DMCA – Illegal Content

The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) is the American Copyright law, protecting the intellectual property of individuals who create any sort of content. And it that sense, for those who work in webcam sites, it protects broadcasts preventing photos or videos from being published without consent from the creator, in this case, models.

Porn sites are filled with videos taken by members of webcam sites, who many times take snapshots or record their favorite models. They do that in free rooms or peeking into their private shows. Then, with a single click, illegally upload those models’ content to the internet. That content gets taken by a porn site and consumers of said page download it, share it to other sites and in a matter of hours videos and photos of a model which were published by a single person are reposted in 10 other sites. Since this happens exponentially, in a matter of days it goes from 10 to 100 reposts and so on until that model ends up on hundreds or thousands of sites, published on pages that she’ll never see (I know of some cases of models that pop up on Chinese, Czech, Russian or Japanese websites).

The DMCA allows models to request their content to be taken down, and websites where said content is posted are obliged by law to do so. WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) grants those sites a period of up to 48 hours to heed the demanding party’s request. Any and all serious website that’s in line with the law will attend the request and take down every photo and video that was illegally uploaded. Every porn website fills out a DMCA form that’s always on the bottom of the site.

A way to get “protection” is putting a “watermark” on the broadcast. You can do this by using programs like SplitCam or Manycam, and it can have: the model’s screen name – “Copyright” – “DMCA” – the name of the broadcasting website (this can also be used for self-advertising, putting up the model’s Twitter, Instagram and/or personal website, so that when the content is uploaded, the model gets more followers).

Not all websites are in line with the law. Hundreds of them are illegal, hosted on pirate servers that are virtually inaccessible, with DMCA logos that are only for show because they are not with the DMCA. And in those websites, the battle is lost. An example: I was emailing MyFreeCams and their final answer was: “After much trying, there was nothing we could do. Those are pirate websites and we couldn’t take down our models’ content even by our own hands.” A similar answer came from a representative of Chaturbate “We have created a group just for tracking and taking down illegal content, but it’s an impossible feat”.

In pirate and illegal hosts there’s not a lot to be achieved. Once a client releases a picture and/or video it spreads rapidly, like a virus, and trying to stop it is almost impossible. We could compare it to the war on drugs that Colombia is in the middle of: each time they burn down a cocaine plantation, 20 more appear. They capture a druglord and 10 more pop up, worse than the original one. Since a model’s privacy is a sensitive subject, the only possible options I see are:

1. If you’ve just started as a webcam model and it worries you that your photos or videos are floating around the internet, it’s time to step back and look for another job.
2. If you have started broadcasting already, it’s time to stop and retire, so that the damage is virtually nonexistent.
3. If you’re broadcasting as a webcam model and reach some degree of popularity, and you definitely don’t want to stop or retire, own up to the consequences. Sooner or later family or friends might stumble upon your content on the internet. If you’re aware of it, take responsibility and be prepared for harassing and criticism for having this job. And I suggest you make an effort to become a professional model, that your work is worthy and you make good money, and not that you’re just doing a half ass job for a couple bucks.