Newsletter #25: DMCA takedown requests, Shop the window and Aya Nakamura

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I hope you're feeling amazing.

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Tomorrow is a big day for me: it’s the culmination of 3 weeks of work on a side project that I've never attempted before. I’ll explain everything in the next edition and I’ll share pictures. I’m so excited!

In today's edition, we're discussing DMCA takedown requests, Shop the window and Aya Nakamura.

Let's dive in.

Work

Have you ever heard of DMCA takedown requests?

They have been a hot topic lately in the Shopify ecosystem.

DMCA stands for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is a United States copyright law that addresses the rights and obligations of digital content creators, internet service providers and online platforms.

In the Shopify ecosystem, a DMCA takedown request is the process by which a copyright holder contacts Shopify to request the removal of infringing content from a Shopify store.

In theory, that’s a great way to defend copyright.

In practice, DMCA takedown requests have been largely abused: many Shopify store owners who had done nothing wrong saw their stores being taken down by Shopify following a DMCA request filed by a malicious competitor.

Many abused store owners shared their anger and disappointment on Twitter and it eventually reached Shopify’s management’s ears.

On December 11th, 2023, Shopify’s CEO Tobi Lütke took position on this topic. In a long tweet, he explained what Shopify did about it.

Here are several actions that Shopify undertook to prevent DMCA takedown requests to be used in bad faith between competitors:

• They productized the DMCA takedown request feature: no more form emails, these cases are now handled directly in the Shopify admin.

• They made the identity system more robust so that they know more about the claims being filed. They now consider the claimants’ previous cases in order to make a decision.

• They recently took action by filing multiple lawsuits against claimants in court.

As a result, Shopify now detects spammy or frivolous claims at a much higher frequency.

“Be merchant obsessed” is a core value that Shopify keeps acting on. And for people evolving in the Shopify ecosystem - whether it’s merchants, freelancers, agencies, app developers - it’s amazing to see!

Learn more about Shopify’s fight against fraudulent DMCA takedown requests in Tobi’s tweet.

Inspire

Sometimes, the best ideas are the simplest.

I recently came across a tweet by John Speed in which he shared a picture of the window of a shop called Frock.

The owner had placed a “Shop the window” QR code in the shop’s window. Scanning this QR code directly leads you to the shop’s online store, which is (obviously) powered by Shopify.

Isn’t it a nice use case for QR codes?

It seems to be a perfect opportunity for people passing by at night when the shop is closed, or for those who are interested but don’t have time to come inside.

What do you think?

Learn more about it in John’s tweet.

Explore

In edition 23, I shared the name of the artist I listened to the most this year on Spotify.

Since then, I have looked into Spotify’s official statistics for the whole platform and it’s super interesting!

With no surprise, the most streamed artist worldwide in 2023 is Taylor Swift. I wrote about her in edition 14. Her statistics are simply astronomical.

Now, let’s zoom on France.

Guess who is the woman artist that was streamed the most in France in 2023 on Spotify?

It was Aya Nakamura. Amazing!

She was not in my top 10 this year, but she was in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

I remember her concert in Paris in November 2019. It’s still one of the best I’ve done. I’ll certainly go see her again.

In the meantime, let’s watch her last performance: an acoustic concert at Lancôme’s Domain of the Rose.

This swaying vibe is warm and relaxing. My favorite songs from this performance are the last two, starting at 6min48.

And I can’t stop thinking: what an inspiring figure she must be for little girls in France and elsewhere.

Enjoy.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this edition until the end.

I'll talk to you soon.

Take good care of yourself.

Coralie