Yeah, I will say that there are some places on the internet that post all the DMCAs they receive (and most they reject) - and the vast majority of them are not even filed correctly and can be ignored.
Even if it's not worth it to "learn how to do it right" over a free tier user, it's probably good to get a policy established so that if it DID end up in court, you could point to it and say "we've always followed the policy as required to the letter".
That's a very good point. I left a voicemail with an attorney requesting consultation to develop a procedure to handle these requests. Hopefully it won't be too expensive.
Even if it's not worth it to "learn how to do it right" over a free tier user, it's probably good to get a policy established so that if it DID end up in court, you could point to it and say "we've always followed the policy as required to the letter".