Google Images & Blogger Slander

[Ted761]

What is the name of your state? California

Hello, I am new here and hope someone can help me. A person on Google Blogger has taken my photos from other social media and posted them on his blog pages, without my permission. The problem is that he has distorted them and attributed statements to me which I never said. He has totally mutilated these images, in order to depict me in a negative light. My reputation has been harmed by these images. I filed a complaint with Google, and they removed them, but the Blogger filed a counter-notice, claiming that the images fall under fair use, and that he is not making money from them. Google gave me 14 days to file against the blogger in federal court. Why should I have to file in court? These are copyrighted images. I want to know what my legal options are. I am not a l lawyer and do not know all the intricacies of digital law. Another problem is that some of the pages with these images are in Google archives, and the Google complaint webform does not allow URL's from archives in their complaint form, and no reason is given for this. It seems to me that allowing images in archives defeats the whole point of getting them removed, since they are allowed in archive form anyway. Thanks for your help.

 

[doucar]

You are going to need an intellectual property law attorney as this will not be a do it yourself project. Contact several in your area to see if they think you have 1. a viable claim worth pursuing and 2. How much it will cost you to pursue it, to see if it will be financially viable.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? California

Hello, I am new here and hope someone can help me. A person on Google Blogger has taken my photos from other social media and posted them on his blog pages, without my permission. The problem is that he has distorted them and attributed statements to me which I never said. He has totally mutilated these images, in order to depict me in a negative light. My reputation has been harmed by these images. I filed a complaint with Google, and they removed them, but the Blogger filed a counter-notice, claiming that the images fall under fair use, and that he is not making money from them. Google gave me 14 days to file against the blogger in federal court. Why should I have to file in court? These are copyrighted images. I want to know what my legal options are. I am not a l lawyer and do not know all the intricacies of digital law. Another problem is that some of the pages with these images are in Google archives, and the Google complaint webform does not allow URL's from archives in their complaint form, and no reason is given for this. It seems to me that allowing images in archives defeats the whole point of getting them removed, since they are allowed in archive form anyway. Thanks for your help.

You will have to file an infringement lawsuit, this after you have registered your images with the copyright office, if you have not done so already.

The blogger is, with his DMCA takedown counter notice, challenging your rights in the works. It is now up to you to defend these rights.

 

[Ted761]

You will have to file an infringement lawsuit, this after you have registered your images with the copyright office, if you have not done so already.

The blogger is, with his DMCA takedown counter notice, challenging your rights in the works. It is now up to you to defend these rights.

Thanks. I thought public images were automatically copyrighted. I no longer have access to the original images, and this is a problem. Do you think a Small Claims lawsuit for slander or harassment is an option?

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to the US Copyright Office on the DIgital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). See Section 512 on the Takedown Process.

https://www.copyright.gov/dmca/

 

[quincy]

Thanks. I thought public images were automatically copyrighted. I no longer have access to the original images, and this is a problem. Do you think a Small Claims lawsuit for slander or harassment is an option?

Any creative and original image you created yourself was automatically copyright protected. In order to file a copyright infringement lawsuit, however, the copyrights need to be registered first. The cost to register copyrights is $35/work. https://www.copyright.gov

If the images were “mutilated,” and these mutilated images and additional written content has harmed your reputation, you have a few options - and these options are best discussed with an attorney in your area who can review the images and what was published about you.

Offhand I see that possibilities could exist for claims of defamation, invasion of privacy (false light), and the copyright infringement.

If what was published was in online postings, the defamation would be called libel. Libel is the written form of defamation. Slander is its oral equivalent.

 

[Ted761]

Here is a link to the US Copyright Office on the DIgital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). See Section 512 on the Takedown Process.

https://www.copyright.gov/dmca/

Thanks. Section 512 of Title 17 gives me the right to file in court within 14 days, but it doesn't clarify if Small Claims Court is allowable. It just says "court." Do you know if I supply documentation showing that I have filed in Small Claims Court that this would be adequate?

 

[quincy]

Thanks. Section 512 of Title 17 gives me the right to file in court within 14 days, but it doesn't clarify if Small Claims Court is allowable. It just says "court." Do you know if I supply documentation showing that I have filed in Small Claims Court that this would be adequate?

You cannot file copyright infringement claims in small claims courts (although this has in the past been discussed and considered by the US Copyright Office). You currently must file all copyright claims in federal courts.*

Because federal courts are not as “friendly” as small claims courts for individuals looking to sue, it is smart to have an attorney. For copyright claims, you would want an intellectual property (IP) attorney.

*Edit to add: See my later posts about the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act. https://ccb.gov

 

[Ted761]

You cannot file copyright infringement claims in small claims courts (although this has in the past been discussed and considered by the US Copyright Office). You currently must file all copyright claims in federal courts.

