How Fanlock Removed an 8,000-Member Telegram Leak Channel for Onyx Talent Management
An agency client tried for months to get an 8,000-member Telegram channel removed on their own. The channel kept distributing one of their creator's premium content to thousands of members daily. After partnering with Fanlock, the channel was permanently taken down.
8,000+
Channel members
Permanent
Channel removal
3-track
Enforcement approach
The Problem
Onyx Talent Management is a creator agency. One of their creators had a Telegram channel sitting on top of their premium content. Eight thousand members. Active reposts every day. Onyx tried what they could to get it down on their own, and the channel kept right on going.
That's the problem with leak channels at this size. They're organized, they don't respond to in-app abuse reports, and once they cross a few thousand subscribers, they tend to be run by people who treat redistribution as a business.
Why a Channel Like This Is Hard to Remove
Three reasons it tends to stall when an agency tries to handle it alone:
1. Telegram's native abuse reports get ignored at scale
You can submit abuse reports against a channel with thousands of subscribers again and again, and the channel keeps running. Telegram's trust and safety queue prioritizes other things.
2. Channel operators at this size are organized
They keep clone channels ready to spin up the moment a takedown succeeds. So removing one piece of content doesn't dent the operation. You have to remove the channel itself, and even then expect them to attempt rebuilds.
3. Most DMCA services don't address Telegram at all
The ones that do usually rely on Telegram's native abuse reports — the same lever the agency already pulled and watched fail. So agencies often pay multiple services without seeing the channel come down.
What Fanlock Did
The channel showed up in our continuous Telegram monitoring once Onyx onboarded. From there, our standard three-track Telegram process ran:
Formal DMCA
Notice filed under 17 U.S.C. § 512 to Telegram's designated copyright agent. The legal foundation for everything that follows.
Apple App Store IP Policy
Parallel filing to Apple. Telegram's iOS distribution depends on Apple compliance, which gives the takedown leverage that DMCA on its own doesn't. This is what most services skip.
Systematic Abuse Reports
In-app reporting at scale, so trust and safety sees the channel from multiple angles. Adds internal pressure on top of the external legal pressure.
The combined approach is what pushes channels at this size to actually come down. Onyx didn't lift a finger after onboarding — that's the white-glove side of how we operate. We file, we follow up, we escalate. The agency only weighs in when we flag something ambiguous.
The Outcome
The channel came down. Permanently. Eight thousand members lost direct access to the leaked content in one move.
“This Telegram channel was becoming a huge issue for us. We tried what we could to get it removed on our own but couldn't make it happen, Fanlock got it done.”
Onyx Talent Management
Creator agency · 8,000-member Telegram channel removed
Why “Channel Removed” Is the Right Unit, Not “Notices Filed”
Most DMCA services count notices filed. We count what actually changes for the creator and the agency.
Removing individual posts from a channel that keeps reposting daily doesn't fix anything. It manages symptoms. Removing the channel itself forces the operator to rebuild from zero, and our continuous re-detection catches any rebuild within hours so the same three-track takedown fires again automatically.
For an agency, that's the only metric that touches revenue: is the distribution channel still up, or is it gone?
How to Get the Same Outcome for Your Roster
The three-track approach that took down Onyx Talent Management's channel is included on the Max plan ($199/mo) and on agency plans. There's no separate enterprise tier or premium pricing for big-channel takedowns — same three-track approach, same expected outcome.
Agencies with 30+ creators get 10% off, a multi-seat dashboard, and a dedicated Discord channel with our legal and engineering team.
Run a Free Scan for Your Roster.
Free scan, no card, no selfie. See exactly which Telegram channels are distributing your creators' content. Plans start at $49/mo. Agency pricing at 30+ creators.