Not Feeding the Copyright Trolls

The shit show just goes on, doesn't it?  You know, when I first saw Trump's text to the Norwegian PM reproduced in a post on Bluesky, I genuinely thought that it was some kind of satirical parody.  But no, it was real.  We really should be terrified, actually, that the person who wrote something that sounds like the whinings of a petulant five year old, is President of the United States and has his finger on that button.  But that isn't what I wanted to write about today.  After all, since the New Year, all I've seemed to do is write about this crazy right-wing extremist shit that's engulfing our lives.  'Remember how that guy used to post about weird movies and stuff - now it's all just political shit,' I hear people say.  (Presupposing that anybody actually does read any of this).  Yeah, well, I'm afraid that, for various reasons, I haven't been indulging in the low budget exploitation stuff as much as usual of late.  For one thing, access to a number of new apps and channels via Roku has given me the opportunity to catch up with some more recent films that have passed me by, (although I now have a couple of apps giving me access to a significant number of seventies Italian exploitation films with either sub-titles or English dubs).  For another, I've been doing all sorts of grown-up things (not before time, many who know me, might say), including some long-delayed (not to mention expensive) dental work, trying to set in motion some major home improvements and sorting out my finances, (I now have investments).  But all of that isn't what I wanted to write about today.  No, I'd actually like to look again at the whole issue of copyright trolls.

A few years ago I had a brush with a band of these brigands - basically, they troll the web looking for instances of supposedly copyrighted images being used without a licence, then try to extort money from site-owners under vague threats of legal consequences.  Whether they actually do own the rights in question, or represent the real rights owners is highly questionable. (Before they moved onto images, these sorts of shady operators used to do the same regarding music used in You Tube videos - I, personally, had several instances of them trying to claim copyright on either public domain music or music that I had the rights owner's permission to use.  Curiously, in the latter instances, the rights holders had no knowledge of these companies, never having engaged them to enforce their music rights).  Often the image in question is actually in the public domain, but has been included in commercial image libraries which, of course, doesn't change its status as public domain, but that doesn't stop these trolls from trying it on.  They don't care if the site in question is run by a charity, non-profit or just a personal blog.  They'll try to extort money with menaces, regardless.  My previous encounter with one of these organisations, (a German-based one), involved them e-mailing 'The Sleaze'  (their first mistake, there is no such person or entity, it's just a site name), claiming I was using one of their client's images unlicenced and demanding money,  Their next mistake was that the link they provided was to a page on The Sleaze, but not one that used the image in question.  Anyway, I ignored the e-mail, suspecting a scam and, to be safe, deleted most of the images from the site's library and replaced them with images I knew were public domain or royalty free, just to be on the safe side.  They subsequently sent another menacing e-mail, but this time demanding a lesser amount of money.  Which just confirmed that it was a desperate scam.

I was put in mind of all this again this past weekend, when I found from my traffic logs that a visitor from another of these outfits had trawled through a large number of pages on The Sleaze.  Obviously, they were out of luck as all of the images are now royalty-free or created, by me, specifically for use on the site using AI tools.  When checking out the offending company, I came across the usual slew of disparaging reviews and sites offering to give advice on how to deal with these bozos.  Much of which is simply wrong.  The thing to remember is that, technically, their activities are legal, if unethical in their execution.  If you use copyrighted material, whether deliberately or accidentally, through ignorance of its status or the law itself, then you are liable and the legitimate rights holders could seek financial recompense.  That said, the usual first step would be to issue a desist notice asking you to remove any such material which, if you comply, would usually be an end to the matter, especially if you also offered an apology.  The reality is that, in most of these cases of the inadvertent use of copyrighted material, the costs of litigation for the licence holder would far outweigh any compensation they received.  Formal legal action and demands for recompense are usually confined to cases where the offender persists despite requests to stop, or is obviously making money from exploiting the copyrighted material or is using it to mislead, where higher payouts would be expected.  That said, such action would normally take place via the civil courts and in the jurisdiction where the offender resides and operates.  So, if you are in the UK and the entity threatening you is in, say, Germany, then it is highly unlikely that they'll be able to follow up on their threats, (particularly if they don't know your real name and address - another reason I jealously guard such information while operating online).  So, the best advice is simply to ignore any of these e-mails if you receive them.  Just delete the offending image and check any other image you are using for copyright.

But not everyone gives such advice.  Alongside this growth industry of online copyright enforces, a parallel industry of 'law firms' offering to defend you in such cases have sprung up.  Not surprisingly, they urge you not to ignore the predatory e-mails and instead contact them.  Beware such outfits, they seem to be just as shady as the copyright trolls - they'll bleed you dry just as surely as the trolls will, given the chance.  In the first instance, if you are a small site owner, particularly if it is a non-profit hobby site or personal blog, ignore the e-mails.  Remember, in the unlikely event that it does escalate, you can always say that their e-mails went into your spam folder and that you never saw them!  They can't disprove it.  If, like me, you use royalty free and custom made AI images, then I'd suggest adding a disclaimer somewhere on your site stating this.  I've done so on The Sleaze's 'About' page, where I make clear that any attempt to claim copyright on such images or demand money for their use will be regarded as extortion and dealt with through the appropriate legal channels.  As I've found that these trolls tend to look at such disclaimers, it effectively serves as a shot across their bows.  Remember, they're looking for easy pickings, if they think you might fight back, they'll likely move onto what they think are softer targets.

This has been a public service announcement on behalf of Doc Sleaze and small site owners everywhere!