不会从中国主要搜索引擎中删除 URLS。 

因此，为了更快地解决问题并更具实操性，版权所有者应直接向发生侵权活动的平台或搜索引擎报告。了解如何通过我们的第三方反盗版供应商报告盗版网站。 

在其他平台上提交删除通知书

《数字千年版权法》（“DMCA”）是一项美国联邦法律，为版权所有者向托管第三方内容的平台提交声明制定了标准和程序。如果一个平台不希望因为用户发布了受版权保护的内容而对版权侵权承担责任，它必须遵守 DMCA 规定的程序，例如响应 DMCA 声明。由于 DMCA 是美国法律，它不适用于中国。 

虽然 DMCA 不适用于中国，但中国在 2000 年代制定了自己的《数字千年版权法》。因此，中国大多数受欢迎的网站都有用于报告版权侵权行为的专门的法律程序和支持页面。 

下文是以下平台上有关版权侵权的链接:

提交从主要搜索引擎上删除内容的请求

版权所有者通常很难从种子网站和盗版网站上删除其受版权保护的内容。如果您在一个平台上发现您的受版权保护的内容没有遵守或回应版权侵权声明，您应该向主要搜索引擎申请删除该链接。删除链接并不会删除内容，但会使人们更难找到和下载您课程的盗版版本。

下文载明了如何向中国搜索引擎报告版权侵权行为：

This article explains the options available to you if you find that someone has pirated and posted your course on another platform. 

• If you’re looking to report a website based in China, please consult these instructor guidelines for reporting copyright violations on platforms in China.

While our Piracy Detection Program proactively monitors for infringements, many platforms cannot act on a copyright infringement claim unless the claim comes directly from the copyright owner or an entity legally authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf, such as a law firm. 

As such, for a quicker resolution, copyright owners may wish to directly report to the platform or search engine where the infringing activity is occurring. 

If you would rather our third-party anti-piracy vendor report the infringing activity to the platform or search engine for you, please review this  Help Center article. Please note, if you choose to use our anti-piracy vendor, we are unable to provide status updates after submission of the form. 

Submitting a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) Takedown Notification on other platforms

Most popular content hosting platforms have dedicated legal processes and support pages for filing a DMCA takedown. 

To file a DMCA Takedown notice, you will generally need several key pieces of information, sometimes certain platforms have you check a box instead of making the required statement:

• The infringing URL (location where your content is being hosted without your authorization).
• A source URL (a description of your original content or a link to its location). 
• Your contact information.
• A statement that you have a good faith belief that the infringing content is not authorized by you, the copyright owner, your agent, or the law.
• A statement that the information you have provided is accurate
• A statement that you are the copyright owner
• Your electronic signature

Please find links to DMCA support pages for the following platforms below:

Submitting a request to delist content from major search engines

Copyright owners typically have difficulty getting their copyright protected content removed from torrent and pirate sites. If you find your copyright protected content on a platform that fails to comply or respond to a DMCA Takedown Notice, you may wish to instead file a request with major search engines to delist the link. Delisting a link does not remove the content, but it does make it harder for someone to potentially find and download a pirated version of your course.

Please find instructions on how to contact the following search engines below:

If you would like to follow-up on your reports, please follow up directly with the support team of the website in question. If you have any further questions about this or the Piracy Detection Program, you can email takedowns@udemy.com. 

Last modified: 19th September 2022.

We are honored and flattered by the enthusiasm people have for Udemy and are grateful for the trust our community puts in our products and services. In order to protect our brand and our community, we ask that you follow these guidelines for using Udemy’s names, logos, and slogans (“Udemy TMs”).

Please note: use of Udemy’s logos requires Udemy’s written permission. Unless you have an express license from Udemy, these Trademark Usage Guidelines will exclusively govern your use of the Udemy TMs.

Our Trademarks

Udemy uses a number of terms and logos as active trademarks in branding our products and services, a non-exhaustive list is provided below:

UDEMY

UDEMY BUSINESS

UDEMY GOVERNMENT

CORPU

FEEDBACK IS FUEL

CORPU Logo:

Udemy Logo: 

Udemy “U” Logo:

Udemy has registered or applied for registration for some of these trademarks in the United States and other jurisdictions around the world. We have done this to protect our trademarks for our community and for the benefit of everyone involved with Udemy. Our trademark rights are not limited to the non-exhaustive list above. Udemy monitors the use of our trademarks and reserves the right to request any third parties that use the Udemy TMs modify, alter, or discontinue any use that violates these Trademark Guidelines. 

