Ralph Lauren is receiving some bad publicity after it sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request to BoingBoing demanding that they remove an obviously photoshopped image of a model from their website. Ralph Lauren sent the image, posted below, to BoingBoing’s ISP Priority Colo. Like many Canadian ISPs, Priority Colo does not automatically remove content when they receive a DMCA takedown request. Instead, they pass the request on to their client, in this case BoingBoing, who then may embarrass both the law firm and the law firm’s client publicly.

This case involved an obvious exception to the Copyright Act, namely, the fair use exception for criticism, comment, and news reporting under § 107. Unfortunately, law firms often fail to successfully predict the public relations consequences of a DMCA takedown because they do not understand the Internet or they cannot accurately judge how an Internet community will react to a DMCA takedown request. An experienced Internet copyright lawyer will balance your legal leverage against the business effects of the exercise of that leverage to best protect your rights and interests.

If you need an Internet copyright lawyer to protect your copyright rights, whether through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or other means, please contact one of our expert Internet copyright lawyers today.