DMCA-ignored countries in 2026: what "ignored" really means

Every country outside the United States is, strictly speaking, a DMCA-ignored country: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is US federal law and has no legal force abroad. That does not make those countries copyright-free. Whether content comes down depends on each country's own copyright law, its courts and, in EU member states, the Digital Services Act.

So lists of "DMCA-ignored countries" answer the wrong question. The useful one is what replaces the DMCA where your server runs. This guide covers our seven jurisdictions, countries that often appear on such lists and the channels that reach a site anywhere. To compare plans and locations, see our DMCA-ignored hosting page.

The short answer: which countries ignore the DMCA?

All of them except the United States. The DMCA added section 512 to the US Copyright Act in 1998, giving US service providers safe harbors: a host that meets its conditions, chief among them removing material "expeditiously" after a valid notice, is shielded from monetary liability for its users' infringements. That is a bargain under US law, and a host outside US jurisdiction is not bound by it.

Is the DMCA international? No. In the US Copyright Office's words, "There is no such thing as an 'international copyright' that will automatically protect an author's writings throughout the world. Protection against unauthorized use in a particular country depends on the national laws of that country" (Circular 38a).

The treaties behind those national laws are international. The same circular, current as of July 2026, lists all seven countries we use as Berne Convention parties and WTO members, and the WTO's TRIPS Agreement requires enforcement procedures that "permit effective action against any act of infringement" (Article 41). A country can disregard the DMCA, but every WTO member has committed to enforcing copyright.

Why most lists of DMCA-ignored countries mislead

The typical list has five problems:

1. It implies a distinction the law does not make. Any country outside the United States qualifies.
2. It mixes company havens with server locations. Panama or Seychelles may be where a host registers its company; the data center's country decides what happens to your server.
3. It skips local procedures: the DSA in EU members, statutory copyright notices in Iceland and Malaysia, and a stay-down duty for high-risk hosts in Switzerland.
4. It ignores everyone but the host. Search engines, CDNs, domain registrars and payment providers can act on a US notice wherever the server sits.
5. It describes hosts, not countries. "DMCA ignored" is one company's policy toward one law, and a host that rents its network from a provider with its own DMCA process can be pressured through it. See DMCA-ignored hosting explained.

What decides takedowns instead

Outside the United States, four things decide whether a copyright complaint leads to removal:

• Local copyright law. Each country's own copyright act decides what infringes and which exceptions and remedies apply, for example Moldova's Law No. 139/2010 or Malaysia's Copyright Act 1987. A notice citing US law does not change that analysis.
• Court orders. Courts can order removals in every country we use. In the EU, member states must ensure that rights holders "are in a position to apply for an injunction against intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe a copyright or related right" (Directive 2001/29/EC, Article 8(3)), and the DSA's liability exemption does not affect such orders (Article 6(4)).
• EU notice and action. In EU member states, the Digital Services Act requires hosts to accept notices of illegal content (Article 16). A notice that lets a diligent host see the illegality "without a detailed legal examination" gives it actual knowledge, and a host that then fails to act expeditiously loses its liability exemption for that content (Article 6). Our guide to the Digital Services Act covers each step.
• Local notice procedures. Iceland's Act No. 30/2002 and Malaysia's Copyright Act 1987 give a formal copyright notification legal effect, with a counter-notice for the customer. Moldova's Law No. 20/2009 adds administrative removal orders for listed criminal content, such as malware and child sexual abuse material.

Country by country: the seven jurisdictions we use

Each country has a full legal profile, with sources, on our locations page. In summary:

In the three EU locations, competent authorities can also order terrorist content removed within one hour under Regulation (EU) 2021/784.

Iceland

EEA, not EU, and the DSA is still under scrutiny for incorporation into the EEA Agreement. Under Act No. 30/2002, the customer gets a copy of a copyright notification and can counter-notify; access is restored unless the complainant goes to court within two weeks. In 2014 a Reykjavík court ordered access providers to block The Pirate Bay.

Switzerland

Outside the EU and the EEA, with no statutory notice-and-takedown. Since 2020, Article 39d of the Copyright Act has required hosts whose service creates a particular risk of infringement to take reasonable measures so that removed works do not reappear. Courts can order removals, including under Article 28 of the Civil Code.

Moldova

An EU candidate, so no DSA. Copyright disputes go to court under Law No. 139/2010. Removal orders under Law No. 20/2009 cover listed criminal categories; they are published and can be challenged in court.

Romania

An EU member, with ANCOM as Digital Services Coordinator. Under Law No. 50/2024, sector regulators and judicial authorities can order hosts to act against illegal content or to provide information; ANCOM's 2024 report counts four removal orders and two information orders.

The Netherlands

A founding EU member where the DSA applies in full. The next section covers it in detail.

Bulgaria

An EU member, with the Communications Regulation Commission as Digital Services Coordinator. Copyright is enforced through the courts, and the DSA sets the notice procedure for hosts.

