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Takedown Notices Hit Luigi Mangione Merchandise and Photos - Including DMCAs (404media.co) 71

Newsweek supplies some context After his arrest, merch — including T-shirts featuring Mangione's booking photos and others taken from his social media accounts — began popping up for sale on several sites. Websites, including Amazon, eBay and Etsy, have moved to take down products that glorify violence or the suspect. An eBay spokesperson told Newsweek that "items that glorify or incite violence, including those that celebrate the recent murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson, are prohibited."
Inc. magazine adds: Separately, GoFundMe has shuttered several fundraising campaigns created for Mangione. The fundraising site's terms and conditions are pretty clear on the matter, NBC News reports, with a company spokesperson explaining they prohibit "fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes."
But one incident was different, according to a post from the law school of the University of British Columbia: To provide a quick summary, Rachel Kenaston, an artist selling merch on TeePublic received an e-mail from the platform regarding intellectual property claim by UnitedHealth Group Inc and decided to remove Kenaston's design from the merch store. Obviously, it is important to point out that it isn't quite clear who is filing those DMCA claims. While TeePublic, in the email, claimed that they have no say in the matter, [an article from 404 Media] goes on to explain that TeePublic has the right to refuse DMCA claims, but often choose not to in order to avoid headache. The design had nothing to do with UnitedHealthcare-it seems to be a picture of the Mangione in a heart frame. Meaning, whether it was UnitedHealthcare or not, the claim shouldn't hold any weight.

Consensus seems to be mostly leaning towards speculation that it is unlikely to be UnitedHealthcare actually filing those DMCA claims, but rather potential competitors... Regardless of whether or not it really was UnitedHealthcare that filed DMCA claims, I think the important point here is that the merch actually did get taken down. In fact, this would be more problematic if it was from a competitor using DMCA as a form of removing competition, because, then it really has nothing to do with intellectual property. I would assume that this happens quite frequently. Especially for YouTubers, it seems that copyright strikes are more than a mere pesky occurrence, but for many, something that affects livelihood...

The difficult part, as always, is finding the balance between protecting the rights of the copyright holders and ensuring that the mechanisms doesn't get abused.

The artist told Gizmodo she was filing a counterclaim to the copyright notice, adding that instead of a DMCA, "I honestly expected the design to be pulled for condoning violence or something..."

Gizmodo published the image — a watercolored rendition of a hostel surveillance-camera photo released by police — adding "UnitedHealth Group didn't respond to questions emailed on Monday [December 16] about how the company could possibly claim a copyright violation had occurred." And while Gizmodo promised they'd update the post if UnitedHealth responded — there has been no update since...

404 Media adds that the watercolor "is not the only United Healthcare or Luigi Mangione-themed artwork on the internet that has been hit with bogus DMCA takedowns in recent days. Several platforms publish the DMCA takedown requests they get on the Lumen Database, which is a repository of DMCA takedowns." On December 7, someone named Samantha Montoya filed a DMCA takedown with Google that targeted eight websites selling "Deny, Defend, Depose" merch that uses elements of the United Healthcare logo... Medium, one of the targeted websites, has deleted the page that the merch was hosted on...

Over the weekend, a lawyer demanded that independent journalist Marisa Kabas take down an image of Luigi Mangione and his family that she posted to Bluesky, which was originally posted on the campaign website of Maryland assemblymember Nino Mangione. The lawyer, Desiree Moore, said she was "acting on behalf of our client, the Doe Family," and claimed that "the use of this photograph is not authorized by the copyright owner and is not otherwise permitted by law..." In a follow-up email to Kabas, Moore said "the owner of the photograph has not authorized anyone to publish, disseminate, or otherwise use the photograph for any purpose, and the photograph has been removed from various digital platforms as a result," which suggests that other websites have also been threatened with takedown requests. Moore also said that her "client seeks to remain anonymous" and that "the photograph is hardly newsworthy."

404 Media believes the takedown request "shows that the Mangione family or someone associated with it is using the prospect of a copyright lawsuit to threaten journalists for reporting on one of the most important stories of the year..."

UPDATE: Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland notes there's an interesting precedent from 2007: [D]eep within the DMCA law is a counter-provision — 512(f), which states that misrepresenting yourself as a copyright owner has consequences. Any damage caused by harmful misrepresentation must be reimbursed. In 2004 the Electronic Frontier Foundation won a six-figure award from Diebold Election Systems, who had claimed a "copyright" on embarrassing internal memos which were published online.

Takedown Notices Hit Luigi Mangione Merchandise and Photos - Including DMCAs

Comments Filter:
  • by burtosis ( 1124179 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @07:47AM (#65034141)
    I mean it was a literal takedown, but I still don’t think DMCA applies.
  • Bad Law (Score:5, Insightful)

    by StormReaver ( 59959 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @07:48AM (#65034145)

    The DMCA has always been bad law, and needs to be struck down. It's not that copyrights shouldn't be protected, but the means by which the DMCA goes about it is wrong.

