Hello.
Later this afternoon, I received a DMCA Takedown Notice including an allegation of intellectual property infringement; specifically that my charity site’s theme was allegedly unlicensed. As background, I hired a company to create my Shopify site, so my assumption has always been that any themes or plugins used were legitimate.
The email from Shopify demanded I purchase a paid version of the theme or delete the theme from my account (reasonable), or my site’s public access WILL BE DISABLED IN ONE BUSINESS DAY. I was later advised their business day begins at 8:00 a.m.
I immediately replied to the email, but never received a response. I spent the next 4.5 hours on the phone and chatting with their customer service. They offered no assistance, were unable to tell me when my website will be disabled, and did not know whether I would receive a response – even if I deleted the theme as demanded – before my site will be disabled.
Despite being a violation of the DMCA and basic due process, is the absurd timeframe of their demand SOP for Shopify? How do they expect a customer to fully investigate a DMCA matter, and either rectify it – as Shopify holds the power of pulling the plug on your website and destroying years of SEO efforts – within a matter of hours? Given the ludicrously short timeframe provided, I assume their intent is to limit customers’ ability to contact the company that designed the website, and simply concede and comply with their demands.
I’m interested to hear if others have been forced into similar impossible situations or if I am being singled out.