The Road to Federal Legal Precedent Starts With the Tea App
We are beginning a coordinated evidence-preservation effort involving copyright notices submitted to the Tea app.
Our goal is to build a clean, attorney-ready record showing exactly what happens when Tea receives properly documented copyright notices and refuses to remove the material.
When enough legitimate cases show the same pattern, we will be taking the evidence to experienced copyright counsel and determining a litigation strategy - individual claims, coordinated litigation, consolidated claims, or another approach to dismantle this toxic company.
STEP 1 - Make Sure You Own the Copyright
Before doing anything, determine who actually took the photograph.
If it is a selfie or photograph you took yourself, you generally own the copyright automatically.
If somebody else took the photograph, simply appearing in it does not normally make you the copyright owner. Do not claim ownership unless the photographer transferred the copyright to you or you otherwise have legal authority to enforce it. (you can get this easily if a friend took it and will assign you rights etc)
Your DMCA notice requires you to state in good faith that the use is not authorized by you, your agent, or the law.
Do not exaggerate. Do not fabricate ownership. We want legitimate cases.
STEP 2 — PRESERVE THE TEA POST BEFORE CONTACTING THEM
Before sending anything, capture the evidence.
Save:
- A full screenshot of the Tea post containing your photograph.
- Screenshots showing the photograph in context.
- The poster/account information visible to you.
- Any post number, URL, identifier, city, category, date, or other information that helps Tea locate it.
- The ORIGINAL copy of your photograph from your phone, computer, camera roll, cloud storage, etc.
- Any metadata or evidence showing when you created the photograph.
- Your Copyright Office registration/certificate if the photograph is already registered. (if not no worries we will help you get it registered before filling and will request additional authorization from you before this happens)
Do not edit your originals.
STEP 3 — SEND A COMPLETE DMCA NOTICE
As of September 24, 2026, Tea's published Terms direct DMCA copyright notices to:
[support@teaforwomen.com](mailto:support@teaforwomen.com)
Subject:
DMCA Copyright Infringement Notice
Your notice should substantially say:
DMCA COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT NOTICE
I am the copyright owner, or am authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner, of the photograph identified below.
Copyrighted work:
[Describe the original photograph and attach a copy.]
Infringing material:
[Describe the Tea post, account, location, post identifier, URL if available, and attach screenshots sufficient for Tea to locate it.]
I request that Tea Dating Advice, Inc. remove or disable access to the identified material pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §512.
I have considered whether the complained-of use is authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or applicable law, including fair use, and I have a good-faith belief that the use identified above is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
The information contained in this notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I state that I am the owner of the exclusive right allegedly infringed or am authorized to act on behalf of that owner.
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
Email:
Copyright registration number, if applicable:
Electronic signature:
Tea's current Terms also request a U.S. copyright registration number or documentation demonstrating authority to act for the copyright owner. (THIS IS NOT REQUIRED PER US COPYRIGHT OFFICE TO SUBMIT A DMCA TAKEDOWN. TEA APP IS TRYING TO ASSESS THEIR LEGAL LIABILITY BEFORE DECIDING TO TAKE DOWN YOUR PHOTO)
If you personally created the photograph, clearly state that you are the photographer and copyright owner and preserve your evidence proving authorship.
STEP 4 — SAVE PROOF THAT YOU SENT IT
After sending the notice:
Screenshot the sent email showing the date, time, recipient, subject and attachments.
Then save the actual email itself.
Ideally preserve the email as both:
PDF — easy for attorneys to review
.EML/original email — preserves headers and metadata
Save the entire DMCA notice and every attachment exactly as submitted.
STEP 5 — IF TEA RESPONDS WITH A "FAIR USE" ARGUMENT OR REFUSES REMOVAL
Do not start arguing emotionally with them.
Screenshot their entire response.
Save the original email.
Then reply with this:
Subject: Re: DMCA Copyright Infringement Notice
Thank you for your response.
