DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  In its simplest form, it is the rights of a copyright owner to protect their interests on the Internet.  A lot of people think if it is on the Internet, anybody can use it.  This ideology extends to pictures, writing and more.  This just is not the case.  Just because it is on the world wide web does not mean you can take it and use it as your own or even display it with credit.  Every time someone does that with your content, you lose out on the benefits of posting it to begin with. 

Filing a DMCA complaint with a webmaster is the first step to eliminating someone else from benefiting from using your content without permission.  This complaint basically address that a given web site or user is in violation of your copyright by posting your content – in any form – someone on the web whether they give you credit or not.  Without asking you first, no one should take your work and post it.  You simply send a complaint to the webmaster listing your copyright, the link where it is posted and have to wait for a response.  In some cases, content is taken down immediately; in other cases, you have to fight for your copyright.  However, most of the time DMCA complaints are quickly taken care of and you will have nothing else to worry about.

When you draft your DMCA complaint, you want to ensure you include the link to your material, the link to the offending copyright breaker and a statement that says the content is in fact yours.  You then take that information and send it to the web site contact; if you cannot find the web site contact information, you can check out the WhoIs information or do a simple Internet search to track down the registrant information.  Many web sites have steps to take, too for sending in copyright violations and make it relatively easy to file one.