Protecting Copyrights Under The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Hines (“Hines”) does not knowingly permit the posting, storage, or transmission of copyrighted materials using its website or online services. Hines will terminate subscribers of its online services who repeatedly infringe the copyrights of other persons. 

Pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title 17, United States Code, Section 501 et seq., copyright owners or their authorized agents may submit a complaint of alleged copyright infringement to Hines if they have a good-faith belief that their protected works are being infringed. Hines will respond to all such notifications that are sent to: 

HINES DMCA 
Attn: Legal Department 
845 Texas Ave 
Houston, Texas 77008 

To be effective, the notification must be a written communication that includes:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of a right that is allegedly infringed; 
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at such site; 
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit Hines to locate the material; 
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit Hines to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted; 
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and 
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. 

Upon receipt of such notification, Hines will promptly investigate the matter, and, if appropriate, remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing material. After Hines removes or disables access to such material, if such material was posted by a subscriber of Hines’ online services, Hines will notify the party that posted the material of its action. Such party may then provide Hines’ designated agent proper “counter-notification” stating his, her, or its authority to post the allegedly infringing material, which Hines will forward to the alleged copyright owner. Hines will inform the alleged copyright owner that Hines will repost the removed material or cease disabling access to it in ten (10) to fourteen (14) business days unless the alleged copyright owner sends a second notification to Hines’ designated agent stating that it has filed suit against the alleged infringer. 

An effective counter-notification must be sent to Hines’ designated agent, whose name and address are listed above. The notice must include the following information: 

1. The counter-notifying party’s physical or electronic signature; 
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or disabled and the location where the material was before its removal or disablement; 
3. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the party has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification; and 
4. The counter-notifying party’s name, address, phone number, and a statement that the party consents to the jurisdiction of the federal court in its district, or if the subscriber is foreign, it consents to any jurisdiction where Hines is subject to jurisdiction, and that the subscriber will accept service of process from the person who provided Hines with notification or an agent of such a person.