You don't have to be a lawyer to send a DMCA takedown.
Companies have historically gotten away with these reckless takedowns because the law just requires that "the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law." (17 U.S.C. ยง 512(c)(3)(A)(v))[^1]
In a recent 9th Circuit case, Lenz v. Universal Music Corp[^2], the court held that Lenz could sue Universal Music for a bad faith takedown. Specifically, "failure to [consider fair use] raises a triable issue as to whether the copyright holder formed a subjective good faith belief that the use was not authorized by law."
However, proving that it was in bad faith could be tricky.
Companies have historically gotten away with these reckless takedowns because the law just requires that "the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law." (17 U.S.C. ยง 512(c)(3)(A)(v))[^1]
In a recent 9th Circuit case, Lenz v. Universal Music Corp[^2], the court held that Lenz could sue Universal Music for a bad faith takedown. Specifically, "failure to [consider fair use] raises a triable issue as to whether the copyright holder formed a subjective good faith belief that the use was not authorized by law."
However, proving that it was in bad faith could be tricky.
Caveat: IANAL
[1]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/512#c_3_A_iv [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenz_v._Universal_Music_Corp.