Looks like the bulk of the content from this reporter is not infringing, the lack of criminal penalties for these abuses is definitely a disappointing oversight.
I wanted to point out that this seems to be rotating fake companies filing complaints on behalf of this "julia.pic" person.
Note how every DMCA request is done by a different company. There's like 20+ companies that filed those DMCA requests within less than a week.
Can this even be possible? I don't know how lawyer retainers or power of attorney works in the US, but I was assuming that mandates cannot be transferred to third parties.
Read the requirements for a takedown notice. The only thing a DMCA notice needs to claim under penalty of perjury is that you are authorized to enforce the copyright that you are claiming. The report from the copyright office on the linked page states:
> Senders of both takedown notices and counter-notices are liable for damages if they make knowing material misrepresentations regarding whether the material to be taken down is infringing, or has been removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification. Courts have appropriately interpreted this provision by requiring actual knowledge or willful blindness of falsity, not merely negligent or unreasonable misrepresentation.
"Knowing" does a lot of heavy lifting here. Courts have determined that someone who uses an automated system to identify infringing content and submits takedown notices against all of that content does not "knowingly" misrepresent anything.
Furthermore, even in the case where there is bad faith, there's no statutory penalty, it relies on the targeted party suing and in court proving BOTH bad faith, and damages.
Looks like the bulk of the content from this reporter is not infringing, the lack of criminal penalties for these abuses is definitely a disappointing oversight.
This is not by any means accidental.