Using a right to be forgotten application to remove porn videos and images
The right to be forgotten for porn videos and images is one of the most under-utilised right to be forgotten type of requests. Unfortunately, the internet is loaded with pornographic videos and images, many of which have reluctant, vulnerable participants who have been enticed to participate with little remuneration. In many cases, actors and models did not fully appreciate the long term consequences of their actions.
How to remove porn videos and images from source and under a right to be forgotten
Is it possible to use the right to be forgotten and remove pornographic images from source
Is it possible to transfer copyright in porn videos and images to the actor
Lawyer's thoughts about right to be forgotten pornography cases
How to remove porn videos and images from source and under a right to be forgotten
There are different strategies for removing porn from the internet. It is possible to remove porn videos and images from source and under a right to be forgotten regardless of whether the media was created by a willing participant or an unwilling one. In many cases willing participants in pornographic productions decide that they want to forget that part of their life and move on, pursue another career and create new relationships and family lives. Often, their past activities in the pornographic industry will prevent them from doing any of the above in a successful and fulfilling way.
It is also possible, alongside a right to be forgotten application, to have the videos and images deleted from source and even to receive compensation for the damage and distress the publications have caused them over the years.
Is it possible to use the right to be forgotten and remove pornographic images from source
In a recent case, we used the right to be forgotten to remove porn videos from search engines and at the same time we pursued the film producers. At the end, all the videos were removed from the search engines, from dozens of websites and our client received damages in excess of £20,000 and full ownership of copyright for the videos.
The individual in that case claimed that at the time when he participated in making the videos he was at a very low point in his life and despite the fact that he was paid for his participation, he never fully consented to the publication and subsequent exploitation of himself by the video producers.
He was paid just £150 for the entire recording, which turned into an extremely intrusive and humiliating experience for him. He changed his mind after the recording and begged the film producer to delete it but the film producer refused to and subsequently, exploited him and went on to sell the highly degrading video on a lucrative gay porn website for over a period of 5 years.
Links, extracts and copies of the videos and images were also published on other pornographic websites, together with highly derogatory descriptions of our client. It became a bestseller due to its humiliating nature.
Alongside the legal action against the porn producers, we submitted a right to be forgotten request to the website operators who hosted relevant videos and images. We also made a right to be forgotten request to Google and to other search engines to ensure that internet pages which contained images and videos of our client were delisted from search results. Legal action against producers of porn films might include legal action for breach of privacy, legal breach of data, legal action for breach of copyright and legal action for harassment.
Is it possible to transfer copyright in porn videos and images to the actor
It is possible to transfer copyright in porn videos and images to the actor and by doing this the participant can secure future removal of images and videos from websites around the world and from the search engines. Transfer of copyright helps enforce the prohibitions of any future unauthorised online publications of the pornographic video.
Lawyer's thoughts about right to be forgotten pornography cases
Nearly every case that involves removal of pornography from the internet on behalf of an individual, is emotionally charged. In many instances individuals who acted in pornographic movies are lacking confidence and are fearful of a vengeful producer.
Cases of this nature require a lot of digging and from a legal point of view, can be very challenging in terms of proving or disproving events that took place many years ago. However, I encourage anyone who decides that they no longer wish for their pornographic videos or images to be posted on the internet, to seek legal advice because whether it is under a right to be forgotten or through legal action against the producers, it is highly likely that we will be able to facilitate the removal of all the unwanted material about them from the internet.
