Comments

1
What assholes. The police departments could (but likely won't) enforce their copyrights in the photographs and have them removed. In states where there is a common law and/or statutory right of publicity or commercial appropriation cause of action, the people could raise those claims.
2
OTOH, if they can't match the mugshot to a correct name or vice versa (as was the case with a photo allegedly of my younger brother), they can extort to their little ole' hearts-content, but it won't mean squat.
3
There oughtta be a law!

Oh wait, there is! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality…
4
An example of the same thing, but instead of mug shots it is naked pictures of people published with identifying information:

http://www.onthemedia.org/2012/nov/16/is…
5
@California: The reason these people can search and find these mugshots is because government records are public domain. There is no copyright for publicly owned records.
6
How American. No matter how venal, if it makes money, someone will try it. Anything for $.
7
@5, if the photographs are generated by state or municipal law enforcement and are sufficiently original, then there is a copyright in the photographs and they are not public domain without further operation of law. There may be state laws compelling disclosure of these copyrighted records, or even making them public domain. But those laws vary from state to state and at least some do "not prohibit a state agency from placing restrictions on how a record, if it were copyrighted, could be subsequently distributed." 261 F.3d 179, 192 (2d Cir. 2001). The reason people can search the records is because there are laws permitting access to the records, but merely accessing a record does not affect ownership.
8
Pathological assholery.
9

I love this...shutting down an entire website for attacking a person.

I wonder how far it extends.

Imagine if all the Google bombers could be served their just deserts and have their website shut down and the offenders tracked down and sued...

I am waiting for the day when someone makes the technology to track down the offenders as easy as pressing a button...
10
California, not sure what you are talking about as far as copyrighting public records to control their distribution. I have made hundreds of public record requests and and somewhat familiar with the laws affecting public records.

In Washington State we are insulated from this because by statute mugshots are confidential records and are not releasable without signed authorization by the subject.
11
Threatening known criminals is a good way to get shot. Someone didn't think their business model through enough.
12
@11 the operators of these businesses aren't "threatening known criminals." DUI, misdemeanor possession, disorderly conduct, MIP, and DV arrests are their bread and butter. This sort of site holds no shadow to a career criminal who, after all, is not working a 9-5 job for someone who cares about criminal records. This is all about shaking down regular shnooks who have jobs, families, and non-criminal reputations.

All that said, I'm annoyed at the idiocy in this thread with regard to copyright. PUBLIC RECORDS HAVE NO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION, PERIOD, FULL STOP. Copyright is granted only to private, not public entities. Other laws may restrict the use of public records, but copyright has nothing to do with them. Until and unless other laws exist to curb this practice (or the courts find something of a penumbra of privacy protection for people shaken down by these - currently legal - rackets, there's nothing to be done.)

It's a really brilliant business model, though. For dicks.
13
One of my friends found a mutual friend on one of those websites. And of course he told everyone. And of course we all searched for it. The photo went straight to the top of google search, so now thats the first thing you see when a search is made under the guys name. Future employers will easily see that stuff.
14
@12, only the U.S. government (i.e., the federal--not state--government) is categorically excluded from having copyrights in its original works. 17 U.S.C. s 105. There is no public/private author distinction.

Being a "public record" has no bearing on ownership. Section 102 does not exclude "public records" from protection. But if you still find the Copyright Act unconvincing, Wikipedia's Public Domain page speaks plainly on the subject:

"Public records are not necessarily in the public domain. Citizens generally have the right to access many items in the government's public records, but this right to access does not include a right to republish or redistribute the works so accessed. In general, copyright is neither lost nor waived when a work becomes part of the public record. Being in the public record and copyright are two orthogonal concepts. Uses of works from the public record must comply with copyright law."

Again, state disclosure laws differ--some may permit further distribution, others may not, as @10 points out. If you're aware of a law that excludes public records from copyright protection, or categorically precludes copyright ownership by public entities, please point me to it.

I think the stronger argument against copyright of mugshots is lack of originality.
15
@12 You're failing to understand that guys who get booked for things like DUI, misdemeanor possession, disorderly conduct, MIP, and DV are not all 100% good guys who just got unlucky. They may not have been charged with the worst of their actions. Running a business that attempts to extort people in that demographic is like smoking in a fireworks factory: don't be surprised when the whole shithouse blows.

(Seriously, extorting a guy who thinks it's OK to beat up women? You think that kind of coward won't respond violently, possibly with a gun?)
16
What is your problem with The Daily, Paul?
17
Yelp does the same thing with negative reviews.
18
Why would they remove anything they already published without a fee? That makes no sense. You think CNN would unpublish material that changed later on? Give me a break.
19
Great site, and informative. Yes, the mugshots belong to the state (Maine) and when I inquired about the legality of the predatory websites using them to extort money, i was advised to get a lawyer.

