Brittain, founder of IsAnybodyDown.com, requests DMCA to remove news stories containing “unauthorized use of photos of me”.
Craig Brittain
In January, the Federal Trade Commission ruled that Craig Brittain, the former operator of revenge-porn hub IsAnybodyDown.com, was banned from publishing nude images of people without their consent. Now, according to Ars Technica, the case has taken an ironic twist: Brittain has demanded that Google remove links about the ruling from their search results, citing “unauthorized use of photos of me and other related information” in a newly filed DMCA takedown request.
Brittain’s request specifies 23 links, including reports from Gawker, Huffington Post, Reddit, Forbes, Salon and Vice. In addition to the articles’ use of photos and information, Brittain also complains about “unauthorized copying of excerpts from isanybodydown.com” and “using photos which are not ‘fair use.'”
The DMCA requires sites like Google to remove links which infringe upon content at request of rights holders. But Ars Technica argues that, in this case, “fair use and general First Amendment principles are on Google’s and the media’s side.”
