Did your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend distribute your private, intimate photographs or videos online without your consent for countless strangers to see? If so, you may be going through one of the darkest chapters of your life. Please know that you are not alone, and the revenge pornography lawyers at Katherine O’Brien Law are here to help you navigate this highly distressing time in your life. Moreover, we can help you regardless of where you live in the United States.
Revenge porn (known more accurately as “non-consensual pornography”) involves the publication or distribution of sexually explicit images, including both photography or images, without the subject’s consent. This can consist of both images obtained without permission and those obtained initially with consent but later shared without consent – often through an intimate relationship.
Today, intimate images are increasingly being posted online, potentially reaching millions of people with the click of a button. Once nude or explicit photographs have been posted online, getting them removed is a daunting and overwhelming task.
As a victim, you may feel defeated and hopeless.
Although you may feel alone right now, you are far from the only victim who has experienced this revolting offense. It has been estimated that nearly one in 25 Americans have been victims of nonconsensual pornography.
The experienced revenge pornography lawyers at Katherine O’Brien Law are highly sensitive to the profound impact this offense has on our clients. Many of our clients say that the consequences of revenge porn can be shattering to their self-esteem. They feel as though they were robbed of a sense of security and privacy in their bodies. They feel as though they are unwilling sexual objects, as opposed to human beings worthy of respect. Sadly, many of our clients have described feeling as if they were “virtually raped,” as well as experiencing immense feelings of shame, guilt, and self-blame.
Unlike a person whose property has been damaged or stolen or who has been harmed in some other calculable way, the legal system may never be able to give a nonconsensual pornography victim back what was taken from them. Any award of monetary damages may not make the victim whole or allow them to fully recover from what has happened.
However, you should not give up hope. If this has happened to you or someone you know, it is crucial to understand that, as a victim of revenge porn: (1) it is not your fault, and (2) there are several legal options available to you to help address (at least partially) your damages and seek the justice you deserve. The revenge pornography lawyers at Katherine O’Brien Law are ready to help you take back control over your privacy.
After explaining what revenge porn is and the impact it has on its victims, this article will explain four common legal options that are available to victims. These legal options include (1) taking down the offending content, (2) obtaining a civil or criminal restraining order against the perpetrator, (3) filing a criminal complaint against the perpetrator, and (4) filing a civil lawsuit against the perpetrator for monetary damages or injunctive relief.
We would welcome the opportunity to talk with you further over a free consultation regarding your specific situation and to develop a sound legal strategy that adequately addresses your needs and concerns. So please do not hesitate to contact us today.
QUICK LINKS
- Taking down the offending content
- Obtaining a restraining order against the perpetrator
- Filing a criminal complaint against the perpetrator
- Filing a civil lawsuit
WHAT IS REVENGE PORN?
The legal term for revenge pornography is “non-consensual pornography.” Simply put, it occurs when nude photos or images of individuals are posted without their consent. The classic revenge porn scenario is when a disgruntled former lover posts nude images or videos of their ex on pornography websites to seek revenge on that person, as the name implies.
However, it is essential to understand that revenge pornography is one example of nonconsensual pornography. Hence, the name “revenge porn” is a bit misleading as nonconsensual pornography can encompass other situations as well, such as those described below.
- Classic Revenge Pornography – In addition to posting sexually explicit images on the internet, the offender may also post the victim’s home address, phone number, email address, URLs to their social media profile, and/or their employer’s contact information. People who frequent revenge pornography websites will then post crude and vile comments to the victim’s photographs and might even contact and viciously harass them. Alternatively, your sexually explicit images may be posted on social media platforms or transmitted to others via email or text message.
- Boasting Posts – While some defendants admit to posting photos of their partners out of jealousy or anger, others admit to disseminating images of their current or former partners to impress others regarding their attractiveness. It’s a way of boosting the offender’s ego or for the offender’s sexual gratification.
- Extortion – Revenge porn is often used as a form of domestic violence, whereby the perpetrator uses the threat of releasing or posting intimate images to others in an attempt to coerce a reluctant partner into staying or otherwise controlling them.
