When Your Work Is Stolen and No One Is Accountable: Ben’s Experience of Commercial Content Theft

Case Study Summary

Ben’s* experience of image abuse did not involve threats from a partner or a single identifiable perpetrator. Instead, it unfolded quietly and anonymously, through the discovery that content created behind a paywall had been copied, stripped of context, and redistributed across the internet. What made the experience particularly distressing was not just the theft itself, but the complete absence of answers about how it happened or what could be done next.

*Names and identifying details have been changed to protect anonymity.

Content Created With Consent and Then Taken

Ben had been creating explicit content collaboratively with a former partner through a shared subscription site account. The content was filmed together, transferred between devices for convenience, and made available only to paying subscribers. It was never intended to exist outside that controlled, paywalled environment.

After the account was closed, Ben discovered that large amounts of this content had been leaked. Entire site rips and clips were circulating publicly on Reddit and other platforms. Some of the content remains accessible online to this day. Ben did not believe his former partner was responsible. Instead, he suspected that someone had taken the material from behind the paywall – but there was no way to know who, when, or how.

The Shock of Realisation

The moment Ben realised what had happened was deeply traumatic. He described the impact of discovering the leaks in stark terms: “It really is that first instance of realising that your naked body has been stolen and plastered for many people to see who you would not have consented to have it seen by.”

That moment was defined not just by fear, but by a sudden loss of safety and control. As Ben put it: “It’s feeling safe in that moment as opposed to feeling like your whole world’s collapsing.” The content appeared across multiple sites and accounts, with no clear origin point. Each discovery reinforced the sense that the material was beyond his control.

Nowhere to Turn

A defining part of Ben’s experience was the lack of support. He did not feel there was anywhere he could realistically turn for help. “I didn’t really feel like I had anywhere to go.”

Reporting the leaks to platforms felt futile. Based on personal experience and information from others inside the industry, Ben believed platforms were unlikely to act even if contacted. Without proof of who had accessed or downloaded the content, there was no leverage – and no expectation of a response.

Third-party takedown services did not feel trustworthy either. Stories from peers suggested that some companies offering removal services were themselves connected to leaks, making the idea of paying for help feel risky and unreliable.

Living Without Proof

What made the situation feel impossible to resolve was the absence of evidence. Ben knew his content had been stolen, but had no way to trace how it happened or who was responsible. “You can never find who did it. You can never track them down.”

The Impact of Helplessness

For Ben, the most damaging part of the experience was not financial loss, but helplessness.“Just not feeling helpless is almost better than doing something itself.”

The knowledge that his work was circulating freely, without consent, and could resurface at any time created a constant underlying anxiety. He described living with the fear that the content might be discovered by people in his personal life – something he had never agreed to or prepared for.

Where Image Angel Could Have Changed Things

Ben was clear that no technology could undo what had already happened. But he also identified a critical missing element: accountability. If Image Angel had been embedded into the platform hosting the original content, leaked images could have been traced back to specific access sessions. That would have created proof and with it, the ability to act. “I would have reported if Image Angel existed.” Ben explained that evidence would have changed his relationship with platforms entirely, ensuring they could to engage with reports. “It would give creators so much more leverage.”

He also highlighted a broader impact beyond individual cases: platform trust. “It will actually make creators more likely to sign with you instead of another platform.” In Ben’s view, traceability is not just a safety feature it’s a signal that a platform is willing to stand behind its creators.

Why This Matters

Ben’s experience highlights a gap in how content theft is currently addressed. Takedown systems focus on removal after harm has occurred, but they do little to answer the questions creators are left with: Who did this? How did it happen? Will it happen again? Without proof, creators are left carrying the emotional and reputational burden alone.

Tools like Image Angel are being developed to explore how accountability and traceability could be established earlier shifting responsibility away from those experiencing harm and towards those who misuse or steal content without consent.

Closing

Ben’s story is not unusual, but it is instructive. It shows how anonymity and lack of evidence turn content theft into a prolonged, unresolved harm.

For Image Angel, listening to experiences like Ben’s helps clarify what creators are really missing: not just removal, but agency, accountability, and the ability to act before harm becomes permanent

Disclaimer

The examples, quotations, and case studies referenced in this document are drawn from voluntary potential user interviews conducted for product development, safety design, and contextual understanding.

These interviews are not academic research, nor are they designed or presented as formal studies, surveys, or statistical analysis. They do not aim to produce representative samples, generalisable findings, or population-level conclusions. The purpose of these interviews is to understand how image-based abuse and content misuse are experienced in practice, in order to inform the design, deployment, and evaluation of protective technology and operational safeguards.

Individual accounts are presented as contextual illustrations of real-world use cases, not as evidence of prevalence, causality, or typical outcomes across all users or platforms. Participation was voluntary and based on informed consent. Identifying details have been removed or altered where necessary to protect privacy, safety, and personal autonomy.

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