What Russ really needs to do is what every 80s movie underdog protagonist does, and that is throw out the rules and do what his heart has been telling him to do from the beginning.
The only thing Russ has cared about is the defamation and harassment. The copyright was thrown in there to bolster the harassment claims, not because curing the issues caused by the Google link would solve Russ's problems. What Russ needs to do is submit folder after folder of his evidence of harassment and defamation - every forum post, every email, every twitter dm from a brunette cheerleader saying they want him to stop Venmoing that weekly dollar because it's creepy (a conclusion they could only have reached by reading his thread). Yes, the Kiwifarms copyright case will then be thrown out, but all his evidence will finally be on the record, and the judge will mention in his ruling that everything Russ submitted as evidence goes to the defamation etc. claims that have been dismissed, which is the same as saying that Russ would have prevailed on those claims.
Then, Russ can turn around and sue the DJF for fraudulent representation and exploitation of a person with disabilities. They knew that Russ cared the most about the defamation claims, they knew the Kiwifarms thread as a whole is what is ruining Russ' life, but they didn't even spend a paragraph trying to argue those points. Yes, they are copyright lawyers and so they were able to make their most effective argument on those points, but the instant they agreed to represent Russ, they assumed the duty to prioritize what mattered to him. They could have asked for permission to increase the length of their reply so they could argue in favor of all the causes of action, and they didn't. Furthermore, the defamation etc. causes were the ones that Russ had the best chance of litigating on his own after they left him. He has folders of evidence for the mean things Kiwifarms has said about him, he knows how to make the argument that he's suffered damage as a result. He doesn't know how to argue contributory copyright infringement. The DJF threw away the causes of action that truly mattered to Russ solely because they didn't personally care about his plights, and then abandoned him with a case he couldn't prosecute on his own.
He could totally win against the DJF, and since they are lawyers, they have loads more money than Jersh, so he'll be rich enough to attract a toothy brunette and get music industry contacts to finally get his career off the ground.
