Root Wellness has been added to BehindMLM's DMCA Wall of Shame after filing a series of fraudulent takedown notices designed to silence critical reporting about the company.
On June 15th, Don Bailey filed the notices on behalf of Root Wellness, its owner Clayton Thomas, and Christina Rahm. Bailey identified himself as an "authorized representative" of Root Wellness. LinkedIn shows he works as Director of Business Development for Local Map Co, a South Carolina SEO and marketing firm.
The timing is suspicious. Just six days earlier, on June 9th, Root Wellness owner Clayton Thomas settled an SEC lawsuit over securities fraud charges for $844,706. The DMCA notices followed almost immediately.
Bailey's takedown requests targeted four specific BehindMLM articles. The first covered Root Wellness dodging responsibility for medical claims on its website after a compliance ruling in July 2022. The second reported on Metron Nutraceuticals suing Root Wellness for intellectual property infringement in 2020. The third was BehindMLM's original MLM review of Root Wellness from April 2020. The fourth detailed the SEC's securities fraud lawsuit against Thomas in May 2023.
In the notices, Bailey claimed the articles contained "unauthorized use and infringement of our brand's intellectual property rights, which includes but is not limited to our trademarks, copyrighted material, and the likeness of our brands/persons."
The legal problem for Root Wellness is clear: the notices ignore fair use protections under US copyright law. News reporting and reviews are explicitly protected activities. Courts have consistently ruled that DMCA notices sent without considering fair use constitute bad faith and perjury. Filing them opens the filer to lawsuits for damages.
BehindMLM doesn't need permission to report on Root Wellness, Thomas, or Rahm. The articles fall squarely within established fair use doctrine. They're journalism.
Bailey apparently filed the same takedown request three times, suggesting either incompetence or a deliberate campaign of harassment.
This isn't Root Wellness's first attempt to suppress coverage. In July 2022, the company launched a negative SEO spam campaign against BehindMLM, trying to tank the site's search rankings. That effort also aimed to kill reporting about the company.
The pattern is clear: when Root Wellness can't answer the charges against it, it attacks the messengers. First with SEO manipulation, now with bogus legal threats. Both tactics failed.
Between the spam campaign and the fraudulent DMCA notices, BehindMLM has added Root Wellness to its public list of companies that abuse copyright law to hide from accountability.
🤖 Quick Answer
What is the DMCA Wall of Shame mentioned in relation to Root Wellness?BehindMLM's DMCA Wall of Shame is a compilation listing companies that have filed fraudulent or abusive Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices. Root Wellness was added following a series of allegedly baseless DMCA claims filed to suppress critical reporting about the company's business practices.
Who filed the DMCA takedown notices on behalf of Root Wellness?
Don Bailey filed the DMCA notices on behalf of Root Wellness, its owner Clayton Thomas, and Christina Rahm. Bailey identified himself as an authorized representative, though LinkedIn indicates he works as Director of Business Development for Local Map Co, a South Carolina-based SEO and marketing firm.
What was the timeline of events surrounding the DMCA notices?
On June 9th, Root Wellness owner Clayton Thomas settled an SEC lawsuit regarding securities fraud
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