CandFans’ mission is to empower Creators to own their potential. We are committed to providing Creators with a safe environment, so that they can share and monetize the content which they create.
Stealing content is unlawful. In addition to our other safety and content moderation measures, CandFans have a separate dedicated team of people working to help our Creators protect their content.
Who owns the content on the CandFans platform?
Each Creator owns the content which they chose to post on CandFans. Each Creator grants CandFans a legal right to use the content on the platform by displaying the content to the Creator’s Fans.
Does CandFans offer Creators any tools to help them to protect their content?
Yes. CandFans provides a free digital "watermarking" service to all CandFans Creators to help them to protect their content. A watermark is a light digital text placed on top of a Creator’s content. Watermarks make it harder for the original content to be copied or used without permission.
Creators can add a "watermark" to the content they post on CandFans free of charge. Creators can customize their watermark in their "Privacy and Safety" settings to personalize their watermark. If you need help with this, you can reach out to our designated team using this link.
I’m a Creator and my content has been posted on another website without my permission. Can I get any help from CandFans?
Yes. CandFans supports Creators as you work to enforce your copyrights. You can report any copyright issues to CandFans by clicking here and selecting "Reporting Stolen Content" and we will promptly investigate.
We have a dedicated team that issues formal "takedown" notices on behalf of CandFans’ Creators under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) free of charge. If you live outside the USA, your content is still protected under international copyright laws.
We notify websites, hosting services, and domain registrars when content stolen from CandFans’ Creators is on their platforms. We also notify all major search engines of these infringements.
I have reported stolen content to CandFans, but the content has not been taken down from the other website(s). Why?
CandFans supports our Creators, and we do our best to get any stolen content taken down quickly, but not all websites respect copyright laws or comply with our takedown requests. Creators should also reach out to the websites directly and request that their content be removed. Creators can also choose to independently pursue formal legal action against infringers.
What else does CandFans do to help Creators protect their content?
CandFans also proactively scans the internet on a regular basis to identify websites and hosting services which host large amounts of content stolen from CandFans Creators.
Where appropriate, CandFans contacts these companies and requests that content belonging to CandFans’ Creators be taken down immediately. Some companies comply while others ignore takedown requests and continue to host stolen content.
I am a US-based Creator. Are there any other legal options I can use to pursue stolen content other than a DMCA Notice or a lawsuit?
Yes, from June 16, 2022 the CASE Act allows Creators seeking less than US$30,000 in compensation to file a claim with the Copyright Claims Board. Filing a claim is US$100. This allows Creators to take action against those who steal their content without hiring a lawyer or appearing in a courtroom. This is in addition to any efforts CandFans will take if a copyright issue is reported.
I am a UK-based Creator. Are there any other legal options I can use to pursue stolen content other than a DMCA Notice or a lawsuit?
The English legal system allows Creators seeking to claim less than £10,000 in compensation to file a claim with the Intellectual Property and Enterprise Small Claims court. The costs of filing a claim are the same as the standard small claims court costs.
I am a EU-based Creator. Are there any other legal options I can use to pursue stolen content other than a DMCA Notice or a lawsuit?
The European Union has a small claims court that works across all European Union countries. This means that any Creator living within the European Union can make a cross-border claim using their local small claims court.
Soon, under the Digital Services Act, sites will be required to remove material from EU-based websites if a Creator reports the content is infringing on their copyrights or otherwise illegal.
I’m a Creator and someone posted my content on CandFans without my permission. Can I get any help from CandFans?
Any content that is posted can be reviewed under CandFans Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy. All verified CandFans’ Creators must be tagged in the content. Additionally, a Creator must submit a release form for anyone else who appears in their content and is not a verified CandFans’ Creator. Any content which violates our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy will be removed from CandFans.
If you believe you own content which another Creator has posted on CandFans without your permission, please contact us using CandFans contacts and select "Reporting Stolen Content". Please provide your name, address, contact details, a description of your complaint, and the URL for the content. You may also submit a formal DMCA Notice to our designated DMCA Agent by following the instructions here. We promptly remove infringing content in response to DMCA notices and notify the account holder of the claim. The accounts of repeat infringers are terminated.
If you believe you appear in content which another Creator has posted on CandFans without your permission, please contact us using CandFans contacts and select "Law Enforcement/Legal Matters". Complaints relating to non-consensual content are resolved using the Complaints Policy found in our Terms of Service.
We will review the evidence provided in cases of non-consensual content. If the content was posted without consent, it will be removed from CandFans and, if appropriate, we will take action against the person who posted the content. Any disputes relating to consent that cannot be resolved informally are submitted to a neutral arbitrator at our expense.
What should I do if I believe content has been wrongly removed?
If you are a Creator and believe your content has been wrongly removed for infringing copy right, please click on DMCA Counter-Notification Procedures and follow the steps there.
I am a Fan and I have paid to access a Creator's content, do I own that content?
No. Fans pay to view content or messages, but all content belongs to the Creator. Pay per view content is available to Fans until they have completed viewing the material.
I am a Fan and have paid to access a Creator's content, am I allowed to download that content?
No, CandFans does not allow content to be downloaded. Copying content from CandFans is a breach of our Terms of Service.