A lawyer told me that people can sue for anything in small claims court, but I would sue on the basis of public defamation, libel and harassment. I am now working on finding an intellectual property lawyer. It's wrong that total strangers can take a persons picture, totally mutilate it, and get away with it, unless the offended party spends thousands of dollars in a lawsuit. The whole system should be much more simplified and fair.

 

[Ted761]

You are going to need an intellectual property law attorney as this will not be a do it yourself project. Contact several in your area to see if they think you have 1. a viable claim worth pursuing and 2. How much it will cost you to pursue it, to see if it will be financially viable.

I am working on getting a lawyer, but I wanted to see if anyone here could also help. I've learned a few things already on this thread.

 

[quincy]

A lawyer told me that people can sue for anything in small claims court, but I would sue on the basis of public defamation, libel and harassment. I am now working on finding an intellectual property lawyer. It's wrong that total strangers can take a persons picture, totally mutilate it, and get away with it, unless the offended party spends thousands of dollars in a lawsuit. The whole system should be much more simplified and fair.

The lawyer you spoke to is mistaken. Small claims courts do not handle all claims.

You can speak to an IP attorney but, if you are not going to be registering your images with the US Copyright Office, you cannot file a copyright infringement claim in federal court. The copyrights in your works need to be registered.

It sounds like you would be better served consulting with a personal injury attorney who specializes in reputational injuries. Many large firms have divisions that handle defamation and privacy and other tort claims.

 

[zddoodah]

A person on Google Blogger has taken my photos from other social media and posted them on his blog pages, without my permission.

Assuming you own the copyrights in this photos, that's copyright infringement. Unfortunately, you'll have no reasonable chance of recovering any damages unless (1) you registered the copyrights before the infringement occurred or (2) you register them no later than the earlier of 3 months after first publication or 1 month after you became aware of the infringement.

The problem is that he has distorted

How so? What is the subject matter of the photos?

and attributed statements to me which I never said.

Such as?

My reputation has been harmed by these images.

How so?

Why should I have to file in court?

That's a pointless question.

I want to know what my legal options are.

Generally: sue or don't sue.

I thought public images were automatically copyrighted.

Not sure what you mean by that, but every photograph is protected by copyright law from the moment it is fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

Do you think a Small Claims lawsuit for slander or harassment is an option?

I don't know. You haven't provided any facts to suggest that either slander (or libel) or harassment has occurred. Note, by the way, that a copyright infringement suit can only be filed in federal court.

It's wrong that total strangers can take a persons picture, totally mutilate it, and get away with it, unless the offended party spends thousands of dollars in a lawsuit. The whole system should be much more simplified and fair.

The system is completely fair, but protecting your intellectual property may be expensive. Feel free to lobby Congress to change copyright law in this regard.

 

[quincy]

Oops. Actually, I somehow missed a year (or two). The Copyright Office has established a new Copyright Claims Board for copyright claims under $30,000. Here is a link to information:

https://ccb.gov

Here is a link to the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act:

https://copyright.gov/legislation/copyright-small-claims.pdf

This stands to be friendlier than federal courts. And less expensive. And an attorney may not be necessary.

The one possibly major drawback is both you and your infringer must agree that the infringement claim is decided by this Board. If you and your infringer agree, and the Board rules on the infringement, you cannot later decide to sue in federal court.

 

[Ted761]

It sounds like you would be better served consulting with a personal injury attorney who specializes in reputational injuries. Many large firms have divisions that handle defamation and privacy and other tort claims.

That's an option I had not considered. For purposes of clarification, the images were taken from public videos. He took screenshots, then totally disfigured them, trying to make me look crazy. I don't know if video images are copyrighted. Google doesn't make sense to me. They removed the videos from his blog page that he stole from my channel, and he was not given the right to appeal, but they allowed him the right to appeal with the images, even though they come from the same source.

 

[quincy]

That's an option I had not considered. For purposes of clarification, the images were taken from public videos. He took screenshots, then totally disfigured them, trying to make me look crazy. I don't know if video images are copyrighted. Google doesn't make sense to me. They removed the videos from his blog page that he stole from my channel, and he was not given the right to appeal, but they allowed him the right to appeal with the images, even though they come from the same source.

You will need to have the specifics personally reviewed by an attorney in your area. We cannot do personal reviews on this forum.

You mentioned that the person who took your videos/video images claimed that his use was a “fair use” of your copyright-protected material. Fair use is definitely a defense to infringement but it may or may not be a winning defense in court. This could be a decent defense if a single image or two were taken from a video and commentary about these images was added.

Again, an IP attorney you see can give you a better idea if a court would determine the use a fair use after a personal review. It ultimately would be up to a court to decide.

I don’t know if you missed my last post about the Copyright Claims Board. That is a newer alternative to federal court that I had previously missed (must have been a pandemic going on at the time or something ).