This is general guidance to help you think through a repeat infringer policy — it isn't legal advice. If you want language tailored to your specific situation, consult an attorney.
Introduction
Safe harbor under the DMCA requires that you have a policy for terminating, “in appropriate circumstances,” the accounts of users who are repeat infringers — and that you actually enforce it. There’s no fixed legal definition of how many notices constitute “repeat,” which means you have some flexibility in setting your own threshold, but you do need something in writing and a consistent practice of following it.
Setting a threshold
A common approach is a three-strikes model: a warning on the first valid notice, a stronger warning or temporary restriction on the second, and suspension or termination on the third. Some services adjust this based on severity — for example, treating a wave of near-simultaneous infringing uploads differently from three unrelated incidents spread over a year.
Whatever threshold you choose, only valid notices should count. Notices that were rejected as incomplete or invalid, or takedowns later reversed through a successful counter notification, generally shouldn’t count against a user.
What to track
To enforce a policy consistently, you’ll want a running count per user of valid notices received, tied to the same case log referenced in the tracking log template. This is what lets you point to something concrete if a termination is ever challenged.
What “termination” can mean
This doesn’t have to mean permanently deleting an account. Depending on your service, appropriate responses might include: removing posting/upload privileges while preserving read access, a time-limited suspension, or full account termination. Choose something that’s actually enforceable given how your platform works.
Putting it in writing
Whatever policy you land on, it should be stated somewhere your users can find it — often in your Terms of Service, alongside or near your DMCA policy. It doesn’t need to state your exact numeric threshold publicly if you’d rather keep some flexibility, but it should make clear that repeat infringement can lead to suspension or termination.