    • Doesn't Mangione have rights to his own likeness?
      • by narcc ( 412956 )

        United "Healthcare", not Mangione, are making the claims.

        • United "Healthcare", not Mangione, are making the claims.

          Very smart. If they can prove he is just property of UMC to do with as they wish they may just have a case.

      • by dougmc ( 70836 )

        Copyrights would generally be owned by the person who took the picture of his likeness, not Mangione himself, unless 1) it was a selfie, or 2) Mangione paid somebody to take pictures of him and it was part of the contract that he'd own the copyrights.

        That said, Mangione would indeed have rights to his own likeness, especially if his likeness is used for commercial reasons [www.sanderslaw.group] -- copyright law is not the only thing involved here.

        Further complicating things, some states have laws against profiting from your own c

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by 2TecTom ( 311314 )

      the problem is corruption, copyright laws are complete corrupt and are being used to cheat and steal from the public now

    • The DMCA has always been a GOOD law - it is doing exactly what it is supposed to. You didn't think it was about respecting your rights did you? It was explicitly written to make it easy for large corporations to use to attack and difficult for individuals to use in defense.

    • by jonwil ( 467024 )

      The DMCA doesn't need to be struck down (I myself have used it to get Github to remove some source code that I own that was illegally leaked and posted). What is needed is reform. STRONG penalties for anyone who claims to be the copyright holder of a work (or claims to be authorized by the copyright holder of a work) when in fact they are not. And STRONG penalties for any website that does not follow the DMCA counter-notice process and restore content when sent a valid DMCA counter-notice.

      The DMCA anti-circ

  • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @08:15AM (#65034195)
    And at first I thought it kind of made him look like a martyr and I wondered why they put it out.

    Somebody on Reddit did a side-by-side of Luigi surrounded by tons and tons of cops on his perp walk picture and a guy who killed 20 kids at a school. The guy who had killed the 20 kids had one cop versus the guy who had killed a single CEO who had the more cops around him than the other guy had killed kids...

    To me like I said it made Luigi look like a martyr. But it occurred to me that if you spend the last 30 years watching cop shows it makes him look like he's scary and dangerous.

    The point is it's amazing the amount of effort being put in to taking this one guy down as hard and as fast as they can.

    That was a murderer not far from where that CEO was killed on the same day. Funny they haven't called that person yet
    • To me like I said it made Luigi look like a martyr. But it occurred to me that if you spend the last 30 years watching cop shows it makes him look like he's scary and dangerous.

      If you spent the last 30 years watching cop shows then what it does is make him look like he's a badass. It's only increasing his cachet to make him look scary and dangerous because that is what we respect in America. The police and the media are hand in hand in that.

    • Can't let the common people have a hero, unless that hero is sanctioned by the powers that be. And it seems like a lot of people consider him either a hero, or someone that actually did something (even if wrong) about corporate greed, and abuse.
      • Became CEO shooters. They wouldn't be able to get to the billionaires of course those guys have private armies protecting them on par with what the president has if not better. But anyone with less than half a billion in the bank isn't going to be able to afford that kind of security. At some point you run out of the kind of military contractors that can maintain that sort of safety when you've got that big a target on your chest...

        It doesn't help that they've been actively encouraging crazy people to
    • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      To me like I said it made Luigi look like a martyr. But it occurred to me that if you spend the last 30 years watching cop shows it makes him look like he's scary and dangerous.

      The point is it's amazing the amount of effort being put in to taking this one guy down as hard and as fast as they can.

      That was a murderer not far from where that CEO was killed on the same day. Funny they haven't called that person yet

      That's the intent. The ruling class (i.e., the rich) have been hurt by this, and thus they proles

    • Ideologically motivated crimes do get a lot more attention. You see that too in the dragging death of James Byrd, or a muslim shoots up a US military base in the name of jihad, or when somebody opens fire on a synagogue or gay bar.

      This is why hate / terror charges are a thing - when your target is not particularly the individual(s) you killed but a whole group, there are extra charges.

  • by Bruce66423 ( 1678196 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @08:53AM (#65034259)

    'a company spokesperson explained they prohibit "fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes."'

    As long as the money won't go the perpetrator under any circumstances, it should be legitimate to raise cash to defend yourself. It's called 'Innocent until proven guilty'. Prosecutors have all the power in the courts - which is why we have rights for defendants, in an attempt to somewhat even the balance. Not a healthy rule.

    • by JBMcB ( 73720 )

      Prosecutors have all the power in the courts

      What *specifically* do you think that sentence means? What power do prosecutors have in *courts* that other lawyers do not?

