Accidental copyright infringement - legal advice seeked

[Caleo Global Moderator]

I once downloaded a large pack of wallpapers from some random site before under the influence that they were free to use/distribute.. I thought it would be nice to post them on my site to share with other people, so I did.. I haven't really had a problem with anyone getting ****ed off about it until now.

Here's the summary:

I had a wallpaper section on my website, and a disclaimer saying “Note: None of these wallpapers were created by me, if you're the original creator; feel free to email me and have your work removed”.. My site is 100% non-profit - I haven't made a cent off of it.

Tonight, I received an email from someone demanding 50 dollars via paypal as a sort of settlement or they'd sue me for copyright infringement. The email is as follows (with certain things censored out for obvious reasons):

These images are copyright protected – all rights reserved. You have infringed on my copyright protections by offering my photos for wallpapers on your website without my knowledge. These two photos are Rights Managed via my --------- and may not be used in anyway without prior approval.

The following note in your wallpaper section shows that my images are not displayed on your site by some misunderstanding or mistake, but rather through a blatant disregard for the photographer’s copyright.

“Note: None of these wallpapers were created by me, if you're the original creator; feel free to email me and have your work removed”

Please remove my images from your website. Respond to this email when you have done so.

My normal penalty for copyright infringement is double the reproduction fee that would have applied for the usage. My minimum reproduction fee for website usage is $25 per photo (normally more when offered as wallpaper downloads). Since my minimum fee in this case would have been $50 the penalty owed is $100.

However, it is my custom to offer the opportunity to pay the reproduction fee rather than the penalty. I will email you an invoice for $50 with a link to click on to make your payment. If you choose not to pay the normal reproduction fee, I will pursue penalties plus attorney’s fees.

The guy actually sent me a 50 dollar invoice via paypal, which I really don't plan on paying since I didn't intentionally do this. Can he legally pursue me under the following conditions?

- I haven't made any profit off of his works.

- I immediately complied with his requests (other than payment due to the fact that this could be considered a scam).

- I was unaware these images were under strict copyright protection against redistribution (I did download them from a massive pack of wallpapers, and my only intention was to share the great photos with other people).

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated, but if you've got some legal experience (if either a lawyer or have had this happen to you before), please make note of it when you post your opinion.

[islanq]

Obviously the guy doesn't know what he's talking about. As far as I'm concerned if you find it online, it's free domain. Unless his images have a © on them he's kinda SOL.

[werejag]

i would remove the guys said works of art and tell the guy that is the total of what i will do to fix the problem.

you had already done everything a reasonable person would expect to do with your disclaimer and removal of said works. paying money to the guy is not needed

[Dav-id]

Invoice him for your services in removing the content

[Pox]

I wouldn't do anything... I doubt anyone would bother suing you for $100 considering their legal fees would cost at least that.

Obviously the guy doesn't know what he's talking about. As far as I'm concerned if you find it online, it's free domain. Unless his images have a ? on them he's kinda SOL.

Wrong. You don't need to display the copyright logo - anything you create is your intellectual property and is automatically under copyright.

Invoice him for your services in removing the content

HAhahaha, nice:pp

[SkyyPunk Veteran]

i would remove the guys said works of art and tell the guy that is the total of what i will do to fix the problem.

you had already done everything a reasonable person would expect to do with your disclaimer and removal of said works. paying money to the guy is not needed

I agree...

Perhaps before you respond, create a thing on your site

"Professional services:

For phone call or email services, a minimum of $100 will be charged and due before any help is given."

Then tell him you can't help him anymore until he pays lol

*note: i do not really suggest doing that last part

If he keeps bugging you about it though, threaten harassment charges :p

And also, has he any proof he owns the images?

[Digitalx]

just tell him he cant because there a widely open resource and DMCA rules followed by notifying they can be removed upon owners request. if he didnt have any licensing present and visible ruleing the images under creative commons license or can provide documents of registerd copyright on them, i'd just tell him to shove it there gone from your site now and that you're not here to pay his petrol bill and like whoreman said, just fair trade him he wants them down and money for it just invoice him for everything like the amount of time the images took to take off the space, the price of the internet data you used to access your web server and remove them and physical labour adding up to $50 and say happy now :) ?

