Everything on the internet is not assumed to be public domain. In fact if you don't put any license on it then it is assumed to be de facto copyright material and other people can't republish it without your explicit permission.
They have removed web sites before due to copyright claims and have a DMCA claim process.
Internet Archive operates the same way, if they receive DMCA notice, they need to comply in order to keep the safe harbour process.
As to whether WTL will file a DMCA to take down his material, it looks unlikely. For whatever reason he suddenly wanted to be out of limelight and I get the feeling that he doesn't care much whether his work is shared or not but who knows, maybe he will come out of the woodwork to raise his voice (which would be in contrast to his reclusive state).
He really is a mysterious figure and even more mysterious is the sheer amount of effort he put into his work and passion to share it suddenly relinquished overnight, out of whim? stress? depression? We can only guess.
However, the platforms and websites that publish that leak cannot be held accountable nor are they beholden to any agreement between you and your partner. Simply because there is no explicit /implicit agreement outside those two parties.
The same logic applies to whatever material you publish on the web. Once it enters public domain, you've relinquished the control over its distribution. The principle here is that once you publish to a public domain and while you can claim copyright and take down the material using DMCA, as long as the platform complies they are granted safe harbour and you are not going to be able to claim damages especially if you did not commercialize it. Even if a game you were selling were distributed online, it would be very tough to stop or go after platforms that hosted it.
Following the "partner leaked pictures" scenario, the opinion of courts with precedent ruling is that it demonstrates an explicit boundary between the parties involved in the original leak of the picture who are known to each other vs third parties that consume it who have no idea what agreements took place between them. Damages to the partner that leaked it can be held responsible but neither the platform or its audience. Even if they monetized the content, they would not be at fault because there is no implicit/explicit agreement once those leaks enter the public domain.
I don't know why we are getting side tracked with leaked nudes scenario but the gist of it is that only your partner that leaked your nudes are liable. If he/she uploads and it enters public domain and is shared amongst the entire cities spanning the globe the platform and its audience cannot be held responsible because of the lack of implicit/explicit agreement between the subject in the photo and the original distributor.
> it remains a violation of copyright for him or anyone else to post them without your permission, and damages can be claimed.
You can file DMCA to take down the photos and you can claim damages from the leaker, not the people who distributed it after the fact and the platforms that monetized and hosted the content.
Otherwise we would not be able to enjoy websites like xvideos or pornhub, who would take down the photos/videos if requested through DMCA but would not be liable for further dissemination nor will its audience.
Simply said and put: Once you put out content in the public domain or view, you lose control of it, and you cannot put the cat back in the bag. Copyright laws and right to privacy IS NOT going to change this principle.
More damages could be potentially claimed if the pictures your ex are posting are pictures you sell commercially, in fact, because you've demonstrated that those photos have value and that you depend on your copyrights to make a living.
You are also wrong on the scenario with leaked photos. The partner who leaked is liable not the rest of us who view it and share it.
Your last sentence also couldn't be further from the truth. Someone who is making ad revenues also isn't at fault and compliance with DMCA notice would be enough for them to continue operating.
Think about it... if the opposite were true then I could watch or download a TV show from Hulu for free and claim I own it and rebroadcast it to others while charging them money. That's not how it works though, just because I watched it for free doesn't mean it's public domain and I am free to do whatever I want with it.
putting it in public domain or publishing it on the internet results in the same outcome, you lose control over it's access and distribution. its even worse because if you try to censor it or known to litigate, it would cause streisand effect.
you are not hulu and you cannot afford the legal costs. even then it still doesn't stop torrent websites from hosting your content and distributing it.
Public domain is a legal term of art. It is not the internet, and it is not achieved by publishing something on the internet.
Common carrier status is orthogonal to all this.