Facebook Has The Most Online Piracy Complaints

Facebook Has The Most Online Piracy Complaints

Facebook is leading the race on online piracy complaints. The online source remains the leading source of IP violations, accounting for 75 percent of the overall reports and complaints. 

IPOPHL Facebook Online Piracy Complaints

According to data from the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), Facebook continued to receive the most complaints about intellectual property of any online platform in the first half of this year, followed by Shopee, Instagram, and Lazada.

According to IPOPHL this is the current standing to date of online IP violations – 

  • Facebook – 65.8%
  • Other Websites – 13.2%
  • Shopee – 9.2%
  • Instagram – 6.6%
  • Lazada – 5.3%

It is also important to point out that compared to last year this time IP violations declined by 48 %. In 2021 the number of complaints was 107 this time. At present, it has come down to 56 complaints. 

List of online counterfeit complaints

  • Apparel (shoes, clothes, bags and eyewear) – 65.9%
  • Perfume and beauty products – 9.1%
  • Gadgets – 6.8%
  • Home items – 6.8%
  • Other items – 4.5%


List of online piracy complaints

  • Movies and shows – 44.4%
  • Paintings and artworks – 22.2%
  • eBooks – 22.2%
  • Software – 11.1%

How to report an Online Piracy Complaint in Facebook

Since Facebook won’t look for copyright infringing content, it’s up to you and your brand to report illegally shared copies of your content found on Facebook. This can seem quite daunting at first since Facebook has made navigating their support and legal pages feel like trying to find your way in a maze. Luckily, we’ve traversed this maze many times and have mapped every step you need to take.

Step 1: Navigate to Facebook’s Copyright Report Form

The first thing you need to do in order to report a copyright infringing Facebook post is to navigate to the Copyright Report Form. In order to save you the trouble of having to find this form yourself, we can make it easy and give you the direct URL to Facebook’s Copyright Report Form.

Once your on the right page, you’ll have to choose one of these three options:

Step 2: Filling in your Contact Information

The next step in reporting a copyright infringing Facebook post is to fill in your contact information so that Facebook knows how and where to contact you.

These are all basic fields. For your full name, you fill in the name of the person that is issuing this report. Your mailing address will be the address of your company or your own address if you don’t have a business address. Finally, fill in the email address you want Facebook to reply to.

Step 3: Give them information on your Copyrighted Product or Service

The third step in taking down an illegal Facebook post is to fill in the required fields which ask you to describe your copyrighted content.

The first field you have to fill in requires you to write down the name of the rights owner. Over here is where you fill in the name of your brand or company. If you own the copyright yourself and do not have an organization, you can fill in your own name.

Now comes the drop down menu where you have to select the country in which you or your organization is based.

The next field is another drop down menu that’ll ask you to describe your copyrighted work. You’ll get to choose from four different categories, namely:

  • Photo
  • Video
  • Text
  • Other

Select the option that best describes your content.

Finally, Facebook asks you to provide them with a URL(s) to your copyrighted work. Facebook needs this so it can verify that the original content is indeed coming from your site. You can fill in a link to your website, product page or even a social media post. Remember: the more specific you are with your URLs, the more likely Facebook is to remove the infringing post.

Step 4: Fill in the infringing Facebook content

The fourth step in your journey to reporting an infringing Facebook post is to fill in the fields about the

infringing post itself.

First off, Facebook wants to know what type of Facebook content you’re reporting. Are you reporting a photo, video or post? Then you can check the top box. Are you reporting an ad? Then the second box is your best bet. Are you reporting something else like a group or a page? Then you can select the other option. Do note that Facebook will most likely want you to sent them more information later on why the page or group has to be taken down.

Now it’s time to fill in the URL(s) of the infringing content you’ve found on Facebook. You can do this in the field with the header that says “Please provide links (URLs) leading directly to the specific content you are reporting”. How do you grab a post URL? Simply click on the three dots in the top right corner of a post and select the “Copy Link” option. You will now have a URL that leads directly to the copyright infringing post.

In the drop down menu, select the reason why you’re reporting the post(s). You have three options to choose from, namely:

  • This content copies my work
  • I appear in this content
  • This content uses my name

The first option is used most when it comes to copyright infringing posts since the content of the reported posts is copying your copyrighted work.

The second option can be used if you own the copyrights of the photo you’re in. Do note that being in a photograph or video does not automatically make you the rights owner, so Facebook can ask you to provide further proof that you’re the owner or reject your request.

The third option can be used to report something that uses your name; however, Facebook will warn you that names, taglines, titles, slogans and short phrases are not protected by copyright in most countries. In this case, you’re better off filling in the Facebook trademark infringement form.

Finally, Facebook will ask you to provide additional information to help them understand your report. Over here, you can explain how the reported Facebook post is infringing and in what ways it’s infringing upon your copyright. Filling in a clear description of why the post(s) are infringing will speed up the removal process.

Step 5: Signing the form and submitting it

The final step of reporting an copyright infringing Facebook post is to electronically sign the form and submit it.

Before you fill in your name and submit your copyright infringement report, be sure to read the “Declaration Statement”. If you have filled in the form accurately, sign it and press submit. You have now notified Facebook of a copyright infringement.

What will happen after a post has been reported?

You have completed the Facebook copyright infringement form and reported an illegal Facebook post that was infringing upon your or your brand’s copyrights, but what happens now?

After submitting your copyright infringement complaint to Facebook, you’ll receive a confirmation email from Facebook stating that they’ve received your complaint and that they’ll look at it as soon as possible. Our experience tells us that Facebook usually takes 12 to 24 hours to review a copyright complaint.

After a complaint has been reviewed by Facebook, three things can happen.

Facebook approves of your complaint and the infringing Facebook post(s) will be removed. Congratulations, the post is now gone!

Facebook requests more information on your complaint. They can ask for a more detailed URL to the official product/service page, or they can ask for a clearer reason as to why the reported Facebook post(s) is infringing upon your copyright. Provide Facebook with the information and they’ll look over your complaint again.

Facebook rejects your copyright complaints. This means that Facebook didn’t see the reported post as infringing. When this happens, you can try and fill in another form.

That’s how you report a copyright infringing Facebook post. Are you looking for a company that can handle social media removals such as removing infringing Facebook posts? We’d love to help you out. Onsist has been helping out over 700+ brands in protecting their copyrighted content from illegal sharing and piracy. Have a look at our Anti-Piracy Services.

Stop losing your revenue

Want to read more?

Want to read more?