Shopify Files Lawsuit over Illegal DMCA Takedown Abuse
Shopify Files Lawsuit over Illegal DMCA Takedown Abuse
E-commerce platform Shopify is suing a 'John Doe' defendant for sending numerous false DMCA takedown notices targeting legitimate vendors.
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One of the biggest problems with IP law, the DMCA included, is that it's all built on a foundation of presumption of guilt. Unlike the rest of our legal system that presumes innocence by default, IP law does the opposite. Once an accusation is made, guilt is presumed, and the target must prove they aren't guilty, with punishments being enacted first. Get a takedown notice, and you must comply, THEN you can challenge it. But in the meantime, your store, your video, your song, etc. is offline if-and-until you can prove the takedown is wrong. All assuming you CAN fight it, that you have the resources to do so, and that the platform you're on has sensible avenues of recourse.
All of it protects the wealthy and powerful who can lob takedown requests with impunity since few are going to be able to fight back. We need a complete overhaul. We need to change the presumption of guilt in IP law. And we need to allow people to fight back and defend themselves before their shit is taken down.
Unlike the rest of our legal system that presumes innocence by default, IP law does the opposite.
The criminal legal system is built on the presumption of innocence. The civil legal system, which the DMCA falls under, certainly does not put presumption of innocence first in MANY circumstances.
I always wondered why DMCA rubbed me the wrong way but couldn't put it into words. This helped me pin down why. Thanks!
Huh? No.
DMCA takedown notices are there to remove responsibility from server hosts. When a notice is sent, adhering to it protects the host from legal liability. If the individual who posted the content believes it was in error, they can typically contest it by sending information to the person abusing takedown (through the host) and essentially saying sue me or leave me alone. The host is of course under no obligation to go further than the takedown.
The takedown itself is by no means 'punishment', but is a warning for the host to protect themselves.
You don't actually have any right to force a third party company to put itself at risk for you or host your content.
This is wild. I‘m happy I don’t come in contact with this. I would definitely ruin myself due to repeated and persistent noncompliance.