Women Suing 'Revenge Porn' Websites Could Use A Creative Legal Strategy
"Revenge porn" sites typically let users post naked photos of their exes or their enemies without their permission.
Hunter Moore, who founded the site IsAnyoneUp.com, is arguably the king of "Revenge Porn."
This week a CBS affiliate in Denver interviewed Craig Brittain, the 28-year-old owner of IsAnybodyDown.com, which NPR has previously reported "filled the niche" left when Moore's site shut down in April 2012.
That site harvests hundreds of naked pictures of women and links to their Facebok profiles, according to CBS 4.
If women want their photos removed from the site, they follow a link to the website of a "takedown lawyer" named David Blade III, who charges $250 to take the photos down, according to CBS 4.
Brittain told CBS that his site's purpose is "entertainment" and that he hasn't been sued yet for his activities, which he says are protected by the First Amendment.
However, at least one lawyer is "out to get Brittain," Ars Technica reports in an analysis of strategies that lawyer might use if he files litigation over IsAnybodyDown.com.
That lawyer, Marc Randazza, told Ars Technica that copyright law could be Brittain's downfall.
Women whose pictures get posted without their permission could win up to $150,000 per work of willful infringement, Ars Technica reported in its extensive analysis. And victims could prove ownership even if they didn't take the photos themselves because they could be considered a "joint author," law professor Derek Bambauer argued over at Info/Law.
But sites like Brittain's could also use copyright law to defend themselves, Ars Technica argues. They could claim "safe harbor" under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects websites from copyright lawsuits if they follow certain rules, like responding quickly to takedown notices.