Hit 50 fake copyright claims filed in one month and that changed my stance on automated takedown tools

I used to think automated copyright claim bots were overkill for a small-time freelancer like me. Then last July I got hit with 52 fake claims from one competitor using some cheap script. I spent 12 hours disputing them manually. Now I pay $30 a month for a service that catches this stuff before it even hits my client's inbox. Has anyone else had a bot flag their original photos as stolen?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyhall12d ago

Got hit with 47 fake claims in two weeks from someone using an automated script. Wasted a whole weekend fighting them one by one. Now I run anything I upload through a checker first before sending it to clients.

paulnguyen11d ago

It's wild how this kind of automated junk is bleeding into everything now. I see it on YouTube too, where bots flag videos for copyright that have zero stolen content just to try and mess with channels. It's like the whole system is built to trust the first attacker and make you prove you're innocent. That checker you're using sounds smart, but it sucks that we all have to add extra steps to protect ourselves from something that shouldn't even be possible.

wells.evan13d ago

Man you got 52 fake claims in a month? That's brutal. I had a similar thing happen with a client's drone footage - some bot claimed it was their stock video even though I shot it myself. Took me two days to sort out all the disputes and I was losing my mind.