The seller of your copied game filed a counter-notice. What happens now.
The copy came down. You felt, for a day or two, that the system worked. Then an email from the store: the seller has filed a counter-notice, here is a copy, and the material will be restored in 10 business days unless you tell us you have filed a lawsuit.
A game we shipped was extracted, rebuilt and resold, so we know how this email lands. It reads as though the person who took your work has just been believed over you. That is not what it means. A counter-notice is not a ruling. The store has not decided who made the game, and it is not allowed to. What the email starts is a short, fixed window in which you choose whether to take the dispute somewhere that can decide it. This page explains the window in calendar days, how to read what they sent, the two ways to stop the restoration and what each one needs, what happens if you let it go, and what to set up now so the next one is easier. It is not legal advice, and the places where a lawyer matters are marked.
The short answer
- Find out the date the store received it. The window runs from that date, not from the day you read the email. It is 10 to 14 business days, which is roughly 14 to 20 calendar days.
- Read it against the four required parts. A signature, the material and where it was, a sworn statement of mistake, and a name, address, phone number and consent to a court. If one is missing, tell the store the same day.
- Only a filed case stops the restoration. Under U.S. law that means a federal lawsuit, or a claim at the Copyright Office's Copyright Claims Board, followed by notice to the store's copyright agent before the material goes back up.
- Registration decides your speed. A federal suit over a U.S. game generally needs a registration certificate or a refusal. A Claims Board claim needs only a filed application. If you have not applied, apply today.
- Letting it go back up loses nothing permanently. Restoration is not a judgment. You generally have three years to sue, and your evidence keeps.
1. What the counter-notice did
When you sent your takedown, the store removed the copy to keep its own legal protection under section 512 of the U.S. Copyright Act. The same section gives the account holder whose material was removed one reply: a counter-notice, sworn under penalty of perjury, saying the removal was a mistake or misidentification.
Once a store receives a valid counter-notice, the statute's conditions are that it promptly sends you a copy, tells you it will put the material back in 10 business days, and restores it "not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days following receipt of the counter notice," unless its designated agent first hears from you that you have "filed an action seeking a court order to restrain" the other side from infringing.
Three things follow from that wording.
- The store is not a judge. It does not weigh your evidence against theirs. It follows the procedure that keeps it out of the dispute. A restored listing says nothing about who made the game.
- Sending evidence to the store does not stop the clock. Only notice that a case has been filed does. A long email explaining why the seller is lying, however true, is not that notice.
- Stores keep their own discretion. The statute sets the conditions for a store's legal protection; it does not force a store to carry anything. Stores' terms usually say they may restore. The page written for the other side of this process quotes some of that wording.
2. Count the days
The 10 to 14 business days run from the store's receipt of the counter-notice. Stores often forward it a day or more later, so some of your window may be gone before you see it.
| Point in the window | Calendar days after the store received the counter-notice | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Store receives the counter-notice | Day 0 | Ask the store for this date in writing. Everything else is counted from it. |
| Earliest restoration (10 business days) | About day 14, later if there is a public holiday | Treat this as your deadline. Notice of a filed case should reach the store's agent before it. |
| Latest restoration under the statute (14 business days) | About day 18 to 20 | The store may restore on any business day in this range. Do not plan on the late end. |
Our advice: on the first day, reply on the same thread, quote the reference number, and ask two things: the date the counter-notice was received, and the exact address the store wants for notice that a case has been filed. Usually that is the designated agent named in its copyright policy and in the Copyright Office's agent directory. Then put the earliest restoration date in your calendar with two reminders before it.
3. Read what they sent
To be effective, a counter-notice must include "substantially the following". Read theirs against each part.
| Required part | What to check | If it is missing or wrong |
|---|---|---|
| A physical or electronic signature | A typed name in the signature line usually counts as an electronic signature. | Tell the store it is not signed. |
| The material removed and where it appeared | Does it name the same listing, build or files your notice named? A counter-notice about a different listing does not answer yours. | Tell the store which of your addresses it does not cover. |
| A statement under penalty of perjury of a good-faith belief that the removal was a mistake or misidentification | The words "penalty of perjury" should be there. "I disagree" or "this is fair use" with no sworn statement is not this. | Tell the store the sworn statement is absent. |
| Name, address, phone number, consent to federal court jurisdiction, and agreement to accept service from you | A real-looking full name and street address. A U.S. address means the district court where it is located; an address outside the United States means any district where the store "may be found." | An address that is plainly invented, or no consent to jurisdiction, is worth raising with the store. |
The statute says "substantially," and the store decides whether a counter-notice is complete. If something is missing, say so the same day, in one short message that names the missing part. Our view: do not argue the merits in that message. The point is narrow, and it is more likely to be read if it stays narrow.
If the name and address look false, tell the store that too, with your reason. A counter-notice that cannot be served is worth much less to the person who sent it, and stores have an interest in not restoring material on the strength of an invented identity. Whether a given store acts on that is up to it.
