Geoff CuddUdemy is one of those huge course-creation platforms that draws in experts from all different industries and backgrounds, which is why I was excited to create a course on their platform.
But even the giant platforms are not immune to theft.
When I discovered my Udemy course was stolen, I knew I had to take action. Here’s what I did next.
Check out our other guides if your course has been stolen from:
Eliminate Pirated Copies of Your Course
Our course was stolen! So, we found an anti-piracy expert to reclaim our lost rankings and stop unauthorized copies. Now you can work with him too.
- Avoid lost revenue when others monetize YOUR content
- Stop brand damage when your name is used on shady websites
- Prevent pirated copies from appearing above you in search results
We offer this website completely free to our visitors. To help pay the bills, we’ll often (but not always) set up affiliate relationships with the top providers after selecting our favorites. However, we do our best not to let this impact our choices. There are plenty of high-paying companies we’ve turned down because we didn’t like their product.
An added benefit of our relationships is that we always try to negotiate exclusive discounts for our visitors.
How I Found Out My Course Was Stolen
With Udemy’s course creator platform, I was able to see that someone had purchased my class, finished it in an incredibly short amount of time, and then requested a chargeback. Sounds sketchy, right?
Well, this set off all sorts of alarms in my head. I began searching carefully, scouring the internet to find any place my course had been illegally distributed. I was surprised to find my course on multiple shady sites.
Someone else was profiting off my hard work! So I got it removed.
Here’s what you can do if you find your course elsewhere.
What To Do If Your Udemy Course Was Stolen
What can you do if your Udemy course gets stolen and redistributed without your permission?
You’ll need to file a DMCA takedown (learn more about what a DMCA takedown is) which is basically a strongly-worded letter informing the thief that you know what they’re up to and threatening legal action if they don’t remove the stolen content.
Here’s what that looks like:
Gather Evidence
First, get all of your receipts together.
This includes your URL and the URL of the offending site as well as anything that proves you are the owner of the original course content.
We recommend that you take screenshots of the course creation process so that there’s no doubt that you are the creator of the course.
Contact the Site Owner First
You'll first need to contact the site owner with a cease and desist notice.
This formal email will assert your ownership of the course they're illegally distributing, point out the legal infringement, and demand the removal of your content from their site.
Include the evidence you've gathered: your original Udemy URL, the infringing site's URL, and any screenshots proving your ownership of the course.
Technically, they have 72 hours to respond with a counter-notice or remove the content. Unfortunately, we’re not exactly dealing with rule-followers here.
If they don't comply, you'll need to take the next step.
Follow Up As Necessary
Didn’t hear back? Follow up as much as you need. Just know that you may need to follow up multiple times and you may never receive an answer.
Send a DMCA Takedown to the ISP Provider
Gather up that evidence you used when you contacted the site owner and go above their head to the site’s ISP provider.
Here’s what you’ll need to include this time around:
- The signature of the copyright owner or owner’s agent, in physical or electronic form.
- Identification of the: (i) copyrighted work(s) infringed; (ii) the infringing activity; and (iii) the location of the infringing activity (typically by providing the URL).
- Contact information of the notice sender, including an email address.
- A statement that the notifier has a good faith belief that the material is not authorized by the intellectual property or copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
- A statement that the information provided is accurate and the notifier is authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the intellectual property or copyright owner.
Once you have all the information gathered, submit your complaint to the ISP of the offending site.
You will also need to file a Google DMCA takedown.
Use a DMCA Takedown Service
If this all sounds like a lot, we recommend trying a DMCA takedown service.
They will perform all of the DMCA takedown requests you could need and offer continued protection to keep your course protected from online thieves.
Since we have firsthand experience, we have created our very own DMCA takedown service. We’d love to help you get your online course removed from third-party sites and keep it protected!
What To Do If Your Stolen Course is On Udemy
What if you find your stolen course on Udemy?
Basically, you’ll just fill out the third-party reporting form, but also follow these steps as well.
1. Gather Evidence
We recommend taking screenshots in Udemy during the creation process for your course, as any bit of evidence that you own your course is useful.
Also, collect the Udemy URL for your course as well as the Udemy URL for the stolen course.
2. Send All of the Information to Udemy’s Customer Service
Send all of the evidence along with your contact info to Udemy’s customer service email.
You’ll need to include the following:
- The signature of the copyright owner or owner’s agent, in physical or electronic form.
- Identification of the: (i) copyrighted work(s) infringed; (ii) the infringing activity; and (iii) the location of the infringing activity (typically by providing the URL).
- Contact information of the notice sender, including an email address.
- A statement that the notifier has a good faith belief that the material is not authorized by the intellectual property or copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
- A statement that the information provided is accurate and the notifier is authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the intellectual property or copyright owner.
Send the info over to [email protected] and you should hear back within about 48 hours.
How to Protect Your Udemy Course
Udemy has built-in preventative measures to protect your content from theft and there are steps you can take to protect your course yourself.
Here are a few.
Built-In Protection On the Platform
Udemy has the following anti-piracy tools in place, including:
- Anti-piracy technology
- Encoding videos using a proprietary player
- Attaching a Udemy watermark to all videos
- Multi-factor authentication
Preventative Measures to Take Yourself
Here are some things you can do yourself to keep your course protected:
- Use videos and different types of media in your course
- Add watermarks to media
- Look into copyright laws
- Back up important information elsewhere off the platform
- Create unique course names
- Take screenshots of the course creation process
Eliminate Pirated Copies of Your Course
Our course was stolen! So, we found an anti-piracy expert to reclaim our lost rankings and stop unauthorized copies. Now you can work with him too.
- Avoid lost revenue when others monetize YOUR content
- Stop brand damage when your name is used on shady websites
- Prevent pirated copies from appearing above you in search results
Claire Fountain
