You know who Trump paid more than $750 in 2017? Notorious copyright troll Richard Liebowitz.
A thread. 1/15
Julie Dermansky is an environmental activist photographer based in Louisiana. She does excellent work. jsdart.com/index 2/15
Dermansky took a picture of some MAGAs at an Alabama Trump rally in 2015. juliedermansky.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/… 3/15
The Trump campaign saw it and posted it on Instagram in 2016. 4/15
A modified version went viral soon after. Memes! gizmodo.com/7-more-viral-p… 5/15
So Dermansky registered the copyright and retained Liebowitz. He's built quite a reputation since. ia802802.us.archive.org/11/items/gov.u… 6/15
Liebowitz filed suit for her in 2017, alleging copyright infringement against the Trump Organization. courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… 7/15
They claimed Trump was on the hook for statutory damages: anywhere from $750 to $150,000 per work. copyright.gov/title17/92chap… 8/15
That wasn't true. Infringement preceded the registration, so only "actual" damages were at issue. copyright.gov/title17/92chap… 9/15
In any event, Liebowitz reached a settlement and dismissed the lawsuit six weeks later.
courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… 10/15
The campaign settled for $10,000, as the Times reported.
nytimes.com/2017/10/15/us/… 11/15
The Times dug up the settlement payment at page 10,728 (!) of this FEC filing. docquery.fec.gov/pdf/459/201710… 12/15
The campaign told the FEC the 10K was for "legal consulting." Not what most folks would call a settlement... 13/15
Under Liebowitz's standard terms he pockets half. The client covers costs and gets the rest. techdirt.com/articles/20200… 14/15
That's how Trump funneled $5000 in 2017 from campaign donors to Manhattan's most-sanctioned lawyer. nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-co… 15/15
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