Creators frequently find that other internet users have replicated their videos, photos and text without permission. Some people see this as an inconvenience, but the stakes are higher for creators who are harassed, threatened or demeaned when others misuse their photos or videos online.

Ceartas, a startup that uses algorithms to search the internet for unauthorized copies of a creator’s work, takes the responsibility of identifying and removing such content. Dan Purcell, who lives in Ireland, founded the company in 2021 after another person uploaded explicit videos of him without his consent in 2018, and he had to learn how to remove them. 

“I was an engineer for Google, so I was quite panicking, I was very worried that family and friends were going to see this,” he told The Information. “So I went down this rabbit hole of figuring out, what are my rights? How do I get rid of this?”