Woman Awarded $6.45 Million in Revenge Porn Case
Revenge porn, or sextortion, has made plenty of headlines in the past few years. It seems no one is safe from this phenomenon, as thousands of explicit photos and videos are uploaded without the subjects knowledge or consent to the internet every day! To make matters worse, there is currently no federal law against it. A handful of states have laws on the books prohibiting this kind of behavior, but there is no consistency - and that makes prosecuting offenders across state lines difficult to say the least. It's such an issue that victims of this particular crime have to get very creative if they stand a chance at receiving the justice they deserve. Creative like copyrighting your breasts in order to file a take-down request through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
There is a bit of a silver lining though, the cases can be prosecuted in civil court. Case in point - this week, the second largest monetary award for a non-celebrity revenge porn case was awarded to a California woman. CNN reports that the unnamed woman was awarded a total of $6.45 million in a default judgement against her ex-boyfriend, David Elam II. Jane Doe's lawyer argued that Mr. Elam committed copyright infringement, online impersonation with intent to harm, stalking and the intentional infliction of emotional distress by posting nude pictures and videos the victim sent him during their relationship. Don't think that this case provides a precedent that will streamline things for victims in the future, as this case has been batted around by the courts since 2014.