Redbubble Is Processing Takedowns Attributed To The Linux Foundation
I have a small Redbubble shop I've mostly used for posting quick hacking/geeking stickers and the occasional photo. I've had takedowns before. I normally don't bother with a counter notice. It's not like I'm making millions from Redbubble (and even less so now they're charging account fees so it's rarely worth the effort. However, about 5 days ago I received the following email from Redbubble (I've removed irrelevant bits for brevity):
Hi Steve,
We’re sorry, but we had to remove your artwork from the Redbubble marketplace under our IP & Publicity Rights Policy, because we received a complaint from someone alleging that your artwork violates their rights.
More information:
Rights holder: The Linux Foundation
Subject matter: Linux Trademark / Linux IP
Affected Artwork: Segmentation Fault by stevelord https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/35805629 FSCK Systemd by stevelord https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/36367802
We know that artists put their heart and soul into their art, so please understand that removal of your work is not something we take lightly. It is important that users of the Redbubble marketplace only upload their own original artwork.
What you can do next:
Do nothing - Your artwork will not be reinstated, and you should not upload it again. This usually brings the matter to a close. Contest the removal This is only appropriate if you believe that removal of your work is a mistake or that your work is parody, satire, critical commentary or other fair use. More information on the counter notice process can be found here. Important: Re-uploading the same content without going through this counter notice process may result in penalties being applied to your user account, including account suspension.
I could rant about the inequities of the DMCA but so many others have done already. Graham Sutherland has already said anything I'd want to say anyway.
I can't re-upload the art without risking my account, so the only option to keep it up is by issuing a counter-notice. This means I have to provide personal details to the organization filing the claim. However, I don't get their personal details. So I'm always left looking over my shoulder in case of a lawsuit over checks notes my 9 sales of the fsck systemd piece. Issuing a counter-claim doesn't bring the work back to the shop, so it's currently not possible to buy one of my fsck systemd or segmentation fault stickers.
The specific wording (emphasis mine), "from someone alleging that your artwork violates their rights", suggests that this was in fact the Linux Foundation making the claim over designs solely containing the text, "FSCK Systemd" and "Segmentation Fault", neither of which are trademarks The Linux Foundation claims[^1]. The terms "fsck" and "segmentation fault" pre-date the Linux Foundation and Systemd while being a Lovecraftian horror inflicted on the Linux userspace to drive system administrators insane is not the property of the Linux Foundation.
It turns out that the Linux Foundation never submitted anything. Redbubble has some kind of automated scanning process and the people behind the claim were not the Linux Foundation - they confirmed it wasn't them. In fact we have no idea who submitted the claim.
Eventually LF managed to get Redbubble to withdraw the claim. Redbubble's systems are wonderfully broken enough that I received several emails telling me to resubmit my DMCA counterclaim.
From what I can piece together it looks like groups go online, find art, download it, submit DMCA takedown claims then post the art themselves. Stealing art is probably the 3rd oldest profession, but I don't see how they'll make money back even from the computing cycles alone.