An artist's experience of copyright erosion in the digital age
In a world dominated by social media and online content sharing, how can artists’ rights be protected?
© William Cobbing. All Rights Reserved, DACS
DACS member William Cobbing recounts his experience of copyright infringement on a major social media platform, highlighting the issue of copyright erosion in the digital age and calling for stronger protections for artists.
Like many artists, I saw a significant shift in how my work was shared and viewed during the pandemic. With galleries closed, social media offered a tantalising opportunity to showcase work to a broader audience. I put a lot of my artwork online, and social media platforms became crucial for maintaining visibility.
On the surface, this was positive, offering a way to reach new audiences. However, it also came with unexpected challenges: instances of my work being reposted without credit started cropping up. Although social media platforms have forms for reporting copyright infringement, the process is not always smooth. In most cases, my work was removed after I submitted a claim, but it often took longer than expected, adding unnecessary stress.
In August 2021, I encountered a far more serious issue. Messages flooded one of my social media accounts, alerting me that someone using an anonymous handle had been posting my videos without crediting me, gaining millions of views. Not only had they stolen all my videos, but also they had used a still image of my work as their profile picture. The scale of the infringement was overwhelming – this was not just a one-off, it was systematic and devastating.
Over the following weeks, views of my (uncredited) work on their account soared beyond 25 million. Copycat accounts began springing up, sharing my videos even more widely. It felt like my work was being taken away from me. Despite several attempts to have the videos taken down through their official channels, the social media platform did not respond, leaving me feeling helpless. Without enforcement of copyright laws, I had lost agency over my own creations.
When I contacted the individual behind the account, they claimed that by posting my videos, they had somehow gained ownership. Worryingly, this wasn’t just their misunderstanding – many comments showed me that social media users in general viewed reposting as a form of ownership.
This experience opened my eyes to the erosion of artists' copyright in the digital age. Social media platforms have reshaped the way art is shared and made it easier for others to claim ownership. This extends beyond my personal experience. Elon Musk called copyright law "a plague on humanity”, reflecting a troubling shift in how digital platforms – and some of their users – view intellectual property.
I continued to go through the social media company’s official channels, submitting dozens of copyright infringement claims over several months, but received no reply. Feeling defeated, I reached out to DACS. Their response was immediate and reassuring, stepping in to contact the social media platform’s legal department, putting them on notice for failing to act on my claims. Even though there was still no response, DACS helped restore my confidence by reinforcing my legal rights.
After taking independent legal advice, I drafted a County Court claim for reimbursement, detailing the time I had spent filing copyright claims, the reputational damage I suffered, and the estimated income loss from the user’s likely earnings. Finally, I received a response from their lawyers informing me that all the infringing content had been removed and the account had been taken down.
At one point, I set up an account on the same social media platform, to post my videos and to engage more directly with the fake accounts. This gave me an insight into the way in which social media rumours and memes become viral; my clay head character had gained a lot of notoriety as coming from the ‘dark web’, with wild speculations that the character was long since dead of clay asphyxiation.
Although the situation was resolved, the experience left me questioning copyright protection for artists in the 21st century. Social media platforms have a responsibility to be more proactive in protecting creators, and there must be clearer regulations to prevent these issues from escalating. Organisations such as DACS play a critical role in supporting artists, but the growing complexity of the digital world demands stronger legal frameworks.
For me, this experience reinforced the importance of understanding copyright and knowing how to protect my work. But it also highlighted the need for change – social media platforms, lawmakers, and artists must come together to ensure that creators can continue to share their work without fear of exploitation.
About William Cobbing
William Cobbing’s art practice encompasses a diverse range of media, including video, photography and installation. Performative encounters are devised with material, such as clay, in which the protagonists’ are engaged in a repetitive and absurd cycle of manipulating formless surfaces. William is a member of DACS Licensing and DACS Artist Resale Right services.