4. What the counter-notice gives you
Before this email you may not have known who was selling your game. Now you have, at minimum, a name, an address and a phone number, sworn to, and a written consent to be sued in a named federal court and to accept service from you. That is the information a lawyer needs to start a case, and it is often the hardest part of a dispute with an anonymous seller.
Two cautions, both our advice. Keep their details private: do not post them, and do not contact them at home. Anything you say to them directly can be quoted later, so if you want to write to them, write as if a judge will read it, or have a lawyer write. And compare the details to what you already know. The name on a counter-notice that matches a studio name on other stores, or a company in a public register, tells you how organized the seller is.
5. Your choices
There are four realistic paths. The first two stop the restoration; the last two do not.
| Path | Stops the restoration? | What it needs | Rough out-of-pocket cost before lawyers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal lawsuit | Yes, if notice reaches the store's agent in time | For a U.S. game, a registration certificate or a refusal. A complaint asking the court to stop the infringement. Usually a lawyer. | $405 to file, plus $45 or $65 to register and $800 to expedite if not yet registered |
| Copyright Claims Board claim | Yes, under section 1507(d), if notice reaches the store's agent in time | A filed registration application. A respondent who lives in the United States. No lawyer required. | $40 to file, $60 more if the case goes ahead, plus the registration fee |
| Let it be restored, act later | No | Your evidence, kept. A decision within the three-year limit. | None now |
| A different right or a store rule | Not the section 512 restoration | A trademark, a contract, or the store's own policies on impersonation or misleading listings. | Varies |
Fees are from 28 U.S.C. § 1914 ($350) and the courts' administrative fee schedule ($55), the Copyright Office's fee schedule ($45 for a single author's single work that is not made for hire, $65 for the Standard Application, $800 for special handling), and the Claims Board's fee table ($40 and $60). They were read on 23 October 2026 and change from time to time.
6. The federal court route
The statute asks for "an action seeking a court order to restrain" the infringement. In practice that is a copyright infringement complaint, filed in federal district court, that asks for an injunction. Once it is filed, you or your lawyer send the store's designated agent notice of it, with the case number, before the restoration date.
Registration usually comes first. For any "United States work," section 411(a) says no infringement suit "shall be instituted" until registration "has been made," or the Office has refused it. A game first published in the United States is a United States work. A game first published elsewhere by developers outside the United States is generally not, and then this requirement does not apply. Online releases make the line less obvious; the page on copies in another country explains how the definition reads, and it is worth confirming with a lawyer.
The normal wait does not fit the window. For online applications with an uploaded file and no questions from the examiner, the Office reports an average of 3.4 months, for cases closed April to September 2026. The window here is about two weeks.
Special handling is the fast lane. The Copyright Office expedites registration for "pending or prospective litigation", among a few other reasons. Once a request is approved, it says it makes "every attempt" to finish within five working days, with no guarantee. The fee is $800 on top of the application fee. Circular 10 says a litigation request should state whether the litigation is actual or prospective, whether you are the plaintiff, and the parties and court, and must include a signed statement certifying that the information is correct to the best of your knowledge.
Put those together and the arithmetic is tight but possible if you move on the first day: a special-handling application filed in the first two or three days can be decided before the earliest restoration date, leaving a few days to file the complaint. If you already have a registration certificate, this route is mostly a question of finding a lawyer quickly. Either way, this is the point to call one. A complaint is a document a court will hold you to.
7. The Copyright Claims Board route
The Copyright Claims Board is the Copyright Office's small-claims tribunal, created in 2020. It handles disputes up to $30,000, online, and you can represent yourself. What most developers do not know is that a claim there can stop a restoration.
Section 1507(d) says an infringement claim before the Board "qualifies as an action seeking an order to restrain" under section 512(g) if two conditions are met: the claimant gives notice that the proceeding has started to the store's designated agent "before the service provider replaces the material," and the claim alleges infringement of the material named in your original takedown notice. Etsy's policy, for example, already names this: it may restore a listing unless you tell it you have filed in court or with the Copyright Claims Board.
Three conditions decide whether this route is open to you.
- You need a filed application, not a certificate. Section 1505 lets an infringement claim be brought once the owner has delivered a completed application, deposit and fee and a certificate "has either been issued or has not been refused." The Board cannot decide the case until the certificate arrives, and it lists a $50 small claims expedited registration fee per work. This rule applies to every claimant, inside or outside the United States.
- The seller must live in the United States. The Board cannot hear a claim against "a person or entity residing outside of the United States", and its claimant page says you must give a U.S. address for each respondent. If the counter-notice gives an address abroad, this route is closed and federal court is the one left.
- The seller can opt out. A respondent has 60 days after service to opt out, and if they do, the proceeding "shall be dismissed without prejudice." The claimant page says you can then sue in federal court. The statute does not say what a store does with the restoration after a dismissal. Our reading is that the protection from section 1507(d) ends with the proceeding, and the store may then restore. Ask a lawyer before relying on the Board to keep a copy down for long.
