Legal Question in Business Law in California

I know of no court decision strictly on point. The definition of the 'practice of law' is very broad, however. If you provide any kind of legal advice that you intend the other party to rely upon, you are practicing law. If you say things like "I am not a lawyer, but I know you can send a DMCA letter in connection with a copyright violation and you should talk to a lawyer about this" you are probably OK. If you do anything more than that, you are close to the line and may step over it. A statement that you are not a lawyer is not an exoneration, if the facts show you are indeed practicing law.

If you fill out a form DMCA letter for compensation, you are considered a legal document assistant under the California Business and Professions Code, Sections 6400 et seq. You must then comply with the Code's registration provisions. Note that you cannot draft the DMCA letter as a legal document assistant. You must only help the client fill out the forms that the client has chosen by himself or herself. You certainly could not say "I think this is a copyright violation" in connection with filling out the form, and you probably cannot say "I am not a lawyer, but in my experience this sure looks like a violation."