DMCA Notice and Takedown

Last updated: May 2026

ASK.ME Games respects intellectual-property rights, particularly those of game developers and publishers whose work is licensed for embedding on the Site. We respond to notices alleging copyright infringement under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512), the EU Copyright Directives (2001/29/EC and 2019/790), and Italian copyright law L. 633/1941. Most takedown matters on a game-aggregator site involve game licensing rather than site copy; the procedure below covers both.

1. Designated Agent

Designated Agent: Giovanni Picaro (Publisher)
Email: dmca [at] askme [punto] rest
Postal address for formal service: provided through email on request from counsel

Email is the preferred channel. Average response to valid notices: 3 business days.

2. Common scenarios on a game-aggregator site

Most takedown requests fall into one of these patterns:

Developer / publisher pulls a game. The developer wants their game removed for any reason — license-status changes, brand-strategy changes, technical reasons. Honored without need for formal notice; email info [at] askme [punto] rest from the developer’s official contact email and we remove it.
License-chain mismatch. A game appears on the Site through a distribution network, but the developer didn’t authorize that distribution. We remove pending verification.
Trademark / IP infringement in a hosted game. A game on the Site contains trademarked characters or properties without authorization. The trademark holder issues a takedown; we remove the game and refer the rights-holder back to the developer if they want to pursue further action.
Site-copy infringement (rare). Someone claims our site’s text or imagery infringes their copyright. Reviewed under the same procedure.

3. What constitutes a valid notice

A valid DMCA notice (and the equivalent under EU and Italian copyright law) includes:

Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing — specifically, the URL on askme.rest where the material appears.
Information sufficient for us to contact the complaining party (name, address, telephone, email).
A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that the use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner.
The physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or authorized representative.

Notices missing required elements may be rejected or returned for correction.

4. Sample notice format

To: Designated Agent, askme.rest
Email: dmca [at] askme [punto] rest

Re: Notice of Claimed Infringement

I, [Full Name], the [copyright owner / authorized representative],
identify the following copyrighted work as having been infringed:

[Description of the original work; URL where the original is located if applicable;
registration number if registered]

The infringing material appears at the following URL on askme.rest:
[Specific URL — typically the game's catalog page]

I have a good-faith belief that the use of the material described above is not
authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the information in this notice is accurate,
and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner
of the work claimed to be infringed.

Contact information:
Name: [Full Name]
Address: [Postal Address]
Phone: [Phone]
Email: [Email]

Signature: [Electronic or physical signature]
Date: [Date]

5. What happens after we receive a notice

The challenged content is reviewed within 3 business days.
If the notice appears valid, the game (or other content) is removed pending further review.
The distributor we sourced the game from is notified, where applicable, so they can investigate the licensing chain.
The complaining party is notified that the action has been taken.

6. Counter-notice procedure

If a developer / distributor believes a game was removed in error, they may submit a counter-notice. Required elements:

Identification of the material that has been removed and the location at which it appeared before removal.
A statement under penalty of perjury that the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification.
Name, address, telephone, and email.
Consent to the jurisdiction of the U.S. federal court in the relevant district (or, for non-U.S. parties, the U.S. federal court in the hosting provider’s district).
Physical or electronic signature.

Upon valid counter-notice, we forward it to the original complainant. If the original complainant does not provide notice within 10-14 business days that they have filed an action seeking a court order against the alleged infringer, we may restore the disputed content.

7. Repeat-infringer policy

Where a developer / distributor is the subject of repeated valid copyright-infringement notices, the distribution relationship is terminated. “Repeat” generally means three or more substantiated notices, but a single egregious case can trigger termination.

8. Bad-faith notices

Knowingly false DMCA notices expose the sender to liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f). We review notices for indicators of bad faith:

The complainant does not appear to be the copyright owner or authorized representative.
The challenged content appears to be properly licensed via a verifiable distribution chain.
The challenged content is fair use / fair dealing (commentary, criticism, journalism with attribution).
The notice is part of a documented pattern of abusive notice-sending by the same party.

Where a notice is determined bad-faith, we may decline to honor it and document the determination.

9. Notices outside U.S. jurisdiction

For copyright takedown requests under EU law (Italian copyright L. 633/1941, EU Copyright Directives, Digital Services Act), the same agent and email apply. Procedures align with the EU framework where it differs from DMCA.

10. What we do not handle through DMCA

Content concerns about a game (the game is inappropriate for general audiences, has abusive in-game advertising, etc.) — route to abuse [at] askme [punto] rest.
Privacy / data-protection concerns — privacy [at] askme [punto] rest.
Trademark concerns in our own site copy (rare; we use generic descriptive category names) — info [at] askme [punto] rest.
General editorial concerns — info [at] askme [punto] rest.