Dos

In general, you may do the following with the Udemy TMs and the names of Udemy’s products or services:

• Truthfully and accurately refer to Udemy and its products or services. Ex. “I just posted a new course to the Udemy marketplace platform.”    
• Use as an adjective before nouns. Ex. Udemy marketplace platform, Udemy courses, Udemy mobile app, etc. 

• Use without alteration in text to refer to Udemy and its products and services. Ex.“Find my course on the Udemy marketplace”; or “I teach on the Udemy platform”  

• Provide proper attribution when using the Udemy TMs. Ex. UDEMY is a trademark of Udemy, Inc.  

• Use the ™ symbol. Udemy should be accompanied by the ™ symbol. If you use the Udemy trademark, the first mention should always include the ™.

Don’ts

• Don’t use the Udemy Trademarks as nouns, verbs, or in the possessive or plural form. Ex. “I’m offering Udemy!”; “Udemy it; “All the Udemys”; 
• Don’t distort or misappropriate the Udemy TMs, for example, by combining the Udemy  TMs with other terms, misspellings, or combining them with other words or phrases. Ex. “We are Udemfied!”; “We have become Udem-ics”; “Ude-mazing!”
• Don’t use the Udemy TMs in false or misleading advertising.
• Don’t use the Udemy TMs in objectionable material. You may not use the Udemy TMs on or in connection with any defamatory, obscene, scandalous, pornographic, unlawful, or other objectionable materials of any sort.
• Don’t use the Udemy TMs to disparage Udemy. You may not use Udemy TMs to disparage Udemy, its products, or its services, or in a manner that, in our reasonable judgment, may diminish or otherwise damage the reputation or the goodwill of Udemy.
• Don’t use the Udemy TMs or potentially confusing variations in your Internet domain name. Ex. Udemycoupons.com
• Don’t imitate Udemy’s trade dress, type style, or logos.
• Don’t suggest endorsement, sponsorship, or approval by Udemy without permission.
• Don’t use Udemy TMs in the name of your business, product, service, app, domain name, or social media account. Ex. @udemyinstructor. 
• Don’t file a trademark application for a trademark that is confusingly similar to any Udemy TMs. Ex. Official Udemy Instructor, Udemy Life, etc. 
•  

Udemy Logos - Please Request Permission

Our logos are some of our most recognizable expressions of the Udemy brand. As such, we ask that you help us protect this important asset by requesting permission before using it. 

Instructor Kit: However, we do understand that our instructors want to be able to share their courses and accomplishments with the world. That’s why we have created the Instructor Social Kit, which is a brand kit instructors can use to share their achievements. All uses of the Instructor Social Kit must abide by the guidelines contained within the kit. Happy teaching!

If you have any questions, please contact the Udemy Legal Department at policy@udemy.com.

Report Violations

If you see any suspected misuse of the Udemy TMs, please let us know at policy@udemy.com..

Changes to the Trademark Usage Guidelines

Udemy reserves the right to modify, change, or terminate these guidelines at any time. 

When creating a course with Udemy, instructors have an obligation to ensure the content they post does not infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties. 

Improper use of someone else’s trademark can lead to legal consequences, including monetary and statutory damages. Additionally, failure to comply with our Terms and Conditions and our Intellectual Property Policy may result in additional consequences, such as the termination of the instructor's course and/or account.

• Learn how to report a Udemy course you believe is infringing on your trademark.

This article outlines what trademarks are and includes answers to frequently asked questions we receive regarding trademarks in relation to Udemy courses. 

1. What is a trademark and how is it different from a copyright?
2. What happens if I accidently use a registered trademark in their course content?
3. Can I use Udemy’s trademark(s)?
4. Can I use a third-party trademark in my course content?
5. Is a disclaimer that “I am not affiliated with the trademark owner” enough to protect me from trademark infringement
6. There are many courses using registered trademarks, why is only my course being reported for trademark infringement?
7. Is there a way for me to check if something is trademarked?

1. What is a trademark and how is it different from a copyright?

Trademarks are words, phrases, symbols, or designs that identify the source of a company’s goods and services and serve to distinguish a company’s goods and services from another, such as product names, company names, logos, and slogans. A trademark is a “source indicator”, which means it tells you where a good or service originates from, this can be in the form of a word (ex. “UDEMY” on our platform), a color (ex. Tiffany Blue), or even a sound (ex. the NBC chimes).

Copyright, on the other hand, protects creative, original, and tangible works, such as novels, movies, software code, photographs, music, or paintings. It protects the whole creative work, and unlike trademarks, does not provide consumers any indication as to the source of the content. When you create original content, such as a course, you obtain the copyright at the moment of creation. 