- For-profit – If someone hacked your images from your phone or computer and then posted them online for profit, this would qualify as nonconsensual pornography. In addition to being liable under state laws that civilly and criminally cover this situation, the defendant may also be liable under federal and state laws targeting fraud and computer abuse offenses.
- Outing of LGBTQ+ Individuals – As discussed below, members of the LGBTQ+ are disproportionate victims of nonconsensual pornography. Often, this occurs in the context of attempting to “out” members for their sexual orientation.
- Deepfake Pornography – Deepfake pornography involves the creation and distribution of realistic, sexually explicit photographs of individuals, often using AI software.
Revenge porn causes profound effects on its victims. They report experiencing immense feelings of shame, guilt, and alienation that are usually coupled with physical, emotional, and psychological trauma – including anxiety, depression, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
According to the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), an organization whose mission is to combat online abuses such as nonconsensual pornography, 93% of nonconsensual pornography victims reported suffering from significant emotional distress. In comparison, 51% of revenge porn victims have had suicidal thoughts. In addition, nearly 50% of them reported having been stalked or harassed online by people who had seen their images, while 30% were stalked or harassed either in person or on the phone by people who had seen them. Some victims have gone so far as to legally change their names or commit suicide to put an end to the torment.
Victims also report difficulty developing or maintaining close relationships as a result of the nonconsensual release of their private images. They report significant trust issues and also routinely withdraw from social activities – whether online or offline. Many permanently delete their social media accounts and stop checking emails and text messages out of fear of unwanted contact.
Women, racial minorities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals are disproportionate victims of revenge porn. In a study conducted by CCRI, over 90% of those victimized by revenge porn were women. Unfortunately, our society has a poor track record when it comes to addressing harms that take women as their primary targets. The fight to recognize domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment as serious issues has been long and difficult, and the tendency to victim-blame and tolerate and dismiss these offenses as trivial has persisted.
The same is valid for how the laws protecting victims of revenge porn have advanced. Although we have come a long way, it was a slow and challenging process. This is particularly true when it comes to the often advanced argument that because the victim initially consented to the sexual images being taken, she has no right to complain about their sharing or argue that it was “non-consensual.” As Danielle Citrone and Mary Anne Franks noted in “Criminalizing Revenge Porn,” such reasoning is akin to suggesting that a woman’s consent to sleep with one man can be taken as consent to sleep with all of his friends. They further analogize:
Consent to share information in one context does not serve as consent to share this information in another context. When a person gives her credit card to a waiter, she is not consenting to let the waiter use that card to make personal purchases. When a person entrusts a doctor with sensitive health information, he is not authorizing that doctor to share that information with the public. What lovers share with each other is not equivalent to what they share with coworkers, acquaintances, or employers. Consent is contextual; it is not an on/off switch.
While revenge porn disproportionately affects women, men are also victims of nonconsensual pornography. When it comes to heterosexual male victims, they report a distinct kind of shame when their nude images are posted online. They report “feeling like a woman,” embarrassed, and emasculated.
When it comes to careers, many victims report that employers declined to interview them or hire them because online search results returned “unfavorable or unsuitable images.” They may lose their current jobs, have difficulty finding new ones, and live in fear that their professional reputations will be forever tarnished.
YOUR LEGAL OPTIONS AS A VICTIM OF REVENGE PORN
If you are a victim of revenge porn, it is crucial that you fully understand all of your legal options. In general, there are four potential options that may apply to your case. They include:
- Taking down the offending content,
- Obtaining a restraining order against the perpetrator,
- Filing a criminal complaint against the perpetrator, and
- Filing a civil lawsuit against the perpetrator seeking monetary damages.
The revenge pornography lawyers at Katherine O’Brien Law are here to help you understand these four options and decide which of them makes the most sense for you to pursue.
We know these four options must be used creatively to achieve our clients’ desired results. Some people only want the images removed and the offender to stop distributing them. They have no interest in obtaining a restraining order or filing a civil or criminal complaint. Others feel it is important that the offender is held accountable by a court.