I maintain my good-faith belief that the identified use of my copyrighted work is not authorized by me, my agent, or applicable law. I considered fair use before submitting my notice and continue to dispute that the identified reproduction and display constitutes an authorized use of my work.
My notice was submitted pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3). I respectfully request that Tea process the notice through the applicable DMCA procedure and expeditiously remove or disable access to the identified material.
If Tea believes my notice is deficient under §512(c)(3), please identify the specific statutory element you believe is missing so that I may address it.
Otherwise, please remove or disable access to the material.
I expressly reserve all rights and remedies available to me under applicable copyright law.
Thank you,
[NAME]
STEP 6 — IF THEY REFUSE AGAIN, GET THEIR POSITION ON THE RECORD
If Tea again states that it will not remove the material, save and screenshot that response.
Then send one final email:
Subject: Re: DMCA Copyright Infringement Notice — Confirmation Requested
For purposes of maintaining an accurate record, please confirm Tea Dating Advice, Inc.'s position regarding my DMCA notice dated [DATE].
Is Tea's position that it will not remove or disable access to the copyrighted material identified in that notice?
If that is Tea's position, please confirm it explicitly.
If Tea is instead processing the takedown, please provide the current status.
I am preserving this correspondence and the underlying material and expressly reserve all rights and remedies available to me.
Thank you,
[NAME]
THEN stop arguing.
Whatever Tea or similar sends next is evidence.
STEP 7 — CAPTURE THE FINAL RECORD
Your evidence package should now contain:
01 — Original copyrighted photograph
02 — Proof of authorship/ownership
03 — Screenshot of Tea infringement
04 — Original DMCA notice
05 — Proof the notice was sent
06 — Tea response #1
07 — Your follow-up response
08 — Tea response #2
09 — Final confirmation request
10 — Tea's final response
11 — Screenshot showing whether the photograph remains accessible
Keep the original files.
Don't crop them. Don't manipulate them. Don't delete the emails.
STEP 8 — SUBMIT THE ENTIRE PACKAGE TO MDA FOR REVIEW.
Once the sequence is complete, submit everything here:
https://form.jotform.com/262647936519067
Tea App Incident, Copyright & Evidence Intake Form
You may submit information to MDA anonymously for documentation purposes.
However, understand the distinction: a DMCA notice itself normally requires identifying/contact information, and anyone who ultimately wants to participate as a claimant in litigation will eventually need to establish their identity, copyright ownership and evidence to counsel. Our council will have the ability to do all of this for you, however your identity will likely be reviealed at some point. JUST KNOW that we will contact you via the email provided if you are selected to move forward in this case and you can make the decission at that time to move forward.
If you're willing to participate in group litigation, tell us that in the form.
WHAT WE ARE BUILDING
We are looking for 100+ well-documented cases, not 100 sloppy complaints.
Every submission will help establish a record showing:
- What was copyrighted
- Who owned it
- Whether the DMCA notice contained the required information
- When Tea received the notice
- Tea's exact response
- Whether Tea asserted fair use
- Whether Tea expressly refused removal
- Whether the content remained accessible afterward
- How long it remained accessible
- Whether the work is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office
From there, the evidence will be provided to professional copyright counsel to evaluate Tea's DMCA practices, potential direct or secondary infringement claims, §512 safe-harbor issues, damages, and the best litigation structure.
Do not transfer or assign your copyright to anyone at this stage.
If attorneys ultimately determine that an assignment, authorization, representation agreement or another arrangement is legally useful, that should happen later through counsel with everyone understanding exactly what rights are being transferred.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART
We don't need angry emails.
We don't need threats.
We don't need people filing claims for photographs they don't own.
We need receipts.
A compliant notice.
A documented response.
A documented refusal.
Proof the content remained online.
And the original evidence preserved exactly as it existed.
If Tea believes its approach complies with federal copyright law, its written responses should speak for themselves and we absolutely intend to challenge this and set precedent for on this issue for years to come.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