Our view: for a U.S.-based seller and a developer without a registration certificate, the Board is the route most likely to fit inside the window, at a cost a small studio can carry. For a seller abroad, or a seller running a real business on your work, federal court is the forum that can actually order them to stop and reach their money. Some developers file at the Board to hold the listing while a lawyer prepares the federal case; that is a question about strategy and costs to put to the lawyer.
8. If you let it go back up
Sometimes that is the right decision: the copy sells almost nothing, the seller is abroad, and two weeks of your life is worth more than the listing. It is not a loss of your rights.
- Restoration decides nothing. No one has ruled on who made the game.
- The limit is three years. A civil action under the Copyright Act must be "commenced within three years after the claim accrued". A copy that stays on sale keeps generating new sales and new evidence.
- Each store is separate. A counter-notice on one store does nothing to your notices on others. Copies spread across several stores are common; the page on phone-store copies covers that pattern.
- A new copy is a new notice. If the same seller uploads your game again under a new listing, that new material is a new takedown. Sending the same notice about the restored material again is likely to repeat the same cycle; our reading is that it is better saved for a filed case.
Keep the file: your original notice, their counter-notice, the store's emails with dates, the listing captures, and your proof of authorship. The first page in this journal describes what evidence to keep.
9. If you believe the counter-notice is false
A counter-notice is sworn under penalty of perjury. If the person who filed it is selling a copy of your build, they have sworn to something they know is untrue. Two consequences exist in law, and neither moves quickly.
- Misrepresentation. Section 512(f) makes anyone who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material was removed by mistake liable for damages, "including costs and attorneys' fees," suffered by a copyright owner when a store relies on the misrepresentation to put the material back. The Copyright Claims Board hears these claims as well as federal courts. The page on false takedowns describes how those claims work from the other side.
- Perjury. Perjury is a crime, and prosecutors decide whether to pursue it. We do not know of a prosecution over a game counter-notice, and we would not plan around one.
What a false counter-notice reliably does is strengthen your position in any case you bring. Keep it.
10. What to set up now
The developers for whom this window is easy are the ones who did a few things before they needed them. Our advice:
- Register each release within three months of publication. It turns the federal route from a race into an ordinary filing and keeps statutory damages available. The registration guide explains the applications and the three-month rule.
- Keep your proof of authorship in one place. Version-control history, dated builds, store upload dates and source files for art and music. In a dispute about who made the game, that folder is the answer.
- Know two lawyers before you need one. A copyright litigator and a backup. Asking for a referral takes days you will not have inside this window.
- Write takedowns that name the exact material. A counter-notice that has to answer a precise notice has less room. The guide to what a notice contains covers the parts.
Questions developers ask
How long do I have after a counter-notice?
The store may restore the material 10 to 14 business days after it received the counter-notice, roughly 14 to 20 calendar days. Your window is shorter by however long the store took to forward it. Ask the store for the receipt date.
Does sending the store more evidence stop the restoration?
Not under section 512. The statute only names notice that you have filed an action seeking a court order. A store can still choose not to restore under its own terms, but you cannot count on that.
Can I stop the restoration without a lawyer?
Yes, through the Copyright Claims Board, if the seller lives in the United States and you have filed a registration application. You must then notify the store's agent that the proceeding has started before the restoration date. A lawyer is still worth consulting.
Do I need a registered copyright?
For a federal suit over a U.S. game, you generally need a certificate or a refusal; special handling can get a decision in about five working days for $800. For a Claims Board claim, a filed application is enough to start.
The counter-notice has an address in another country. What now?
The Claims Board cannot hear claims against people residing outside the United States. A seller abroad has consented to a federal court in any district where the store can be found, so a federal suit is the remaining route that stops the restoration. That needs a lawyer.
Does the store decide who is right?
No. A restored listing is the store following the statute's procedure. It is not a finding that the seller made the game.
If I do nothing, can I still sue later?
Generally yes, within three years after the claim accrued. Keep the counter-notice and every dated record.
This page describes sections 411, 507, 512(g), 1504, 1505, 1506 and 1507 of title 17 and section 1914 of title 28 of the U.S. Code, read as govinfo.gov text on 23 October 2026; the federal courts' district court miscellaneous fee schedule; the Copyright Office's fee schedule, special handling page, Circular 10 and registration processing times (cases closed 1 April to 30 September 2026); the Copyright Claims Board's about page, fee table and claimant page; and Etsy's intellectual property policy, all as read that day. The calendar counts assume no public holidays. The statements that stores often forward counter-notices a day or more after receiving them, that a typed name usually serves as an electronic signature, and that we know of no prosecution over a game counter-notice are general description without a linked source. The reading of what happens after a Claims Board opt-out, the arithmetic in section 6, and the advice in sections 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 10 are our own and are marked as such. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation.