Pursuing Copyright Infringement is Now Cheaper and Easier for UK Photogs

A U.S. federal court has found file-hosting website Hotfile liable for copyright infringement, according to movie industry body Motion Picture Association of America.The US District Court for the Southern District of Florida also held that Hotfile’s principal, Anton Titov, was personally liable for Hotfile’s infringement, MPAA said in an emailed statement Wednesday. “This case marked the first time that a US court has ruled on whether so-called cyberlockers like Hotfile can be held liable for their infringing business practices,” it added. The order was marked on online court records as “restricted/sealed until further notice.” The opinion will be made public by the court in about two weeks, after confidential and proprietary information has been redacted, MPAA said. The court agreed with the movie studios’ complaint that Hotfile gave incentives to post copyrighted content. Five U.S. movie studios filed a copyright infringement suit against Hotfile in 2011, alleging that the company…

The FTC is mailing refunds to MyEx.com victims that filed complaints with law enforcement through the Consumer Sentinel Network. The FTC and the state of Nevada charged that the website, MyEx.com, was dedicated solely to revenge porn and solicited intimate pictures and videos of victims, together with their personal information such as their name, address, employer, and social media account information. The site urged visitors to “Add Your Ex,” and to “Submit Pics and Stories of Your Ex.” According to the complaint, the defendants charged victims fees from $499 to $2,800 to remove their images and information from the site. CONSUMER INFORMATION What to do if you’re the target of revenge porn RELATED NEWS FTC, Nevada Obtain Order Permanently Shutting down Revenge Porn Site MyEx FTC and Nevada Seek to Halt Revenge Porn Site

A new court test of fair use on the Internet appears likely due to a lawsuit filed June 7 by photographer Kai Eiselein against BuzzFeed. Eiselein, who is demanding damages that could total over $3.6 million, claims that BuzzFeed infringed his copyright in a photograph he posted on Flickr in 2009 showing a soccer player heading a ball. According to Eiselein, BuzzFeed included the photo without his consent in a collection titled “The 30 Funniest Header Faces” published in June 2010. After he sent BuzzFeed a takedown notice in May 2011, the company removed the photo and renamed the collection “The 29 Funniest Header Faces.” By that time, however, Eiselein alleges that the set of images including his photo had spread virally from BuzzFeed to dozens of other websites. Eiselein asserts that BuzzFeed is liable for contributory infringement for the photo’s use on those sites—and on sites that published it after…

In recent years, though, a decidedly unsexy brand — derided for decades, with little sign of an image improvement — has become one of the city’s most imitated: the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Powered in part by the rise of online shopping, which has helped small-time entrepreneurs market their subway-inspired creations widely, the transit agency now issues up to 600 notices a year for copyright infringements to protect trademarks on train line logos, subway maps and other system imagery. That represents a more than twentyfold increase since 2005. But the authority’s focus has not been limited to New York’s starving artists. It has flagged Massimo Vignelli, the designer of the beloved if confounding 1972 subway map, whose 2008 update for Men’s Vogue used trademark route symbols without permission. There have been illicit pastries resembling MetroCards, and earrings made of surviving subway tokens. A stern letter was sent regarding an amateur, all-female…

This was the mother of all revenge porn plots. A spiteful Texas woman hacked into her ex-boyfriend’s phone, and, with an assist from her mom, plastered racy photos of his ex-wife on Instagram, according to a local report. Following a “bad break-up” last month, Adriana Luna, 26 — who local cops said was pregnant with her ex’s child — forced her ex to leave her home without his phone, according to an affidavit obtained by MySanAntonio.com. She tried to log into the phone multiple times, and finally gained access on Aug. 8, posting explicit photos of her ex’s former wife to his Instagram account, according to the report. When Luna’s ex confronted her, she admitted that she posted the photos — with some help from her mother, the outlet reported. She told a witness that she was determined to shame her ex’s former wife — who she blamed for her…

Being through a toxic relationship is hard. It affects both your mental and physical health. Revenge porn could be a result of such toxic relationships. This sick act is on the rise in the past few years. According to a study[1], narcissists and those with psychopathic traits, like impulsivity and lack of empathy, are more likely to post revenge porn online. The researchers also found that 87 percent of participants expressed at least some excitement or amusement with revenge porn. Things get ugly and dangerous if you find yourself in a situation where the guy threatens to post your personal pictures or video that were taken by your consent when things were good. If you are going through this, fret not and read this. And if you are someone who is planning to do this with some girls read this to know what’s in store for you: 1. It is…

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the number of offences increased to 105 last year, up from 55 in 2015. So far this year 73 offences have been reported. Wolverhampton Liberal Democrat campaigner Rob Quarmby said: “I don’t want to see, as I do sometimes, a child’s first conversation about the meaning of consent being in a police interview room. “I have a daughter and the thought that something like this can happen to her horrifies me?” Revenge porn is the distribution of a private sexual image of someone without their consent, with the aim of causing distress. It is a phenomenon that has swept the country, with teenagers and young adults taking and sharing naked photographs on smartphones.

Weigel was sentenced Tuesday to 120 days in the Ramsey County Correctional Facility with credit for 56 days served. If he’s deemed eligible, he could serve the sentence as work release. Weigel was also placed on three years’ probation. According to the criminal complaint, Weigel allegedly created the fake account in December of last year and sent friend requests to all the boyfriend’s Facebook friends - a group which included many of his ex’s family and friends. The page also allegedly contained multiple written criticisms of the two, including blaming the boyfriend for breaking up Weigel and his ex’s relationship. He also allegedly posted a message naming his ex’s place of employment, and reportedly stated she was not suitable to work there. According to the complaint, Weigel told investigators, “I wanted one chance to let everyone know what they did. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone for monetary gain.” In…

A Northern Irish woman wants the company to search its entire network An alleged victim of revenge porn is mounting a high court attempt in Belfast to compel Facebook to search for explicit photographs of her. The tech and publishing company has already deleted “highly sexualised” images of the Northern Irish woman, which are said to have been sent to 25 users. Her lawyers now want those accounts to be checked to establish whether the pictures were forwarded. The woman, who cannot be identified, claims that her former partner used Facebook’s private messaging service to share the photographs after they broke up. Although she has ended her action against her ex-boyfriend, she is continuing to sue Facebook for breach of privacy and alleged failures in its system. She has said that her independence and dignity were undermined…

SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Justice Department has called it “by far the most significantly growing threat to children.” And based on recent investigations, the issue of “sextortion” isn’t slowing down, including in Utah. Sextortion is a form of online blackmail, typically targeting teenagers or preteens. The average sextortion case starts with children who are 12 to 14 years old who are using social media and other apps to message others who they assume are also juveniles, said Steve Cagen, head of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations in Utah and three other states. Eventually, the other “juvenile” will gain the teen’s trust and request a nude photo. “But they’re talking to a 40-year-old or 50-year-old man, who once they have one photo will then extort them for more. It’s called sextortion. It’s happening a lot. And we are asking parents to talk to your kids, because it can happen in…

I’ve grown up with the Internet for most of my life. I’m old enough to remember when the it was only a few websites and there was almost no real content. The possibilities, however, were endless. There was this feeling that we all knew that we were participating in something revolutionary that would change the world and how we would view it. With time, and with more and more people accessing it, the Internet began to change. This most recent fundamental change, dubbed Web 2.0, was heralded as the “Great Equalizer” that would bring peoples of all walks of life together. The Internet, as it turns out, is only as good as the people who use it. For most, the Internet is simply a tool for communication and to absorb media. People use it to find the best restaurant in town, to post their favourite photo on Instagram, or to…

A growing number of teenage girls are being approached online by fake model recruiters who lure them into sending indecent images of themselves, which are later used to extort money. Facebook and Instagram accounts are being set up in the names of leading model agencies such as Storm Model Management, which discovered Kate Moss and represents Cindy Crawford. Girls receive messages from someone who claims to be recruiting for the agency; they are encouraged to send topless photos or conduct a Skype interview in which they are asked to remove their clothes or wear lingerie. Sarah Doukas, the managing director of Storm, said that in the past two years the number of calls the agency had received about scam agents had risen from one a week to almost daily messages. “The rise of social media has impacted greatly on why modelling agency scams are increasing,” Doukas said. “Firstly, a lot…

Saskatchewan Provincial Court in Prince Albert. Herald File Photo A judge ordered a local man to pay $30,500 to his ex-girlfriend, as restitution for posting nude photos of her on the internet. The 25-year-old man, who cannot be named for fear of identifying the victim, pleaded guilty to publishing intimate images without consent. He appeared in Prince Albert’s provincial courthouse on Monday, where Judge Matsalla also sentenced him to two years probation. “The effect on the complainant is profound,” Matsalla said. “In this case the harm will be ongoing and may continue for a long period of time.” He said he was convinced that the photos were posted out of “revenge.” The man and the victim were both 18 years old, and dating, when he took 10 intimate photos of her. They broke up months later, and he posted the photos online. They soon spread to a number of websites….

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CLOSE SportsPulse: From Nationals Park, Trysta Krick and USA TODAY Sports’ baseball insiders look ahead to a full day of postseason baseball. USA TODAY Sports Washington Nationals’ assistant hitting coach Jacque Jones has been suspended.(Photo: Mark Tenally, AP) The Washington Nationals announced that assistant hitting coach Jacque Jones was suspended pending a legal matter minutes before Friday’s Game 1 of the NLDS - a game they would lose 3-0 to the Chicago Cubs. The team said Jones’ suspension with pay was due to a pending legal matter that the club is investigating. Court documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports spell out what that legal matter appears to be: a revenge porn lawsuit that lists both Jones and the Nationals as defendants. According to the lawsuit filed last week in San Diego Superior Court, Jones allegedly distributed multiple nude photos of the plaintiff — referenced as Jane Doe in the filing — after Jones and the woman’s relationship ended in…