Who is Edward Przydzial and Did He Issue a DMCA Takedown Notice over the Joker/Obama Image to Flickr?

For the past week or so I've been reporting on the DMCA takedown case involving Flickr user Firas Alkhateeb. By way of background, Alkhateeb had uploaded the controversial Obama/Joker image to his Flickr account in January of 2009. The image garnered over 20,000 views and many comments before Flickr staff removed the image from the site. The Los Angeles Times subsequently reported an article identifying Alkhateeb as the author of the original and controversial Obama/Joker image also noting the Flickr had removed Alkhateeb's image from their site.

After a number of negative articles over the removal of what seemed like a fair use parody image, Flickr responded publicly in justifying their actions for removing Alkhateeb's image citing a DMCA takedown notice that they said they received without identifying who had sent it. Initially many assumed that Time or DC Comics may have requested the takedown.

Subsequently PDN contacted representatives from Time, DC Comics and Platon (the photographer who had taken the original photograph which was remixed into the Obama Joker) who all denied sending Flickr a DMCA takedown notice over the issue. Although at first Alkhateeb had said that he did not know who had filed the DMCA takedown notice but assumed it was Time, after he revisited the email that Flickr had sent him over its removal he was able to confirm the identity of the individual who had filed it.

Yesterday evening Alkhateeb shared with me the name that Flickr had provided him as the person who filed the DMCA notice against him, "Edward Przydzia." He asked me initially not to publish this name but has subsequently given me permission. The email that Alkhateeb said Flickr sent him is below:

"Dear khateeb88,

We have received a Notice of Infringement from Edward
Przydzia via the Yahoo! Copyright Team and have removed the
photo "Obama the Joker" from your photostream.

Subsequent NOIs filed against your account will result in
further action that may include termination without
warning.

If you believe that you were designated by mistake or
misidentification, or if you believe that you have not
infringed the copyright, you may submit a sworn
counter-notification as to the mistake or
misidentification.
Please contact the Yahoo! Copyright Team for more
information on this process:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/copyright/copyright.html

- Flickr Team"

After learning the identity of the person who had allegedly had filed a DMCA notice against Alkhateeb, I began trying to research "Edward Przydzia." A Google search of the name "Edward Przydzia" yielded no results for that name specifically which made me wonder as to the legitimacy of the takedown notice. Earlier today I blogged the story "Does Flickr Censor User Content Over Blatantly Fake DMCA Notices?" in response to being unable to associate the Edward Przdzia name with anyone who would appear to have a legitimate IP interest in the Obama/Joker Image.

Later this afternoon I began searching variations of the "Edward Przydzia" name and was able to come up with an "Edward Przydzial" who has, it seems, made claims, online at least, that he is the originator of the Joker/Obama image not Alkhateeb. So I suspect that it may have been Edward Przydzial, someone with at least a stated IP interest in the Joker/Obama image, who filed the DMCA takedown notice with Flickr. I've emailed and facebook mailed Edward Przydzia asking him to confirm if he in fact filed the DMCA takedown notice and if he is indeed claiming ownership over the Joker/Obama image but have not heard back from him as of yet. I will report back once I do hear from him.

There is at least one post on what appears to be Przydzial's Live Journal page showing a version of the Time Joker/Obama image dated October 9th, 2008 (before Alkhateeb's January post of the same image on Flickr)

When I asked Alkhateeb about that October posting from Przydzial this is what he replied to me:

"I don't know how livejournal works but I can assure you 100% that I made this image in december/january this past winter. I have the original file on my computer with date created/modified data to prove so. The images he has on his site are copies he must have taken off the internet. The one with the socialism caption is an image that's been on several news sites and was taken of a poster on the street in LA in early august. If you do a google news image search youll find the exact same photo of the poster. You can easily tell its a photo of a poster on the street. It's impossible for that livejournal to be authentic if an image he has in it thats dated October 9th is a photo that was taken 3 weeks ago."

In digging further into who Przydzial is online I was able to find this press release about him Flickr: Explore! to what is supposedly an April 25, 1988 article about Przdzial from the Detroit news alleging that he spent time in Federal prison "for multiple counts of fraud and interstate transportation of property obtained by fraud."

Here is another article about Flickr: Explore! apparently written by him representing the "Associate Press" on April 3rd 2009 regarding the Obama image.

Update: I received a reply back this morning from Przydzial to my Facebook message asking him if he filed the DMCA takedown notice against Firas and if he is claiming ownership to the Obama image. Here is his reply back to me: "i do not own the image. time magazine photographer does... i am the "creator" of said image not firas whatever. i posted them in los angeles and they went viral. he is stealing my thunder. btw, my intention was not to make money off of or sell this as a way to make money... this art was designed to wake american's up to obama's false healthcare reform. the photoshop is all i'm claiming. as far as flickr goes... you'll need a court order for flickr to inform you of identity status for dmca takedown notice... if flickr has a court order to release that info, that's news to me."

Update #2: I just received back a second reply facebook mail to my reasking Edward the question as to whether or not he filed this DMCA takedown notice and this is what he replied:

"i'm finding you have already posted a blog about me, made your assumptions and printed all type of trash that has been deemed harassment. the links to all the false federal blah, blah, blah... same old "he's a crook" crap. i voted for bush twice and i was no way voting obama. your article is somewhat confussing even to me. i'm not sure what your major malfunction is...? i'm not pursuing anyone just promoting the poster. many blogs want me to speak but since it's been turned into a liberal slant i'd rather not comment. i will continue to make my claims. firas is lying. flickr would need a court order to do that. ask him to show you his court ordered document with the judges signature on it... then maybe i'll answer your question."

I think I'm probably done with this one for a while.

Taken on: August 27, 2009

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