Google threatened with $100m lawsuit over nude celebrity photos

Jennifer Lawrence, one of the actresses whose photos were stolen by hackers, on the red carpet at the 2014 Academy Awards.

Lawyers for some of the celebrities whose private photos were released by hackers are threatening to sue Google on behalf of unnamed clients for $100m over the search firm’s failure to remove the images from its index.

The entertainment lawyer Martin Singer, who has previously represented the director Bryan Singer, actor John Travolta and comedian Charlie Sheen, has reportedly written to Google demanding that the company pay up for its “blatantly unethical behaviour”.

In the letter, seen by the New York Post’s Page Six , Singer reportedly accuses Google of failing “to act expeditiously, and responsibly to remove the images”… and of “knowingly accommodating, facilitating, and perpetuating the unlawful conduct.

Page Six reports that Singer accuses Google of “making millions and profiting from the victimisation of women.”

“Google knows the images are hacked stolen property, private and confidential photos and videos unlawfully obtained and posted by pervert predators who are violating the victims’ privacy rights,” the reported letter continues, “yet Google has taken little or no action to stop these outrageous violations.”

Singer’s letter, sent on behalf of his unnamed clients, claims that he sent a notice to Google to remove the images four weeks ago, but that many are still available on Google sites such as BlogSpot and YouTube.

He continues by saying to Google that “because the victims are celebrities with valuable publicity rights you do nothing – nothing but collect millions of dollars in advertising revenue … as you seek to capitalise on this scandal rather than quash it. Like the NFL, which turned a blind eye while its players assaulted and victimised women and children, Google has turned a blind eye while its sites repeatedly exploit and victimise these women.”

Google was unable to comment on Singer’s letter at the time of publication.

If Singer’s threats are taken to court, it won’t be the first time Google has faced legal action over inadvertently facilitating the spread of nude photos. In March this year, Hollie Toups, 34, sued  both Yahoo and Google for failing to remove links to pictures of herself hosted on a revenge porn site.

Like Singer, Toups alleged that she had sent Google proper notice, requesting links to the pictures be taken down, but that the company refused to do so.