IP Policy

Whatnot respects the intellectual property rights of others, and we expect you to do the same. Whatnot’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines do not allow posting, uploading, publishing, submitting, or transmitting any content that violates or infringes someone else’s intellectual property rights, including copyright and trademark.

Do not infringe on IP that you do not own or have not licensed. If a seller violates this policy, they may be subject to investigation and receive corrective action in accordance with our What Actions We Take guidelines, up to and including removal from the platform. IP infringement may also violate laws in your state/county and result in severe penalties.

• Counterfeit items or items infringing on a third party's intellectual property rights:
• No sales, listings, or giveaways of any counterfeit, imitation, fake, replicas, bootlegs, or non-genuine items (e.g., Goddess Story, unauthorized reproductions, etc.)
• Media (e.g., music, movies, shows) and software (e.g., video games) must be original. Unauthorized modifications are strictly prohibited
• No content or sales of any items that violate or infringes another party’s copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights (e.g., modified games)
• This includes using the Whatnot name, logo, or other brand assets without express approval from Whatnot
• Items sold with a brand name or logo must be original
• Items must adhere to our listing guidelines

• Use of Content on Whatnot:
• It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the right to use all content, including music, PPV content, sports events, movies, TV, shows, etc. played or displayed in the background in any live stream. 
• You also may not use any content owned in whole or in part by someone other than yourself in your streams without the necessary authorization.
• If you wish to use licensed and/or copyrighted content, including music, in your live streams, you’ll generally need to have received permission from the owner(s) of the content.
• Whatnot cannot grant you any of these rights and it is your responsibility to contact the persons who may grant them to you. 

If you have further questions, you’ll have to research this process on your own or with a lawyer’s help.

Reporting IP Infringements 

A report alleging infringement of intellectual property rights must come from the rights owner or someone authorized to report on their behalf (e.g. an attorney or agent). If you are not the rights owner or their authorized representative, we will not be able to process your report. If you believe others' rights may be infringed, please ask them to review our Intellectual Property Policy.

Any unauthorized content users share on Whatnot violates our Terms of Service and is subject to removal. Multiple violations of our policies may lead to a permanent suspension of a user’s account. Rights holders may request that Whatnot remove unauthorized content and/or issue penalties through the following processes:

• For copyrighted works, the notice-and-takedown process is described in the "DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement" section of our Terms of Service.

• For trademarks, you should identify the allegedly infringing work and the legal basis for your claim, including the registration and/or application numbers for your trademark.  Please understand that Whatnot is not in a position to mediate trademark disputes between users and trademark owners. Whatnot is willing to perform a limited investigation of reasonable complaints and will remove the content in clear cases of infringement.

If you have any questions, or if you believe that material you posted on Whatnot was removed or access to it was disabled by mistake or misidentification, please click here to contact our Seller Support team.