Copyright & Takedowns

Kissa is an intermediary under Section 79 of India’s Information Technology Act, 2000, and we act on valid complaints under Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and Rule 75 of the Copyright Rules, 2013. We also honour notices in the form used under the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), for rights holders outside India.

1. Before you file

• Only the copyright owner or someone formally authorised to act for them can file a notice.
• Consider whether the use might be fair dealing under Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957 — criticism, review, reporting, or parody may be lawful.
• Filing a knowingly false notice exposes you to liability for the costs and damages it causes.

2. Filing a takedown notice

Email copyright@kissa.texotic.in with the subject “Copyright takedown notice”. Your notice must include all of the following, or we will have to come back to you and the removal will be delayed:

1. Your identity: full name, postal address, email address, and telephone number.
2. The work: a description of the copyrighted work you own, with proof of ownership — a registration number, the original publication, or a link to where it is legitimately published.
3. The infringing material: the exact Kissa URL of each episode, series, or creator page. For long episodes, give the timestamps.
4. Authorisation: if you are not the owner, evidence that you are authorised to act on their behalf.
5. Good-faith statement: a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorised by the owner, its agent, or the law.
6. Accuracy statement: a statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner or authorised to act for them.
7. Signature: your physical or electronic signature.

3. What happens next

We acknowledge complete notices within 24 hours and act on valid ones within 36 hours, as Rule 3(2)(b) of the IT Rules requires.

• The content is removed from public view while we assess the notice.
• The creator is notified, told which work is claimed and by whom, and given the opportunity to respond.
• A strike is recorded against the creator’s account.
• We tell you what we did.

We may pass your notice, including your contact details, to the creator whose content is affected. That is normal practice and necessary for them to respond. Do not include details you are not willing to have shared.

4. Counter-notice — disputing a removal

If your content was removed and you hold the rights, or the use was lawful, email copyright@kissa.texotic.in with:

1. Your name, postal address, email, and telephone number.
2. The URL of the removed content and where it appeared.
3. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you believe in good faith it was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification.
4. Your evidence of rights — a licence, a release, proof of original authorship, or the basis on which the use is lawful.
5. Your consent to the jurisdiction of the courts at Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
6. Your signature.

We forward valid counter-notices to the complainant. If they do not tell us within 21 days that they have started legal proceedings, we may restore the content, in line with Rule 75 of the Copyright Rules, 2013.

5. Repeat infringers

We terminate the accounts of repeat infringers.

• First strike: content removed, creator warned, and — if they were on the trusted tier — moved back to held-for-review.
• Second strike: publishing suspended for 30 days.
• Third strike: account permanently terminated and all content removed.

Strikes expire 12 months after they are issued if no further strike is recorded. A strike withdrawn by the complainant, or overturned on counter-notice, does not count.

6. Trademark and other rights

For trademark complaints, impersonation, or violations of publicity or privacy rights (including unauthorised voice cloning), email copyright@kissa.texotic.in describing your right, its registration if any, and the content at issue. Impersonation is also covered by our Community Guidelines.

7. Escalation

If you are unhappy with how we handled a copyright complaint, escalate to our Grievance Officer — see Grievance Redressal.

Action required before launch: A postal address for service of legal notices must be published on this page. Fill in registeredAddress in apps/web/src/lib/legal.ts and add a “Notices by post” section here.