There is no “one size fits all” approach to revenge porn cases. Strategies and techniques will vary depending on the specific facts of your case, your state’s applicable laws, and your own desired outcome. To effectively represent clients in this new and ever-changing area of law, effective counsel must be able to strategize multiple steps ahead.
We have heard hundreds of stories from current and former clients who felt like the criminal and civil justice systems were re-traumatizing – emotionally and financially. Our revenge pornography lawyers understand that you are going through one of the most difficult times in your life. We will work tirelessly to make the process as easy and least distressing as possible.
If you are a victim of revenge porn, it is crucial that your attorney work to remove the offending content as quickly as possible. Once one revenge porn website acquires your photos, it is very common for the problem to “snowball” as other websites republish or “scrape” the content. In other words, one website can turn into two, which can then turn into four, eight, etc. If the problem is left unaddressed, before you know it, hundreds of pages of search engine results will link to revenge pornography websites.
For most revenge porn victims, the issue of utmost importance to them is to work to remove their sexually explicit images online. Before you remove any content, however, it is imperative that you/your attorney preserve the evidence and have your attorney send preservation demands/notices as explained below. If you fail to preserve evidence before attempting to take down the offensive content, you will no longer have any record of the conduct to provide to law enforcement or the courts should you seek to file a restraining order, a civil lawsuit, or a criminal complaint against the defendant.
STEP ONE. Locate the Offending Content
When searching for nude images of yourself online, it is important that you/your attorney perform searches using various search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) and various search terms. For example, if your name were Susan Smith, you would want to search all three search engines using each of the following terms:
- Susan Smith Pornography
- Susan Smith Porn
- Susan Smith Photo
- Susan Smith Video
- Susan Smith Sex
- Susan Smith Nude
- Susan Smith Naked
Important Tip! It is crucial to avoid searching your name in search engines, such as Google, and then clicking directly on your images. Whenever you or someone else does this, it tells Google (or other search engines) that the image is relevant. The search engines will thereby increase the ranking of that image, meaning it will increase the image’s position on the search engine results page. Thus, rather than searching and clicking on the image, save the image’s direct URL and only access the image by clicking on the direct URL.
In addition to performing searches using your name, you should also perform image searches without including your name. This is because the perpetrator may have posted your nude photographs online without stating your name. You can locate these posts by performing a Reverse Image Search. Google provides detailed information on how you can perform such a search. This feature lets you quickly locate exactly where your photograph is posted online, even if it is not associated with your name. There are also search engines, such as PIMEyes.com, which uses AI software to run facial recognition searches for images online.
STEP TWO. Document and Preserve Evidence
As soon as you become aware of your images/videos being posted online, you/your attorney should immediately start documenting everything and keep a timeline of events in a journal or notebook. Take screenshots, save, and document any website, text messages, emails, phone calls, or voicemails that are relevant to the situation. These can be presented as evidence in court should you decide to file for a restraining order, sue the defendant civilly, or seek criminal prosecution.
The more organized and detailed you are with the timeline and preservation of evidence, the greater the likelihood that law enforcement and your attorney will be able to help you. Of course, if you hire legal counsel, they will also help you preserve evidence once hired.
Some tips regarding evidence preservation include:
- In addition to saving the direct URLs of each image to a document, you should also either save the web pages as PDFs or take screenshots of the offending content posted on each website. In other words, do not just save the direct URLs to the websites/images because once the offending content is removed, the URL will not link to anything. If you are taking screenshots, be sure to get the whole page and include the URL, time, and date in the screenshot.
- Print out all of your evidence and store the pages securely.
- With regard to videos, you should make sure the full-length version of the video is downloaded. However, due to the high prevalence of malware embedded in pornographic websites, we highly recommend that you seek advice before attempting to download images or videos from these websites.
- For emails and text messages, save and print copies of all relevant communications.
- Make a timeline of all events and communications with the perpetrator.
Once you hire legal counsel, they typically send a preservation demand/notice to the relevant websites to preserve crucial evidence. This will ensure that the necessary evidence is properly preserved from intermediaries, including the websites and email service providers used by the perpetrator to commit the unlawful acts. In this letter, your attorney should: (1) inform the website that you are taking legal action; (2) provide URLs to the offending content; and (3) request that the website provide to you now, or archive and hold, any and all identifying information regarding the party responsible for posting that material, including their IP address.
STEP THREE. Removing, Deindexing, and/or Suppressing the Content
When it comes to addressing the posted images, there are generally three options: (1) removing the content at its source, (2) deindexing the content in search engine results, and (3) suppressing the content in search engine results.
A. Removal at the Source
You can contact the website administrator directly to remove the content at its source. Getting the content removed directly from the source is always ideal.
Some websites are responsive to removal requests. The problem, however, is that many revenge pornography website administrators simply choose not to remove content or operate their websites using servers in foreign countries. Finding out how to contact them can be tricky. Remember the nature of these websites and the intentions of those operating them. Unfortunately, these people often take pleasure in the misery of their victims. Thus, a simple request from the victim or other layperson to remove the photos may not produce the desired results and, instead, can often exacerbate the situation.
Revenge pornography website operators make advertisement revenue by charging people to upload pornography content to their websites. Therefore, their cooperation with the victim’s/layperson’s requests to remove is unlikely to succeed.
We have also seen revenge pornography websites try to extort money from their victims. They may demand payment for the removal of the images. However, once they realize you are willing to pay to have the images removed, it quickly becomes a game of “whack-a-mole,” where they repost your images/videos on other websites in an attempt to extort even more money from you. There is also no guarantee that the content will be removed once you wire money to an anonymous, and sometimes foreign, bank account.
Some victims attempt to address the issue themselves or hire an Internet reputation company to send a removal request on their behalf. However, it is not advisable to take this course of action, as a company without a legal license cannot proceed with a lawsuit on behalf of the revenge pornography victim. Thus, some revenge pornography websites will disregard the pleas of victims or the demands of non-legal companies. Additionally, without the assistance of a lawyer, there is a risk of missing the statute of limitations and being unable to file a lawsuit against the perpetrators.
When it comes to removing your images, it is essential to keep in mind that removal is not a guarantee. Your attorney does not exercise direct control over a website’s content. Thus, sometimes, despite your attorney’s best efforts, an image may be incapable of being removed from a website. Instead, removal will depend on the policies and practices of the relevant websites. That being said, when submitting a removal request, you should never reveal any more information about yourself than what a website already possesses. For example, the revenge pornography lawyers at Katherine O’Brien Law have seen websites require victims to take photos of themselves holding a sign that reads: “I am [name] and asking you to remove my photos” or to submit identification to prove you are the victim in the images. Due to safety risks, you should never comply with such requests.
If you can, you should always engage and retain an experienced revenge porn lawyer to represent you with your takedown requests. Revenge porn website administrators know that if they refuse to cooperate with us, as experienced revenge pornography lawyers, we can and will cause them to suffer severely if they refuse to comply with our requests. In addition, another benefit of consulting with a revenge porn lawyer is that they may be familiar with the sites’ removal practices.
If your videos/images are posted on a website, such as Tumblr, Facebook, Youtube, or Blogger, if the poster refuses to remove the content, we can request those platforms to quickly remove the offending content by submitting a Digital Millenium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) notice to those hosts. In addition to sending DMCA notices to third-party hosting websites, we can also send these notices to the website’s hosting provider or registrar, such as GoDaddy, who may intervene to help remove the offending content at its source. You can investigate which companies are associated with hosting a specific website using various online tools such as WhoIS and the ICANN Lookup.
What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act?
Under 17 U.S.C. § 102(a)(5) and (6), the creator of photographs/pictures and videos enjoy copyright in their works. In other words, a person who photographs or videos themselves automatically holds copyright over those works and can invoke their rights under the DMCA if someone infringes on their copyright by publishing it without their permission.
A DMCA takedown notice removes any legal immunity that a website has when a user posts content infringing upon another person’s copyright. For example, suppose a person posts a copyrighted work on a platform such as YouTube without the copyright owner’s permission. In that case, YouTube cannot be sued for copyright infringement unless it fails to comply with the DMCA procedure properly. Thus, DMCA notices induce these companies to interfere and remove the content from websites under their control.
You must actually own copyright over the photo or video to issue DMCA notices. If you took the photo or video (i.e., it’s a “selfie”), you generally own the copyright. If you did not take the photo or video, your attorney can contact the person who did and obtain a copyright assignment in writing – whereby the copyright owner assigns, or transfers, the copyright ownership to you. If the copyright owner is friendly, it may be easy to obtain an assignment in writing simply by asking them to complete a copyright assignment. If the copyright holder is adversarial (for example, the perpetrator themself is the one who took the photo or video), it may be more challenging to get them to agree to assign the copyright to you. This is where a skilled nonconsensual pornography lawyer can be vital in persuading them to give you an assignment in return for you agreeing to settle potential legal claims against them. You should always, however, consult with an experienced revenge pornography lawyer before deciding to give up any valuable legal claims you may have.
You or your attorney must comply strictly with the requirements of the DMCA in the notice; otherwise, the website is not obligated to remove. You or your attorney may also consider registering your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office and mentioning the registration in your takedown request. If you register your copyright before the copyright violation occurs or within 90 days of the first publication, statutory damages can be available for $750 to $150,000 per work. In addition, if you sue for copyright infringement and you registered your copyright, you can seek attorney fees. However, there are also disadvantages to registering your copyright. For example, copyright registration will create a public record that ties you to the images, which, for most clients, is counterproductive.
Please note that you do not have to register your copyright to file a DMCA notice alleging a copyright violation. Still, there are some benefits to doing so, such as the ability to file an actual lawsuit for copyright infringement and to pursue statutory damages and attorney fees under that act. Deciding whether or not to register a copyright is a tactical decision you and your attorney can discuss.
B. Deindexing Through Search Engines
While most websites have strong incentives to comply with valid removal notices, sometimes they won’t. If, for whatever reason, we cannot get the website administrator to comply with our takedown requests voluntarily, we can also submit DMCA notices directly to search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, to request removal of the offending images and videos from their search engine results.
You may also want to consider filing deindexing requests through the search engines immediately to mitigate your damages and then continue working on removing the offending content directly at the source.
While deindexing through search engines is a valuable tool, you should not rely on it completely to the exclusion of removing the content from the source. Deindexing only removes the offending content from the relevant search engines that you request that relief from. In other words, anyone with a direct link to the URL of the content can still view it and be able to view it by searching on the offending website. Moreover, given that the content is live, the chances of another user or website copying and reposting that content to another website, which would create new URLs that index in searchable through the search engines, are high.
To understand how search engines work and why you should still deal directly with the source websites instead of relying on search engine deindexing, this video is informative. As the video explains, the deindexing process is similar to “how libraries used to use an index card system to help visitors locate books in the library. Shredding a library’s index card (similar to de-indexing something from a search engine) will make the book (the webpage) very difficult to find unless you know exactly where it is located in the library (have the direct URL). But, the book is still in the library (on the Internet),” which is why you should also try to remove it directly from the source first.
C. Suppressing the Content
Only if you cannot remove the offending content at the source or have it deindexed should you consider suppression as an option. Suppression, also known as reverse SEO, does not remove the offending content from the Internet or search engine results. Instead, as its name suggests, suppression pushes down or suppresses the content in search results. Suppression is performed by reputation management firms or other businesses that specialize in search engine optimization (“SEO”).
Essentially, they work by posting good content about you on the Internet in an attempt to bury or push down the offending content. The good/neutral content might include social media profiles, YouTube videos, business pages, or other content about your or your business. The goal is to push the offending content off of the first page of Google/other search engines to where users are less likely to see it.
Obviously, this is not the ideal resolution for most people since the offending images are still available online to those who dig beyond the first page or two of search engine results. However, in more complex cases this may be the only available option.
Suppression is also valuable if time is of the essence or if your attorney is having difficulty removing the images. It may take several weeks, if not months, for a removal/deindexing campaign to work. During this time, you could also hire a suppression service to push down the offending images in search results to mitigate damage to your reputation while your attorney works to remove them permanently through the means described above. It is important to keep in mind, however, that it usually takes at least three months to see results with suppression.
Depending on the facts of your case, we may suggest that you obtain a civil or criminal restraining order against the perpetrator. This may be especially true if the perpetrator continues contacting you, your new partner, and/or your family. If this is the case, we strongly recommend that you refrain from contacting the perpetrator by yourself – in any way – as your contact will only further cause the perpetrator to continue communicating with you. This is especially true where the perpetrator is using the threat of publication of your intimate images to control you either by keeping you in an unwanted relationship or keeping contact with you. In these situations, you should seek an attorney to handle all communications on your behalf and, if necessary, send them a cease and desist letter and/or seek a restraining order on your behalf.
A criminal restraining order is a court order that is issued by a judge to protect your safety and well-being. Essentially, the court is ordering the person to refrain from having any further contact with you, whether in person or through phone, text, email, etc.
A civil restraining order, on the other hand, prevents the defendant from doing certain things, such as publishing intimate images online. If the defendant were to violate this court order, they would be found liable to “civil contempt,” which may also carry criminal penalties, depending on the state.
The precise terms and rules surrounding restraining orders vary by state. Some states, such as Flordia, have a specific cyber-harassment retraining order. Your attorney can help you decide which type of retraining order to file as well as which court to file your restraining order application in, which will depend on factors such as which court has more experience dealing with matters of technology, anonymous speech, and online privacy, whether or not children are involved, your ability to file anonymously, etc.
Many states have criminalized the posting of private images online without the victim’s consent. Depending on the specific facts of your case and the state laws, the defendant could be charged criminally with offenses such as stalking, criminal invasion of privacy, voyeurism, impersonation or fraud, and harassment. New Jersey, for example, has a broad statute for Invasion of Privacy, located at N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9, which prohibits the recording and disclosing of another person’s private images without their consent. Regarding criminal laws specifically covering nonconsensual pornography, you can check the law in your state by clicking on this map.
If the defendant obtained your photos illegally, such as through hacking, they may face criminal charges under the federal Computer Abuse and Fraud Act or your state’s anti-hacking or cybercrime laws. If your case involved any federal laws or the conduct occurred across state lines, you should report the offense to the FTC, the FBI, and the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Numerous individuals who have fallen victim to revenge pornography often attempt to seek assistance from law enforcement agencies. However, historically, these agencies have either refused to aid victims, claiming that the issue falls under civil rather than criminal jurisdiction, or have been unable to effectively assist due to their limited understanding and resources when it comes to tracking down and prosecuting operators of revenge pornography websites.
It is important to remember that not many law enforcement officers are adequately trained to investigate and prosecute crimes involving online technology. Thus, your attorney can help you present your case to law enforcement with well-documented evidence. Your attorney can also explain how your case qualifies for criminal prosecution, citing the relevant state/federal statutes, should law enforcement express resistance to filing charges.
You should be sure to tell law enforcement if your situation involves domestic violence, cyberstalking or harassment, or child pornography (you are under the age of 18).
If someone publishes private, intimate images of you online without your consent, there are many legal claims that you may be able to sue the defendant for to obtain civil monetary damages.
There are civil and criminal laws against revenge porn in 48 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. You can check the law in your state by clicking on this map. In August of 2023, for example, a victim in Texas made headlines when she was awarded a historic $1.2 billion in damages after her ex-boyfriend shared explicit images of her online and in emails to her friends, family, and colleagues after they broke up. The lawsuit was filed under a Texas law known as the Relationship Privacy Act, which went into effect in 2015, forbids the “unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material” and imposes both civil and criminal penalties. With that being said, the Plaintiff and her attorneys acknowledged that the case was a deterrence case, not a money case,” adding that the lawyers learned early on that the defendant did not have any assets.
Jury awards in non-consensual pornography cases, moreover, are widely unpredictable. In August of 2023, for example, a New Jersey woman was awarded only $10,000 after her high school teacher posted nude images of her online.
When determining whether to file a civil lawsuit for damages against the defendant, you and your attorney should discuss each of the following considerations:
- What are your relevant claims against the defendant and their likelihood of success? Relevant claims could include defamation, negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, harassment, and stalking. Moreover, federal causes of action might include copyright infringement, computer fraud, computer abuse, and/or stalking.
- Do you know who the defendant is? If you know who the defendant is, then you can properly name them in your lawsuit. However, if you do not know who the defendant is, you will have to file a lawsuit naming “John Doe” as the defendant. Once your suit is filed, your attorney can serve subpoenas on websites to reveal the defendant’s identity so you can properly name them in your lawsuit.
- How important is your ability to proceed anonymously? In many cases involving the posting of your private images, it is imperative that you file a civil lawsuit anonymously. Otherwise, because civil lawsuits are public records, filing a lawsuit in your name would exacerbate the harm since your case could be available online. In most courts, you can file a lawsuit anonymously or under a pseudonym (such as “Jane Doe”) to protect your privacy. Each state’s law is different in this regard, so it is important that you check the relevant state law and follow it accordingly if you seek privacy.
- What is the defendant’s financial situation? Before filing a civil suit against the defendant, it is important to consider the defendant’s financial status realistically. If the defendant doesn’t have any assets, obtaining a significant judgment against the defendant isn’t going to get you anywhere. If the defendant has assets, it might make sense to proceed. However, you must consider the costs of litigating the case, which can be expensive. In this regard, some state statutes will allow the prevailing party to recoup the costs of attorney fees against the defendant.
If you are unable to afford to file a civil lawsuit and/or the defendant has no assets, it is important to keep in mind that your attorney can still take down images posted by the defendant and negotiate a settlement with them.
There are many ways to gain leverage against a defendant who posted your private images online. Thus, it is essential to hire an attorney who is well-versed in dealing with these sorts of issues to assess the entire situation in your case. There are countless ways to get creative regarding your overall legal strategy, and, much like a game of chess, your attorney will need to be able to think multiple steps ahead when considering your legal strategy.
With regard to whether or not you can sue the website where your images are posted, the law is unsettled, and the specific facts of your case will matter. Although section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides immunity from websites where a third party posts content, there are narrow exceptions to this rule, which may apply in your case.
In addition, as discussed above, if your private image was a selfie, you are the copyright holder of that image. If a third-party website refuses to remove your copyright image after your attorney properly serves them with a notice to do so under the DMCA, then that website may be liable to you.
In addition to seeking monetary damages, a civil lawsuit could seek an injunction or a court order to remove the offending content from a revenge pornography website. Many individuals who operate revenge pornography websites mistakenly believe that they are protected from legal action due to their anonymity. However, they are gravely mistaken. When a lawsuit is filed, the plaintiff can utilize the court’s subpoena powers during the discovery process, ultimately leading to the revelation of the identity of the revenge pornography website operator.
Nationwide Revenge Pornography Lawyers
The current legal tools that exist to help revenge porn victims are undoubtedly imperfect. However, that imperfection does not mean that victims should remain hopeless or that the legal system will not help them. What it does mean is that the lawyers who represent revenge porn victims need to be able to strategize effectively and think outside of the box when it comes to applying the law to the facts of their client’s cases.
The revenge porn lawyers at Katherine O’Brien Law have extensive experience representing clients in this nuanced area of law.
Moreover, we can represent you regardless of where you live in the United States.
We find creative ways to use existing laws, including copyright law and state tort law, to represent our clients so they can rebuild an online reputation and reclaim their online privacy. We can also team up with local co-counsel, if necessary, to help them strategize and navigate your case and file any state law claims for relief.
If you or someone you know is a victim of revenge porn, contact us today for a free consultation about how we can protect your rights and work to store your online reputation and dignity.
Contact us today for a free consultation.
Sources/Resources
What To Do If You Are the Victim of Revenge Porn, Federal Trade Commission
