DMCA Policy

1. Designated Agent

Our designated agent for receipt of DMCA notifications is reachable by email at info@county-cad.org. Please use the subject line “DMCA notice” for takedown requests and “DMCA counter-notice” for counter-notifications. We process all notices submitted in good faith and that include the six statutory elements set out below.

2. Filing a DMCA Notice

If you believe content on county-cad.org/ infringes a copyright you own or are authorised to enforce, send a written notice to the designated agent. The notice should be sent in plain text or PDF and include all six statutory elements.

3. Six Required Elements (17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3))

1. Physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner, or a person authorised to act on the owner’s behalf.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed — a specific work, or, if multiple works at the site are covered, a representative list.
3. Identification of the allegedly infringing material — sufficient to permit us to locate it (full URLs to the specific guide or guides on county-cad.org/, not the homepage).
4. Reasonably sufficient contact information — your name, address, telephone number, and email.
5. A good-faith statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. An accuracy statement under penalty of perjury — that the information in the notification is accurate, and (under penalty of perjury) that you are authorised to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

4. Counter-Notice (17 U.S.C. § 512(g))

If your content was removed in response to a DMCA notice and you believe the removal was based on mistake or misidentification, you may file a counter-notice. A counter-notice must include:

• Your physical or electronic signature
• Identification of the material that was removed and the location at which it appeared before removal
• A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief that the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification
• Your name, address, and telephone number
• A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or, if outside the U.S., for any judicial district in which county-cad.org/ may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted the original notice

If we receive a valid counter-notice, we will forward it to the original complainant. If the original complainant does not file a court action seeking a restraining order against the user within 10–14 business days of receipt of the counter-notice, we may restore the removed material.

5. Repeat-Infringer Policy (17 U.S.C. § 512(i))

county-cad.org/ maintains a policy, in compliance with Section 512(i), of terminating in appropriate circumstances the access of users (including contributors and commenters) who are repeat infringers of copyright.

6. Misrepresentation Liability (17 U.S.C. § 512(f))

7. Fair Use & Educational Texas Property-Records Content (17 U.S.C. § 107)

Section 107 of the Copyright Act establishes the fair-use defence. The four statutory factors are: (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether it is for nonprofit educational purposes or transformative; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

8. Federal and Texas Government Works

Federal government works are generally not subject to copyright (17 U.S.C. § 105) — including most Internal Revenue Service (IRS), General Services Administration (GSA), and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) publications relevant to property matters. Texas government works are generally available for non-commercial reuse with attribution under the Texas open-records framework (Tex. Gov’t Code §552); the Texas Property Tax Code itself is uncopyrighted as state law. We comply with the Texas Comptroller PTAD’s stated reuse policy for its publications and link to the original published page rather than reproducing it. CAD publications follow each CAD’s own framework, supervised by the Texas Comptroller PTAD.

9. Trademark — Nominative Fair Use

We use the names of Texas Central Appraisal Districts, Texas state oversight bodies, and Texas professional associations — for example, “Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD),” “Dallas Central Appraisal District (DCAD),” “Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD),” “Bexar Appraisal District (BCAD),” “Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD),” “Collin Central Appraisal District (CCAD),” “Denton Central Appraisal District,” “El Paso Central Appraisal District (EPCAD),” “Williamson Central Appraisal District (WCAD),” “Fort Bend Central Appraisal District (FBCAD),” “Galveston Central Appraisal District (GCAD),” “Montgomery Central Appraisal District (MCAD),” “Hidalgo County Appraisal District,” “Cameron Appraisal District,” “Brazoria Central Appraisal District,” “Nueces County Appraisal District,” “Lubbock Central Appraisal District,” “Bell Central Appraisal District,” “Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Property Tax Assistance Division (PTAD),” “Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR),” “Texas Association of Appraisal Districts (TAAD),” “Texas Association of Assessing Officers (TAAO),” “Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB),” and many others — to identify the office our guide covers.

This is nominative fair use. Under the Ninth Circuit’s framework in New Kids on the Block v. News America Publishing, Inc., 971 F.2d 302 (9th Cir. 1992) and subsequent case law, nominative use is permitted where (a) the product or service in question is not readily identifiable without use of the trademark, (b) only so much of the mark is used as is reasonably necessary, and (c) the user does nothing that would suggest sponsorship or endorsement by the mark holder. We meet all three requirements.

We also reference professional standards bodies — the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), the Appraisal Foundation (administering USPAP), the Appraisal Subcommittee, and the National Association of Counties (NACo) — nominatively to identify the standards or organisations referenced. The same fair-use framework applies.

If you are the mark holder for a referenced office or organisation and you believe our use exceeds nominative fair use, email us with subject line “Trademark concern” — we respond within 5 business days. We will not entertain trademark objections that are functionally objections to accurate identification of the CAD our editorial content describes.

10. Defamation Framework

Defamation requires a false statement of fact published with the relevant degree of fault. Our content is editorial reporting on Texas CAD procedures — exemption procedures, ARB protest frameworks, portal walkthroughs, and procedural descriptions. We rarely have occasion to publish defamation-relevant content; when we do reference CAD officials, ARB members, or Texas Comptroller PTAD staff, we attribute statements to the official record and we correct factual errors when shown they are factual errors.

For matters of public concern, the U.S. Supreme Court’s framework in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) requires public officials to prove “actual malice” (knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth). Texas CAD chief appraisers, Appraisal Review Board members, senior Texas Comptroller PTAD officials, and TDLR officials acting in their official capacity are typically public officials or public figures for Sullivan purposes when commentary concerns institutional conduct. For private figures involved in matters of public concern, Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974) and its progeny require at least a showing of fault.

We report on Texas property assessment practice. We attribute. We correct factual errors. We do not retract accurate content in response to objections from people who don’t like that the content is accurate. If you believe a statement on the site is factually incorrect, email us with subject line “Defamation concern” or “Correction” — provide the page URL, the specific statement, and the source you believe shows it is incorrect. We respond within 7 business days.

11. What We Can’t Help With

• We can’t remove property records from a Texas CAD’s published portal — we describe how to find what the CAD publishes; the CAD is the authority
• We can’t remove accurate content drawn from public CAD and Texas Comptroller PTAD pages
• We can’t remove information about you from any Texas CAD database — that’s the CAD’s record; you must contact the CAD directly, and Texas confidentiality protections under Tex. Gov’t Code §552.117 and the Texas Office of the Attorney General Address Confidentiality Program may apply
• We can’t represent you in litigation against any third party — consult a Texas-licensed attorney
• We can’t process exemption applications or ARB protests on your behalf
• We can’t remove your search history from search engines — that’s between you and the search engine

12. Contact

For DMCA notices: info@county-cad.org with subject line “DMCA notice”.
For counter-notices: subject line “DMCA counter-notice”.
For trademark concerns: subject line “Trademark concern”.
For defamation concerns: subject line “Defamation concern” or “Correction”.