Google delists marketer’s analysis of Trump University sales letter after friend of deceased Donald Trump ghostwriter files copyright claim
Trump University, founded in 2004 by its presidential namesake, was an unaccredited real estate programme aimed at budding investors.
Before and after its closure in 2010, the New York-based programme faced repeated allegations of illegal business practices by state authorities, plus two federal lawsuits brought by former students who claimed they were defrauded out of thousands of dollars in tuition fees (in late 2016, Trump agreed to pay $25 million to settle the lawsuits).
Now Trump U. is back to haunt the archives of the Lumen Database, a website that collects and analyses online takedown requests.
Earlier this month, Google received multiple DMCA copyright complaints requesting that it delist pages from Swiped.co, a self-described “community for marketers, copywriters & savvy business minds” founded in 2013 by New Jersey-based marketer Mike Schauer.
Swiped.co founder Mike Schauer (source)
The complaints were sent by Big Jason Henderson, founder of Las Vegas marketing company SMH Marketing, who requested that Google delist Schauer’s annotated analysis of a decade-old Trump U. sales letter by deceased Trump ghostwriter Scott “Mongo” Haines.
Henderson says he acquired the rights to Haines’ works shortly after Haines’ death in January.
Top right: Marketing consultant Big Jason Henderson (source)
Here’s one of three complaints Henderson sent Google:
If you can’t read that it says:
I am the copyright holder of “Shortcut Copywriting Secrets.” This course includes a text-based course (204 pages), a quickstart guide (27 pages), and two volumes of sales letters (336 pages). My rights to this work include text, sales letters, logos, and cover images. This sales letter from the course appear on the website swiped.co and subsequently appears in Google search results.
Search results for “Scott Haines” show that Google has delisted the page as a result of Henderson’s complaint:
In an e-mail, Schauer said that he is saddened by the ordeal.
“I’m not trying to pass his work off as my own or sell it,” said Schauer. “I’m using it to educate and teach copywriting, while highlighting the man who wrote it.”
I asked Techdirt reporter Tim Cushing about the possible fair use components of Schauer’s post.
“I think it’s clearly fair use,” said Cushing. “In addition to [the fact that Schauer’s commentary alone should be enough to stake a credible fair use claim], it’s a marketing letter meant to be seen by as many potential customers as possible. It’s not as though publishing it somehow diminishes the market for Trump U. offerings – even if Trump U. were still a viable entity. This is marketing material, not an excerpt from the courses Trump U. was selling.”
Cushing added: “Misuse of the DMCA process only creates more commentary.”
Strangely enough, Henderson appears to agree. In an e-mail, he said he has “no issue” with the delisted page, and that he intended to target another page which he claims contains copyrighted material taken from Haines’ collection – a claim disputed by Schauer.
Here’s what Henderson wrote to me:
My wife’s been helping out and says she did not intend to put in a claim for the Trump U. letter.
I had told her to only look for Trump U. letters which were addressed to Scott which would indicate it was taken from Scott’s collection.
Might have been because it was also on a page that linked to another sales letter which was copyrighted by Scott and included in his collection.
So, I believe she is in communication with swiped.co and working something out because I have no issue with and would even be willing to provide some missing info about that Trump U. letter.
Henderson confirmed that he will ask Google to relist the disappeared pages, on the condition that Schauer agrees to include a link to Henderson’s website.
In the meantime, Schauer has filed a counter notification with Google.
Update, 7/11/2017: According to Schauer, Google has relisted his website.
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