I built a free open-source Mac app and got DMCA'd for using Apple's public APIs

Re:I built a free open-source Mac app and got DMCA'd for usi... by soulsniper on Thursday April 02, 2026 @04:16PM (#47619612)

Last week a Mac app called Avalw Shield launched charging $499 lifetime to auto-lock your screen when you walk away using face detection. The comments were brutal about the pricing so I built FaceGuard over a weekend — same core feature, free, MIT licensed.

They filed a DMCA takedown against my repo. Their claim is that I infringed by using:

- AVCaptureSession (Apple's camera framework) - VNDetectFaceRectanglesRequest (Apple's Vision framework) - CGSession -suspend (20 year old system call) - SMAppService (Apple's login item framework)

Every single item is a public Apple API documented at developer.apple.com. There is no proprietary code to copy. The only way to build this feature on macOS is to use these exact frameworks.

I'm 15. I wrote every line myself. Filing a counter notice today.

Repo is temporarily down due to the takedown. Will be back up after counter-notice resolves.

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Re:I built a free open-source Mac app and got DMCA'd for usi... by razingeden on Thursday April 02, 2026 @06:18PM (#47620910)

not an expert here but isn’t it illegal (on their part) to assert dmca over rights you don’t own?

If it’s regarding Apple’s IP and the claim isn’t from Apple that’s a false claim, the verbiage might be misrepresentation.

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Re:I built a free open-source Mac app and got DMCA'd for usi... by sh-cho on Friday April 03, 2026 @06:45AM (#47625142)

Wow, this DMCA takedown request is non-sense and I bet you will have your repository back.

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