Repeat Infringer Policy

A repeat infringer is a user or account associated with three or more confirmed copyright or other intellectual property violations within a rolling 12-month period. We may also consider evasion, related accounts, severity, and whether prior actions were reversed on appeal.

Confirmed violations generally follow this escalating path:

1. First confirmed violation: warning, educational notice, and removal or restriction of the affected content.
2. Second confirmed violation: temporary feature limits or account suspension, typically 7 to 30 days depending on severity.
3. Third confirmed violation within 12 months: permanent account termination or equivalent access restriction.

Users may appeal strikes, suspensions, or terminations by submitting an appeal through the complaint form. Appeals should identify the decision, explain why it was incorrect, and include supporting information such as licenses, permissions, fair use context, ownership evidence, or other relevant facts.

If an appeal is successful, we may reverse the strike, restore content, shorten a suspension, or reinstate an account as appropriate.

Melon Sandbox may act faster for severe infringement, fraud, legal risk, safety issues, or attempts to evade enforcement. We may group related accounts when there is evidence that they are controlled by the same person or used to bypass prior restrictions.