Additional Resources

Operation Pangea is organized by Interpol and has been in existence since. This operation aims to reduce the sale and availability of counterfeit pharmaceuticals online with the active goal to reduce harms to Internet users and improve the internet experience. Enforcements happen at determined times throughout the year. If you are interested in learning how and when you can participate and submit infringing website for takedown, you may contact the US Customs Immigration and Customers Enforcement in the United States or Interpol in Europe.

Europol’s and the IPR Center’s hugely successful and long-standing Operation “In Our Sites” (IOS) focuses on the removal of counterfeit sites online across domain names. This operation utilizes multiple police agencies across Europe and the United States. Like Operation Pangea, enforcements happen annually at times determined by the law enforcement agencies. For more information on how to participate and where to submit infringing website information, companies should check with the IPR Center or Europol.

Operation Aphrodite is managed by the EU’s Intellectual Property Office and focuses exclusively on counterfeit sales on social media and websites. This operation is run with the cooperation of Europol and agencies in Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

This operation by the London Police’s IP Crime Unit aims to disrupt and prevent websites from providing unauthorized access to copyrighted content. With a wealth of UK advertising and music content organizations involved including the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB UK), BPI (British Phonographic Industry), IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), and PRS for Music, Operation Creative suspends and removes pirated content as well as advertising.

Designated by the National Copyright Administration of China, the Copyright Protection Center of China (CPCC) administers the copyright registration of various types of work, and it is the one and only institution designated to administer computer software registration. Some local Copyright Bureaus also have the right to administer copyright registration for local residents or companies.

Copyright registration is a relatively simple procedure and can be done on your own, whereas for trademark or patent registration, foreigners must hire and authorize a local agency to proceed.

To file a copyright registration, an applicant is required to submit an application form, identification certificate(s), ownership statement (if applicable), power of attorney (if applicable), and a sample of the work. Filing with the CPCC can be completed online here.

Registration fee varies by the type of work. Information on CPCC’s copyright registration fees can be found here.

If an application is completed and filed and no rectifications are requested, you can expect to receive the registration certificate in 30 business days after submitting the application.

The use of copyright notice is voluntary and optional (under US law, however, for works first published before March 1, 1989, use of the copyright notice was mandatory or could have resulted in the loss of copyright protection). Although not required, a copyright notice is highly advisable to be placed on your website whenever it is launched and becomes available to the public because it confers certain benefits to the copyright owner and adds an extra layer of protection.

• It signals the website viewer that the works on the website are protected by copyright and helps deter potential infringements.
• In the event that your copyright on the website is infringed and you sue, it acts as evidence of willful infringement and defeats an infringer’s defense of “innocent infringement,” which may help you win greater damages.
• It identifies the copyright owner and provides contact information for permission requests.

It is common and sufficient to place one copyright notice at the bottom of  the website homepage. You are perfectly free to include a notice on every single page.

A copyright notice generally consists of three elements:

• The copyright symbol or word: the symbol © ((the letter C in a circle), the word “copyright,” or the abbreviation “Copr.”  It is recommended to use the © symbol because the words “copyright” and “Copr.” are not recognized by some jurisdictions while your website can be accessed all over the world.
• The year of the work’s first publication. While not necessary, it is common practice to use a date range (e.g., 2020-2022) to ensure that all of the current and previous contents on the site are encompassed. 
• The name of the copyright owner.

When you put all three together, you will get a valid copyright notice that looks like this: © 2023 IACC.