We build WordPress.com with creators in mind, and fully support creators’ enforcement of legitimate intellectual property rights. Too often, though, we see copyright and trademark holders abuse their rights by issuing improper takedown notices. Notices that target criticism of an artist’s work, or the mere mention of an artist’s name, for example, serve to stifle creativity and freedom of expression that we try so hard to promote and protect on WordPress.com.
We work hard to carefully review the infringement complaints we receive and push back against those that are improper. We’ve compiled a small list of examples of improper takedown demands that we’ve received, to illustrate threats to freedom of speech and expression that we review and resist every day.
There are certain parts of the internet where Star Trek and adult content overlap harmoniously in expected ways, but Tumblr was recently a platform where that overlap was remarkably unexpected. Our latest entry into Automattic’s Hall of Shame tells the story of a Star Trek starship, an overambitious copyright monitoring company, one off-base DMCA (Digital […]
Read more →For our latest Hall of Shame entry, we turn our gaze towards the City of Abbotsford in Canada. For reference, here’s their logo. Commit it to memory, as you’ll want to remember what it looks like for later: City officials took issue with a 2013 post written by a homeless blogger that criticized them for […]
Read more →Earlier this year, we talked about the dangers of relying on third-party bots to chase down potential copyright infringement, and the ironic circumstances that ensue when the rights holder’s own content becomes a target. It’s a frustrating situation for everyone, but this kind of oversight is no surprise when automation is let off the leash. […]
Read more →In the past, we’ve not been shy about highlighting a number of the issues that exist with the DMCA, and recently fought back against its abuse in court. However, it remains true that tackling repeated instances of copyright infringement online can be repetitive work, and it’s no surprise that some people opt to outsource this […]
Read more →Trademarks are important. They allow businesses to build up value in their brands, and give us the ability to distinguish between competitors in crowded marketplaces. In theory, they are necessary to make sure that people are getting the products or services at the standard which they expect. Naturally, this system requires a means of legal […]
Read more →Janet Jackson is a fine recording artist, but seems to have employed some overly aggressive lawyers, bent on removing or controlling all references to her name on WordPress.com. Here are a couple of examples of the improper takedown demands we’ve received: Trademark infringement: The mention of Janet Jackson in a post about dinner conversation topic “What would your WWE […]
Read more →Kern’s Kitchen, the company exclusively behind “the one and only Derby-Pie® chocolate nut pie,” asserted its trademark against 32 bloggers on WordPress.com who had the nerve to title their recipes “Derby Pie.” Between the link to trademark information displayed prominently on their site and the many lawsuits they’ve filed, it’s clear that they take this pie business seriously. They’ve rightfully earned their place […]
Read more →Over the years, founder of Bikram Yoga, Bikram Choudhury, has been under considerable public scrutiny for alleged sexual harassment. In what we believe was an attempt to censor critical speech, several different individuals (supposedly) submitted five DMCA notices against a single blog post that touched on these accusations. After we rejected the first four DMCA notices because we had good […]
Read more →After a less than ideal experience with Dorra Slimming, our user took to her blog to post about it. The company sent us a complaint alleging that her post was infringing on the copyright protected Dorra Slimming logo. After looking at the post, the only instance of the logo we could spot was in this photo that our user took: Because the […]
Read more →The New York State Department of Economic Developments holds a trademark over the iconic “I Love NY,” but we never expected them to go after someone using this logo to promote bicycling in their lovely state: We rejected the claim on the grounds of fair use.
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Transparency Report 