2. What happens if I accidently use a registered trademark in my course content?

Upon receipt of a valid Trademark Infringement Notice, Udemy will provide the instructor with an opportunity to remediate the trademark infringement claim by removing references to the infringing trademark from their course. Failure to remove the trademark(s) from the course will result in the course being disabled from the Udemy platform. To learn more about Udemy’s stance on trademark infringement, please review our Intellectual Property Policy.

3. Can I use Udemy’s trademark(s)?

We are honored and flattered by the enthusiasm instructors have for Udemy and grateful for the trust our community puts in our products and services. In order to protect our brand and the trust that comes with it, we ask that all instructors follow our Trademark Usage Guidelines. 

Instructors are allowed to use the UDEMY word mark in order to promote their course. However, please note that all uses of the Udemy Logo will require written permission from Udemy. 

For more information, please see Section 6 of our Instructor Terms.  

4. Can I use someone else’s trademark in my course content?

Typically, an instructor can use someone else’s trademark in the following circumstance:

• When using a word that is a trademark in its ordinary dictionary meaning (e.g. “I’m eating an apple”; “Donate to save the Amazon rainforest”)
• When making truthful and non-confusing statements about course content (e.g. “In this lesson, we learn how to prepare for various AWS certification exams”)

An instructor may not use someone else’s trademark in order to create an association or mislead or confuse people about a potential affiliation with the trademark owner. In order to avoid this:

• Do not use the trademark at the beginning of your course title (e.g., “Tutorial on cooking with XYZ Olive Oil,” rather than “XYZ Olive Oil recipes,” if the relevant trademark is “XYZ Olive Oil”) 
• Clarify that your content is not affiliated with or created by the trademark owner (e.g., “Practice questions to prepare for ABC Final Exam, or “Course on the ABC Final Exam” rather than “ABC Final Exam questions” or “ABC Final Exam” if the relevant trademark is “ABC Final Exam”)
• Consider adding words like “unofficial” to your course title or subtitle to separate yourself from the trademark owner

5. Is a disclaimer that “I am not affiliated with the trademark owner” enough to protect me from trademark infringement?

A disclaimer may help avoid misleading or confusing people about your affiliation with the trademark owner. However, this depends on the use of the trademark. 

If you have any questions regarding the legality of using a trademark, we suggest you consult with an attorney.

6. There are many courses using registered trademarks, why is only my course being reported for trademark infringement?

Our marketplace model means we do not review or edit any courses for legal issues. Instructors 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 uploading it. 

Udemy is not in a position to offer legal advice or make legal determinations whether an instructor’s content infringes on someone else’s intellectual property. 

If a trademark owner believes content on the Udemy platform infringes upon their trademark rights, the trademark owner can fill out our Trademark Takedown Complaint form. Udemy will remove content cited for alleged intellectual property infringement when provided with a report that complies with the Udemy Intellectual Property Policy

Only a trademark owner or their authorized representative may report suspected infringement. 

See How do I report a Udemy Course Infringing my Trademark for more information.

7. Is there a way for me to check if something is a registered trademark?

Before creating content on Udemy, we encourage you to do a quick search to see if the term you plan to use in your course content is trademarked. To conduct a trademark search, go to TESS and click on the section labeled, “Search Trademarks.” You can then search the trademark database (TESS).

Instructors should only post content that does not infringe on the intellectual property of others. This means instructors should not use content in courses they are not authorized to use, such as music, video snippets, or code.

Unauthorized posting of copyrighted content can lead to legal consequences, including monetary and statutory damages. Additionally, failure to comply with our Terms and Conditions and our Intellectual Property Policy may result in additional consequences, such as the termination of the instructor's course and/or account. 

• Review how to report a Udemy course you believe is  infringing on your copyright

This article outlines what copyright is and includes answers to frequently asked questions we receive regarding copyright on the Udemy platform. 

Even after following these guidelines, Udemy cannot make any guarantees that any course posted on the Udemy platform will not be subject to copyright notices after publishing. Upon receipt of a valid copyright notice, we will be required to take actions pursuant to our Intellectual Property Policy.

1. What is protected under copyright law? 
2. Can I use third-party content in my Udemy course?
3. How do I get permission to use someone else’s copyright protected material?
4. What happens if Udemy receives a Copyright Infringement complaint against my course?

1. What is protected under copyright law? 

Copyright protects original works of authorship as soon as it is fixed into a tangible form of expression, such as books, exams, music, videos, software code, or photographs.

In the context of Udemy courses, when you create a course, which might involve writing an original script, filming and editing video content, or coming up with practice exam questions, you obtain the copyright for all those original pieces of work at the moment of creation.

