DMCA takedown Case for a Notion Template
Sometime January, I discovered someone copying a Notion template (completely by accident while doing a Google search.)
I've been creating templates for three years and document everything meticulously when I’m active, so I recognized the workflow and language patterns even though it was run through an LLM.
The whole process took about 2 weeks and honestly felt like I was figuring it out as I went. A lot of creators reached out when I first posted about this, so I put together the full timeline and evidence examples as a reference.
Some insights which I’ve also shared in the first document:
Gather as much evidence as you can. There are many cases of people just slightly tweaking certain parts of the templates, whether that’s the copy, design or the databases to make it look a little different. I was lucky to catch this person redhanded, likely trying to capitalize on the SEO of a unique template title and offering it at a cheaper price.
Be patient with the process. It really takes time. While I hoped there was more guidance and help from the Notion team regarding this very common situation (from anecdotal evidence of big and small creators), the person responding to my e-mail was very patient and open to discuss this case. Yes, this is a pain on top of everything else not necessarily related to Notion — but doing this will also help you understand how to communicate despite conflict. Always stick to the facts. This isn’t something you can ChatGPT out of (but it can help with phrasing if your eyeballs are fried like mine was.)
Get external input. I intentionally posted on Reddit because I knew people there were generally very frank, and not so welcoming of template creators so if anyone would give me a rude awakening, it would be an apathetic Reddit user. My friends, the creator community, and my overall network are very kind and compassionate — but I need people who would just lay out things straight so I can straighten out the facts in the document.
I hope this is helpful, I think this would’ve been a really useful document to have while I was in the trenches.