SEDM COPYRIGHT AND
DIGITAL MILLENIUM COPYRIGHT ACT (DMCA)
POLICY

1.  Introduction

This policy is intended to implement the procedures set forth in 17 U.S.C. Section 512 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") for the reporting of alleged copyright infringement. It is the policy of Sovereignty Education and Defense Ministry (SEDM) (the "Ministry") to respect the legitimate rights of copyright owners and their agents and representatives. Users of any part of the ministry computing system are required to respect the legal protections provided by applicable copyright law.

2.  "Fair use" of Third Party Materials on this Website

Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §107, the information and materials provided through this website which do not bear a copyright notice associated with this ministry constitute a "fair use" of the materials provided.  They are distributed exclusively with the intent of:

1. Religious worship in accordance with the laws of God.
2. Legal research.
3. Law enforcement.
4. Use as evidence in rights litigation against the de facto government.
5. Public and political discussion.
6. Inviting criticism.
7. Teaching and education.
8. Scholarship.
9. News.
10. Reporting.

Materials are NOT provided for or intended for any commercial purpose whatsoever and therefore do not constitute a "commercial use" of third party materials without the express consent of the owner. For further information on "commercial speech", see:

Commercial Speech, Form #05.015

• Sample
• PDF in member subscriptions
• Member Subscriptions

Any attempt to obstruct or interfere with this ministry, its activities, or the dissemination of information on this website shall be regarded as a criminal attempt to obstruct justice due to the people who are the subject of it.

3.  Government works posted on this website

Several government works are posted on this website. Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §105, these works are NOT protected by the copyright act and may be freely downloaded and shared. Such works include, but are not necessarily limited to:

1. The Declaration of Independence.
2. The Constitution.
3. Statutes.
4. Regulations.
5. Federal Register.
6. Court rulings.
7. Court transcripts.
8. U.S. Attorney Bulletins.
9. IRS Internal Revenue Manual (I.R.M.).
10. Government agency forms and publications.
11. International treaties.
12. Website contents of federal agencies.
13. Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports.

4.  Policy for Quoting and Reusing Our Copyrighted and Licensed Materials

All of the information and materials posted on this website are protected by the following copyright and license agreements:

1. Disclaimer, section 5.
2. Member Agreement, Section 5.

In order to quote or reuse our materials you must:

1. Consent unconditionally to our Member Agreement.
   http://sedm.org/Membership/MemberAgreement.htm
2. Be a member in good standing.
3. Not advocate any of the flawed arguments in what you say or in the document you are publishing:
   Liberty University, Section 8
   http://sedm.org/LibertyU/LibertyU.htm
4. Not redact any page or any portion of any document you are providing, quoting, reusing.  This ESPECIALLY applies to legal proceedings in which our materials are used as evidence and in which any Member or Ministry Officer or the ministry itself is involved.
5. Give a reference to the following in your publication:
   5.1 The author.
   5.2 Website link.
   5.3 The form number, version number or date, page number, and line number where the information appears on our website.
6. If you are criticizing an error in our publications as part of your publication, you must notify us of the error and provide legally admissible evidence proving it is an error at least two months prior to publication by posting to:
   Erata Reports, Forum 9.4
   http://sedm.org/forums/index.php?showforum=6
   And give us at least two weeks to fix the error PRIOR to publication. If we fix it, you may not publish the older information but must use the LATEST information in your publication.

Why do we insist that those who quote or reuse our materials must be members?  Because use by non-members is likely to be biased and prejudiced, which will inevitably lead primarily to unwarranted criticism by those with a financial motive who want to enrich themselves by slandering others.  Members, on the other hand, may not have a commercial motivation for obtaining or using our materials, and hence, their use cannot be enjoinable, subject to rebuke, or regulated in any way by any government.  This will preserve the credibility and honor of both us and them in learning and enforcing the law.

When contacting us via our Contact Us page to pursue permission to reuse our materials, please ensure that you completely read and follow the "IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL WHO COMMUNICATE WITH SEDM VIA PHONE, EMAIL, OR THIS PAGE:" at the end of the page and provide all the information requested there.

5.  Designated Agent

The Ministry's Designated Agent to receive notification of alleged infringement under the DMCA is:

Sovereignty Education and Defense Ministry (SEDM)
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Click here to send an email to the Copyright Agent.

(This email address is only for copyright infringement claims.You will not receive a reply if the matter is not a copyright issue.)

Upon receipt of proper notification of claimed infringement, Ministry will follow the procedures outlined in this policy and in the DMCA.

6.  Complaint Notice Procedures for Copyright Owners

The following elements must be included in your copyright infringement claim:

1. An electronic or physical signature of the owner (or a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner) of an exclusive copyright-related right that is allegedly infringed.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or if a single notice objects to several copyrighted works at a single online site, a representative list of the infringed works at that site. A "representative list" should identify every work if there are less than ten such works and at least half of the works if there are ten or more such works.
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the Ministry to locate the material. This should include the exact URL and the date on which the infringement was noted.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the Ministry to contact the complaining party. If at all possible, this should include an electronic mail address, and should include a mailing address, telephone number, and fax number.
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that the allegedly infringing use of the material at issue is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Failure to include all of the above information may result in a delay of the processing or the DCMA notification.

7.  Notice and Takedown Procedure

All users of any part of the Ministry website must comply with all applicable copyright laws. However, if the Ministry receives proper notification of claimed copyright infringement, it will respond expeditiously by removing, or disabling access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity. The Ministry will comply with the appropriate provisions of the DMCA upon receiving any counter notification.

Please allow at least three business days to process any complaint or counter-notification. The Ministry will process these items as rapidly as possible, but cannot predict the number of active items it may have at any given time.

8.  Repeat Infringers

Infringement of the copyrights of others violates the Terms of Service for all of the Ministry's computing systems and networks. Under appropriate circumstances, Ministry may restrict or terminate the access of its system or network users who are repeat infringers. The Ministry will cooperate with copyright holders if it believes that any repeat infringer's activity is both (a) persistent and (b) willful and/or for purposes of financial gain, and such cooperation may include, among other things, the release of otherwise private user information after appropriate notification and (if necessary) due process of law.

This DMCA policy is effective as of August 28, 2011

9.  Information for Copy Centers and Notaries

This section is intended for copy centers and notaries who may be receiving or notarizing copyrighted materials from this site that are intended to be either mailed to third parties or notarized.  Here are the constraints:

1. Most of the materials on this website are specifically designed and intended to be used in communication by Members with third parties, and especially parties in the government and legal profession.
2. Materials on this site are authorized for reproduction only by those who indicate that they are consenting Members of Sovereignty Education and Defense Ministry (SEDM) and who are compliant with our Member Agreement, Form #01.001.
3. To determine whether a person is authorized to copy the materials in question, please follow the following procedure:
   3.1  Ask them whether they are a Member and that they produce a a signed and dated copy of the Member Agreement available from the following link:
   http://sedm.org/Membership/MemberAgreement.pdf
   3.2  Ask them whether they are following the Path to Freedom, Form #09.015 and whether they have completed up to step 14 of section 12 of that document:
   http://sedm.org/Forms/09-Procs/PathToFreedom.pdf
   3.3  Ask them whether they are selling or reselling the materials they are reproducing.
4. If the answer to questions 3.1 and 3.2 above is YES and the answer to 3.3 is NO, then they are free to reproduce, notarize, and mail any of the materials from this site.