2. Can I use third-party content in my Udemy course?

Instructors should aim to obtain permission from the copyright owner before using copyright protected material in a Udemy course. In some cases, permission is not required as it may qualify as fair use. Fair use is a legal doctrine in the United States that  allows non-copyright owners to use copyright protected content in very limited cases for specific situations, such as to provide commentary or criticism, conduct research, or teaching purposes. Learn more about the fair use doctrine.

If you have any questions regarding the legality of using copyright protected content, we suggest you consult with an attorney.

3. How do I get permission to use someone else’s copyright protected material?

The easiest way to check whether it is ok for you to use somebody else's content in your course is to contact them directly and ask for their permission.

4. What happens if Udemy receives a Copyright Infringement complaint against my course?

If we do receive a valid and complete Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Takedown Notice, we are required by law to process it  promptly and to remove the reported content from the platform immediately. 

To learn more about our copyright policies, including how to submit a counter-notification, please refer to our Intellectual Property Policies for more information.

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 the anti-piracy vendor  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 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 a set of core Udemy titles, as well as other monitoring methods. 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 is designed to ensure coverage globally for the courses which are exclusive to Udemy and are the most frequently purchased courses on Udemy. While the specific courses eligible for the program will vary over time, the program is designed to support the top 2,500 highest-trafficked paid courses on Udemy. Currently, only Udemy Business titles are eligible for inclusion in the program at this time.

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 the anti-piracy vendor  know it’s not an infringing webpage?

Our anti-piracy vendor performs additional manual review to avoid sending legal notices to legitimate websites. 

Our anti-piracy vendor will also allowlist specific domains flagged by Udemy instructors to make sure that they do not file takedown requests against them. If you would like for us to allowlist a website, please let us know which website you would like for us to allowlist so we can provide this information to our anti-piracy vendor.

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, we encourage you to report any suspicious links in order to increase the likelihood of prompt takedown, by filling out the 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 validates your request and removes unauthorized content on offending sites such as cyberlockers and torrents, as well as requesting removal of unauthorized content on Google. These requests require special handling, and are typically addressed within 48 hours.

Upon submitting the suspicious link to our anti-piracy vendor, you should receive an initial email confirming receipt of your submission. Within 48 hours, you will also receive a follow-up email confirming what action was taken.

At Udemy, we work everyday with educators like yourself, who create content for the benefit of others, so we understand how valuable your content is and are committed to helping you protect it.

How Udemy protects an instructor’s content

Udemy employs anti-piracy technology, including encoding videos using a proprietary player and attaching a Udemy watermark to all videos. This is why, when instructors upload a video to Udemy, there is both an uploading and "processing" time, because we are encoding the videos to make them difficult to steal. 

For a motivated pirate, however, any content that appears on a computer screen is vulnerable to theft. This is a problem across the industry. As a result, we are closely partnering with anti-piracy vendors that specialize in protecting content on behalf of creators.They deploy an automated system that detects and removes unauthorized content on offending sites, such as cyberlockers and torrents, whilst in parallel, requesting removal of unauthorized content on Google.

Learn more about how to report a Udemy course found on a pirate site.

This article explains what you can do if you find your course on a pirate site and wish to report it to our anti-piracy vendor.

How Udemy protects your content

Udemy uses a proprietary player and attaches a Udemy watermark to all course videos. This is why, when you upload a video to Udemy, there is both uploading and "processing" time, because we are encoding your videos to make them difficult to steal.

• Learn more about how Udemy protects your content.

The Piracy Detection Program

For a motivated pirate, however, any content that appears on a computer screen is vulnerable to theft.  This is an unavoidable problem across the industry.  

As a result, Udemy works with an anti-piracy vendor who proactively monitors for infringements in an  effort we call our "Piracy Detection Program.” We are dedicated to protecting your content. 

• Review answers to questions we frequently receive regarding the Piracy Detection Program

How to submit a report to our anti-piracy vendor

In addition to the proactive monitoring of the “Piracy Detection Program,” we can also help you bring down courses if you find a link you believe is infringing.  If you find any instances of infringement, you can report it directly to our piracy vendor by filling out the third-party piracy reporting form.  Upon receipt of your report, our piracy vendor will process your requests within approximately 48 hours.

Upon submitting the suspicious link to our anti-piracy vendor, you should receive an initial email confirming receipt of your submission. Within 48 hours, you will also receive a follow-up email confirming what action was taken.

Still have questions?

If you would like to follow-up on your report or have any further questions, you can email takedowns@udemy.com. Our vendor will not be able to respond to inquiries about this program.