How to get stolen content removed from European websites

Which rules apply

In the EU, the main rulebook for online content is the Digital Services Act (DSA). It applies to services offered to people in the EU, including websites, hosting companies and online platforms, wherever the company is based.

Under the DSA, hosting services have to give people an easy, online way to report illegal content. Content that infringes your copyright counts. Once they get a proper notice, they're expected to look at it and act on it in a timely, careful way.

Copyright itself is still set by each country's own law, which is based on shared EU rules. For most takedowns you don't need to know the details. You need a clear notice sent to the right place.

Step 1: Find out where the site is

Which rules apply depends on where the site and its host are, so this comes first. It's also where many cases stall. A European site can be run from one country, hosted in another and hidden behind a service like Cloudflare, so the real host isn't obvious. See sites that use Cloudflare.

Step 2: What your notice must include

Under the DSA, a notice should include:

1. Why the content is illegal. For copyright, say what your work is, that you created and own it, and that you didn't give permission.
2. The exact location. The precise URL of each copy, not the homepage.
3. Your name and email address.
4. A good-faith statement that the information in your notice is accurate and complete.

Many European hosts also accept a standard DMCA notice, but one written for EU rules reads more naturally to them. Getting every detail right matters: a notice that points to a homepage instead of each copy, or misses a required statement, can be set aside. Notice templates for the EU (including the UK) are part of the DIY Takedown Toolkit in Protection Pro.

Step 3: Who receives it

Depending on the case, an EU notice goes to the platform, the site owner or the hosting company. Under the DSA, hosting services have to provide a way to report illegal content, but each one runs its own process.

This is where cross-border cases get stuck: contact details that are buried or missing, reporting systems that differ from host to host, and smaller sites that don't reply. Most European hosts handle reports in English, so language is rarely the problem. Finding the right contact usually is.

Step 4: What happens next

• Confirmation. Hosts using an online reporting system should confirm they've received your notice and tell you what they decided.
• The uploader is told why. If content is removed, the uploader gets an explanation and, on platforms, a way to challenge it. This is the EU's version of a counter-notice.
• No response? This is where many cross-border cases stall. Hosts in other countries can be slow, and every follow-up needs a complete notice.
• Still up? Google can remove some pages from search results while the site itself is dealt with. See removing a webpage from Google.

The UK, Switzerland and others

The UK and Switzerland aren't in the EU, so the DSA doesn't apply to sites based there. Hosts in both still remove infringing content when they get a clear, complete notice, because ignoring it can make them responsible too. The same notice works.

Canada is different. It uses a "notice and notice" system, where hosts forward your notice to the uploader instead of removing the content. You can still report directly to platforms, and Google search removal still works.

Common questions