Strategy
DMCA
The US copyright law used to take down content that infringes on intellectual property. Dropshipping stores get hit with DMCAs for copied product images, copied ads, and copied branding.
The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) is the US copyright law that establishes the takedown-and-counter-notice process for infringing content online. In dropshipping, DMCAs typically arrive as:
- Takedown notices filed against your Shopify store for copied product images (usually because you pulled them from AliExpress or a competitor without permission).
- Meta or TikTok disabling an ad creative that copied a competitor's video.
- Demands to remove branded elements you don't have rights to use.
The fix is to source your own photography, commission original video with UGC creators, and audit your site for any assets you don't clearly own.