'United Healthcare' Using DMCA Against Luigi Mangione Images Which Is Bizarre & Wildly Inappropriate
Because this isn't how copyright law works.
We KNOW Getty owns this picture though that might not stop UHC. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Someone purporting to be United Healthcare is filing DMCA requests to scrub the internet of artists’ depictions of the surveillance video of Luigi smiling, parody merchandise of “Deny, Defend, Depose,” and other merchandise showing the alleged shooter.
If it is really the health insurer filing these notices, it wildly oversteps any legal rights the company might have, but if there’s any company willing to preemptively breach the law and dare the other side to spend their limited resources trying to protect their rights it would be a health insurer.
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404 Media reports that a number of DMCA takedown requests from “United Healthcare” have hit artists depicting the newsworthy event. The publication reached out to the company to confirm that it’s behind the filings but didn’t hear back.
For those keeping score at home, the DMCA provides that a copyright owner must inform an internet entity that their intellectual property is being abused and the service provider then has an opportunity to expeditiously remove the material and avoid possible liability. That said, the DMCA only provides a shield against legal action and if the copyright claim is — to use the precise legal term — “utter bullshit,” they don’t have to comply. Unfortunately, hosts routinely err on the side of caution and remove content when there’s zero cognizable claim.
If this is someone acting on behalf of United Healthcare, what an irony to lodge a falsified claim without it getting denied.
From 404:
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An entity claiming to be United Healthcare is sending bogus copyright claims to internet platforms to get Luigi Mangione fan art taken off the internet, according to the print-on-demand merch retailer TeePublic. An independent journalist was hit with a copyright takedown demand over an image of Luigi Mangione and his family she posted on Bluesky, and other DMCA takedown requests posted to an open database and viewed by 404 Media show copyright claims trying to get “Deny, Defend, Depose” and Luigi Mangione-related merch taken off the internet, though it is unclear who is filing them.
It’s a bizarre and grimly ironic turn if United Healthcare wanted to own the words “Deny, Defend, Depose.” The takedown request for that piece objects to the artist styling the “D” with elements of the United Healthcare logo… which would be the very definition of protected parody. The 404 story has images if you want to see what these all look like.
Beyond tying itself to the gunman’s catchphrase, the idea of UHC trying to own any and all fixations of the alleged shooter’s likeness would be a wild leap. An artists’ depiction of Mangione could only belong to the artist (Mangione might be able to assert some rights to his likeness — a dubious claim under the circumstances and in light of the First Amendment — but in no case would UHC have such a claim).
“What is the circumstance under which United Healthcare might come to own the copyright to a watercolor painting of the guy who assassinated their CEO?” tech rights expert and science fiction author Cory Doctorow told 404 Media in a phone call. “It’s just like, it’s hard to imagine” a lawyer thinking that, he added, saying that it’s an example of “copyfraud.”
It is illegal to file DMCA notices if you don’t own the copyright (or at least have a good faith belief that you do). The idea that UHC now owns every depiction of the guy accused of killing their employee is laughably frivolous and one hopes that its legal department understands this and these requests are coming from a third party troll impersonating the carrier.
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An independent journalist posting a photo of Mangione with his family also received a DMCA request — from a lawyer claiming to represent a family member holding the copyright — even though the image was “originally posted on the campaign website of Maryland assemblymember Nino Mangione.” That site apparently deleted the image and turned around to threaten anyone using it now which is… not how fair use works. But at least this request can claim they have a “good faith” claim, though the system probably shouldn’t reward people for trying to retroactively claim rights after they try to memory-hole their internet history.
But the disturbing thread running through all these requests is how easy it’s become for copyright trolls to leverage the DMCA to intimidate providers into accepting facially invalid requests. The statute has given way to a sort of asymmetrical warfare over IP where bad faith actors can pepper sites with ownership claims and trust that their targets will back down rather than deal with the litigation risk. As 404’s coverage notes, this doesn’t bode well in a country about to inaugurate an administration openly encouraging retribution against journalists in an effort to silence criticism.
This sure looks like a company (and a local politician) trying to use copyright law as a “square peg-round hole” solution to erasing any humanizing or sympathetic depiction of Mangione. And unfortunately, everyone seems to be obeying in advance.
Copyright Abuse Is Getting Luigi Mangione Merch Removed From the Internet [404 Media]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
