Illustrative scenario, not a real client
A paid course leaked through Telegram channels and file hosts
A creator's course videos appeared in a Telegram channel with links to file-hosting sites, and the channel ranked in search for the course name.
- Industry
- Online education
- Platforms
- Telegram, cyberlockers, Google Search
- Infringement type
- Copyright infringement (video, PDFs).
The problem
Sales dropped while the leak spread across several mirror channels.
Evidence collected
- Original course files with creation dates and the sales page
- Captures of each channel, post and download link
- List of file-host URLs with hashes
- Search result captures
Actions taken
- DMCA notices to Telegram's designated contact for each channel
- Notices to each file host's abuse channel
- Google Search delisting request for the channel and file URLs
- Internal watermarking recommendation for future releases
Outcome
Leaks of this kind are usually reduced in a series of rounds rather than eliminated in one. The URL tracker, not a single notice, is what makes the work manageable.
Lessons learned
- Track every URL individually
- Search delisting reduces discovery even while hosts are slow
- Watermarking helps identify the source of future leaks