So what other recourse do we have? Does anyone have advice on how to locate the actual site/business address of these predators.

Some of us have lived exemplary lives since our blowups, and would like to contribute to society in a meaningful way, and now some profit motivated hasnamuss is running a racket.

C
20
Great site, and informative. Yes, the mugshots belong to the state (Maine) and when I inquired about the legality of the predatory websites using them to extort money, i was advised to get a lawyer.

So what other recourse do we have? Does anyone have advice on how to locate the actual site/business address of these predators.

Some of us have lived exemplary lives since our blowups, and would like to contribute to society in a meaningful way, and now some profit motivated hasnamuss is running a racket.

C
21
There are ample laws on the books to secure injunctive relief (take down mugshots) and monetary damages against websites that use google to extort money . I am a victim of Mugshots and Google and we are bringing a national class action to put teeth into the statutes that make their activity illegal. I am working with two attorneys in Florida, Joel Stempler 561-635-5096 and Diane Gonzalez to pursue the litigation. Come join us My name, one of the victims is mark Daniel Friedland and I reside in Louisiana and my numbers are 337-893 4388 cell 239 3485943 email kjuntale @yahoo.com
22
There are ample laws on the books to secure injunctive relief (take down mugshots) and monetary damages against websites that use google to extort money . I am a victim of Mugshots and Google and we are bringing a national class action to put teeth into the statutes that make their activity illegal. I am working with two attorneys in Florida, Joel Stempler 561-635-5096 and Diane Gonzalez My name is Mark Daniel Friedland kjuntale@yahoo. number is 337-893-4388
23
corruption of law enforcement agencies, money extortion from private companies. Only in America! Anything to make money! You should do more research on the guys working for these sites/private companies, they are not "little angels" and many of them had problems with the Justice before like Mr Gary Epstein...
24
Petition to remove these and ban these websites on whitehouse.gov website. Sign and pass along please! https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitio…
25
Is what's occurring to people both a criminal violation of the US Code and do they have actionable civil claim (Rights of Publicity) the answer is yes, but will anything be done the answer is no. Journalistic investigation gave the hidden problem.



I emailed a Sheriff's Department in Florida and cc, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the DOJ about a female senior citizen that had minor offense (Dementia Related) which she was arrested for that predates the registration/creation date of both the Sheriff’s and the Webmaster’s website that she was listed on so it's not possible that her data was screen scrapped, but was released by a government agency. My question was how much is the cost to obtain the data and what form or procedure and/or agency can accomplish that for me? I got zero response from the government even from the state of Florida that boasts about its openness.



So following up on the premise that government individuals are being paypaled by Webmaster's for illegally obtaining and procuring records I contacted the local Sheriff's Office who referred my basic records request all the way to the Florida Attorney General as did the FDLE. After, repeated attempts to get an answer from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's Office I was emailed some totally unrelated .pdf brochure giving general information about the office and shortly there after the AG website added a link to download her picture possible to proactively prepare for some lame legal defense.



The FBI has an entire page describing that this activity is illegal and gives people a link to fill out a form and nothing gets done for there are google map directions posted online for them to know how to get from the local FBI office to a few miles away were the Webmaster’s live.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/news_blog/ic3-wa...
26
Is what's occurring to people both a criminal violation of the US Code and do they have actionable civil claim (Rights of Publicity) the answer is yes, but will anything be done the answer is no. Journalistic investigation gave the hidden problem.

I emailed a Sheriff's Department in Florida and cc, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the DOJ about a female senior citizen that had minor offense (Dementia Related) which she was arrested for that predates the registration/creation date of both the Sheriff’s and the Webmaster’s website that she was listed on so it's not possible that her data was screen scrapped, but was released by a government agency. My question was how much is the cost to obtain the data and what form or procedure and/or agency can accomplish that for me? I got zero response from the government even from the state of Florida that boasts about its openness.

So following up on the premise that government individuals are being paypaled by Webmaster's for illegally obtaining and procuring records I contacted the local Sheriff's Office who referred my basic records request all the way to the Florida Attorney General as did the FDLE. After, repeated attempts to get an answer from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's Office I was emailed some totally unrelated .pdf brochure giving general information about the office and shortly there after the AG website added a link to download her picture possible to proactively prepare for some lame legal defense.

The FBI has an entire page describing that this activity is illegal and gives people a link to fill out a form and nothing gets done for there are google map directions posted online for them to know how to get from the local FBI office to a few miles away were the Webmaster’s live.
http://www.fbi.gov/news/news_blog/ic3-wa...

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