Does the DMCA work outside the US?
The DMCA is a US law, so it doesn't by itself bind a host in another country. But other routes exist where it doesn't reach, and some non-US hosts publish a process close to it. Where you live and where the site sits are two separate questions.
If you're not in the US
You don't need to be American to hold copyright. Under the Berne Convention, works from one member state get the same protection in the others as their own nationals' works, and protection can't depend on a formality such as registration. Nothing in the list of notice elements asks for a nationality either.
If the site or host is in the EU
The Digital Services Act applies to services offered in the EU, wherever the provider is based. Being merely reachable from the EU isn't enough on its own. Its recitals name unauthorized use of copyright-protected material as an example of illegal content, and Article 16 requires hosting providers to run an electronic notice mechanism that anyone can use. A notice there needs:
- an explanation of why the content is illegal
- its exact location, such as the URLs
- your name and email address
- a statement that you believe in good faith that the notice is accurate and complete
If the host is somewhere else
Check whether it publishes its own process. MEGA, for example, has its designated agent in New Zealand and asks for elements close to the US list, with the perjury statement "unless applicable law says otherwise". Other hosts ignore everything. Then I work up the chain: site, host, registrar.
Google is the separate lever
A Google filing targets Google's results, not the site. So even when a host is out of reach, you can still ask Google to stop showing the page: see the Google guide. Google is clear that this leaves the page itself online.
General information, not legal advice. I'm not a lawyer and Abolita is not a law firm. Checked against the linked sources on 6 November 2026.
Quick answers
I live in the EU. Can I still use a DMCA notice?
Yes, for a US provider or any provider that accepts them. The statute's notice elements don't ask where you live. For a host offering services in the EU, you can also use its Digital Services Act notice mechanism.
Is a foreign site out of reach, then?
Sometimes the site is. Its host, its registrar and Google are separate parties, and each can be asked separately. Some sites ignore every notice, and I'd rather tell you that up front.
Sources
- WIPO: summary of the Berne Convention
- 17 U.S.C. § 512 (Cornell LII)
- EU Digital Services Act, Regulation 2022/2065
- MEGA: copyright notice
- Google: remove explicit or intimate personal images
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