Malaysia

Outside the DSA, with its own procedure: after a section 43H notification, the provider must disable the material within 48 hours. The user can counter-notify, and the material returns no sooner than ten business days later unless the complainant reports a court filing. A knowingly false notice is a crime under section 43I.

Is the Netherlands DMCA ignored? Not exactly

A US DMCA notice has no legal force in the Netherlands, so in the narrow sense, yes. In every sense that matters to a site owner, no:

• The DSA applies in full. A notice that meets Article 16 gives a Dutch host actual knowledge, and the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) supervises the rules.
• Rights holders are organized. A case brought by the anti-piracy foundation BREIN led the EU Court of Justice to rule in 2017 that operating a platform such as The Pirate Bay is itself a communication to the public (C-610/15).
• Prosecutors have a direct tool. Under Article 125p of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a prosecutor can order a provider to make specific data inaccessible, with prior written authorization from an examining magistrate.
• Authorities act against hosts. Police seized servers of abusive hosts in February and November 2025, and the FIOD seized 800 servers in a sanctions case in May 2026.

So the DMCA is ignored in the Netherlands; Dutch and EU copyright law is not. Choose our Netherlands location for connectivity, not for distance from EU law. Iceland, Switzerland, Moldova and Malaysia are outside EU procedures.

Often-listed DMCA-ignored countries we do not use

Lists of DMCA-ignored hosting countries often include places where we chose not to run servers. Our reasons, briefly:

• Russia and Hong Kong. Sanctions risk and state surveillance in Russia; national-security rules that let Hong Kong police require hosts to remove content. Sources are in the places we avoid section of our jurisdiction comparison.
• Panama, Seychelles and Belize. Places to register companies, not where servers usually run. Ask a host "based" there where its data centers are.
• Other EU member states. Each is bound by the same DSA as our three EU locations, because the regulation is directly applicable in every member state (Article 93).

What still reaches a server in any country

• Local courts. A valid order from a court in the server's country can require action everywhere, ours included.
• Criminal law. The Council of Europe's Budapest Convention, which six of our seven countries have joined, requires its parties to criminalize copyright infringement committed willfully, on a commercial scale and by means of a computer system, with limited reservations (Article 10).
• Zero-tolerance categories. Child sexual abuse material, malware, spam and phishing, attacks and fraud are acted on immediately under our acceptable use policy, however they are reported.
• Search engines. Google has its own US safe harbor for links (section 512(d)) and removes search results that link to infringing content after clear and specific notices, in about six hours on average for web-form requests (Google). It removes its own result, not your files, so the server's country plays no part, and a significant volume of valid notices can demote the rest of a site.

How to judge a host's "DMCA ignored" claim

1. Where do the servers physically run? A company's registration says nothing about its data centers.
2. What happens with a local court order and, in EU locations, with a DSA notice? A credible host explains both.
3. Does it describe local procedures honestly? In Iceland or Malaysia, "we ignore every copyright notice" misdescribes the law.
4. Does it name what it never tolerates, and publish numbers?
5. Does it promise the impossible? "No laws apply" is false in every country.

Our answers are in writing. Under our DMCA policy, US DMCA notices are answered, not enforced, in all seven locations, and nothing happens to the server. A valid court order from the server's country or, in our EU locations, a notice that meets the DSA can require action; the customer is informed and can respond first, unless a court forbids it. Requests and outcomes are counted in our quarterly transparency report, without customer data.

Frequently asked questions

Which countries ignore DMCA?

Every country except the United States, because the DMCA is US federal law and its takedown system applies only to providers under US jurisdiction. That does not make other countries copyright-free: all seven countries we use are Berne Convention parties and WTO members, and each enforces copyright through its own courts and, inside the EU, the Digital Services Act.

Does the DMCA apply outside the US?

No. It is a US statute, and its notice-and-takedown system is a condition of a US safe harbor, so a host abroad has no duty to follow it. It still matters indirectly: US companies you use, such as a search engine, a CDN or a domain registrar, follow it, and US courts can hear cases against people within their reach.

Is the Netherlands DMCA ignored?

Only in the narrow sense that a US DMCA notice has no legal force there. The Netherlands is an EU member: a notice that meets Article 16 of the Digital Services Act gives a host actual knowledge, Dutch courts can order removals, and prosecutors can order data made inaccessible under Article 125p of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

What does DMCA ignored mean?

It means a host outside the United States does not act on takedown notices sent under the US DMCA, because that law does not bind it. It does not mean copyright law stops applying. At OffshoreServ, a DMCA notice is logged, answered and counted in our transparency report, and nothing happens to the server.

Is DMCA-ignored hosting legal?

Yes. Renting a server from a host that follows its own country's law rather than US law is legal almost everywhere. What can be illegal is the content: infringing material stays infringing, and the rights holder can use local courts or, in the EU, a DSA notice. Check the law where you live as well as where the server runs.

Can a DMCA notice still get my site removed?

Not from an offshore server on its own. It can still remove your pages from Google's search results, and it can reach US companies you rely on, such as a CDN or a domain registrar. If the rights holder turns to a local court or, in an EU location, sends a notice that meets the DSA, removal becomes possible.