    • but it's not fair that public defenders have an high case load vs the Prosecutors case load

    • This isn't new and it appears to be rather evenly applied. Kyle Rittenhouse, Daniel Perry (Ft. Hood shooter), the movie armorer (the one that gave a loaded firearm to Alec Baldwin), and others have all had their fundraisers cancelled. The Freedom Trucker protesters in Canada had theirs' cancelled as well, but GFM backtracked and restored them. It's not perfect and obviously some are cancelled while others are good to go, but the decision in this case is pretty clearcut.
      • Kyle Rittenhouse, Daniel Perry

        More fine examples of the far right being perfect ok with murder as long as their side does it. Daniel Perry murdered unarmed civilians with a car and was pardoned by the scumbag governor of Texas.

        Perry claimed self-defense and claimed that Foster had pointed his weapon at him, but eyewitnesses contradicted this account.

        I'm shocked that the murderer is a liar, too. Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison

    • You are confusing the right a violent criminal defendant has to raise a defense fund and the right of a company to choose whom they do business with/for.

      If Gofundme does not want to assist violent criminals in raising money that is well within their rights.

      • by Bruce66423 ( 1678196 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @11:46AM (#65034613)

        He's a person accused of being a violent criminal. Until that is proved, he should be treated as any other member of the public. Treating him differently beyond what is absolutely necessary - which may include remanding in custody - is to deny the principle 'innocent until proven guilty'. This reflects the truth that prosecutors often get it wrong, so society must not add to the burden on an accused simply because he has been accused.

        • He's a person accused of being a violent criminal. Until that is proved, he should be treated as any other member of the public. Treating him differently beyond what is absolutely necessary - which may include remanding in custody - is to deny the principle 'innocent until proven guilty'. This reflects the truth that prosecutors often get it wrong, so society must not add to the burden on an accused simply because he has been accused.

          I strongly agree with you in almost every way, except one. I don't think anyone should be compelled to associate with or do business with anyone else, unless it's discrimination based on race, creed, sexual orientation etc.

          If GoFundMe wants to distance themselves from this guy, that's understandable. It's not dissimilar from not wanting someone with charges laid as your babysitter. Sure, maybe they're innocent... in fact you hope they are. But keeping a certain distance to keep your home or your busin

          • Which should mean reflecting the values of the society which they serve. Which is why they should not 'discrimine based on race, creed, sexual orientation etc'. Neither should they discriminate just because the state has made allegations about a person - especially when raising money on their platform may enable the accused to get justice which they might not otherwise. So they may need to be discerning - allowing only the raising of money for the defence lawyers, not more generally. But the alternative is

  • When it's a campaign for legal defense that agrees with their politics, they just say "well it wasn't a VIOLENT crime..."
    • by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @09:00AM (#65034275)

      It's a stupid policy regardless. If I murder someone in front of a hundred upstanding citizens, while holding up government-issued ID and shouting my name and saying I'm murdering the person because they irritated me... I still would deserve a vigorous defense in a court of law to explain my actions and ensure a fair trial and appropriate sentence.

      It's fundamental to the system, and anyone who stands against that is an ignorant fool.

  • by Inglix the Mad ( 576601 ) on Monday December 23, 2024 @10:15AM (#65034407)
    But they still sell the Trump Jan 6 items.

    Luigi should've announced a run for President... after all Trump said he could shoot someone and still get elected.
  • If you are going to fake a DMCA notice, at least "go big" and claim to be Nintendo!

  • Sickens me he's a Murder suspect! and one that has a great deal of evidence against him While people dislike his victim he was still above all a family man who oversaw the bigger picture parts of the operation of an insurance compony. What was his real crime? studying something in university that had the potential to make money graduating taking a job in the heath care industry than excelling at his job after the fact? And the worst part is by the way these big mega-corporations work probably has no finger
    • You don't agree with murder, but do you agree with social murder [wikipedia.org]? If you don't agree with social murder either, when do you think a person is responsible for social murder? And who deserves a worse sentence, a person who kills 1 person directly, or 1000 indirectly?
      Contemplate these scenarios:
      A worker is murdered by another worker in a work environment.
      A worker is killed by equipment which was not inspected by the safety officer
      A worker is killed by equipment which was not inspected by the safety offic
    • Expect no reward for serving the wicked.

    • While people dislike his victim he was still above all a family man

      So were many who died during the delay, deny, defend phase of attempting to get the insurance they paid for to pay for their lifesaving care as it was supposed to.

      What was his real crime?

      In a technical sense, none. Turns out what the insurance companies do is legal, even when it kills people.

      oversaw the bigger picture parts of the operation of an insurance compony

      If the buck doesn't stop with the CEO, where does it stop? These companies are

  • I have three different Flux LoRAs trained specifically on Luigi Mario. I contributed a handful of meme pics myself, like the one of Luigi Mario in a leather jacket and T-shirt, thumbs upraised like The Fonz. There's no calling any of those back, but actively trying to suppress these now is going to be met with an AI-accelerated Streisand Effect. Even if Civitai pulls them down, they've been up for over a week, and there's nothing to stop us from sharing these with each other even if they're taken down.

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