[fevoldj2]

Did he prove to you that the images belong to him?

[Chris Allen Veteran]

Has he even shown proof that the images are in fact his?

He has absolutely no case whatsoever. You complied with what he asked for and took the images off. No case, tell him to go blow himself.

[zivan56]

Since the images have no author information and assuming the author clearly did not pursue legal action against others who did the same (assumption), he lost his rights to the work. Therefore, you can countersue for blackmail easily, as this is what it appears to be...

[Caleo Global Moderator]

Unfortunately this isn't a laughing matter to me. I'm dismissing most of the advice given here except by true lawyers or people who've been in a same situation before on grounds that I've given similar legally unbacked 'advice' to similar situations which my opinion seems right, but my opinion doesn't matter in a court.

Pursuing me legally for such misunderstandings is frivolous IMO, especially when he has very little to gain from me. I'm just not sure what to do (reject his paypal invoice or just let it rot??).

[kitteny_berk]

Remove the items, do not reply to him, ignore the paypal.

If he continues to hassle be clear that any items that /may/ have been copyrighted to him have been removed, but that the email does not constitute an admission of anything. (IANAL/TINLA)

this is off the top of my head (from a situation i had ~3 years ago), if he hassles you more, you should really consult a lawyer.

HOWEVER, i suspect if his content is/was available off his site, you can argue the toss there (especially if he wasn't clear about copyright)

Basically, aim to get out of this by being nice, but be prepared to hit him upside the head with a lawyer.

Edit: also bear in mind that the paypal thing quite possibly consitutes blackmail, so you could take him there too.

[Neonix1]

First off, make it clear to him that you require proof that the images are indeed his creations.

Until you receive that, just ignore everything he says.

[AdverseDeviant]

what a scam. hes asking for money through threat of legal persecution. id remove the images and tell him to blow me.

[SkyyPunk Veteran]

id remove the images and tell him to blow me.

But that might be worth $100? :p

[mattmatik]

First off, make it clear to him that you require proof that the images are indeed his creations.

Until you receive that, just ignore everything he says.

That's my advice as well. Personally, I think this is bogus. Ask him for personal information, not just some PayPal information. Anybody can create one and anybody can go around claiming work that isn't theirs.

The fact that you openly express on your website that none of the work is yours and you leave a disclaimer, I imagine he stumbled across your site, saw that disclaimer, and now is trying to extort money from you. If you press this person hard for information and proof, I suspect they will back off.

[Chris Allen Veteran]

But that might be worth $100? :p

Also a valid point.

In all serious though, you really have nothing to worry about. Take down the images and send him an e-mail stating you have done so. If he really wanted to get on you he would have sent you a C&D order, which he didn't. He sent you his little "take it down or I'm telling" letter. So, do just that, problem solved.

[MasterC]

I'm dismissing most of the advice given here

Then why did you even ask? :blink: You should've got straight to a lawyer or a friend who knows about this stuff instead of asking here and then ignoring people.

[tao muon]

As mentioned above, remove the images from your site.

Send a politely worded statement that your site had a disclaimer stating the images were found on the internet and were believed to be copyright-free and they would be removed from the site if they were found to be in violation of copyright if requested by the owner / creator of the image. Apologize for the situation.

Also state you believe you have done your due diligence by removing the images and regret any inconvenience caused.

If you want to torque him a bit, ask for the formal copyright agreement you would be required to sign should you decide to enter such an agreement with him and also ask on what basis was the invoice amount arrived at- if you could download it for free, and 15 of your friends could also, what is the difference between your friends getting it from you or him? If he charged for the download, I'm sure he could collect some damages from you, but if he doesn't charge, he would have to justify the amount.

Also, report it to paypal.

[Caleo Global Moderator]

Then why did you even ask? :blink: You should've got straight to a lawyer or a friend who knows about this stuff instead of asking here and then ignoring people.

Why didn't I go to a lawyer? Because it's Friday night. All that's saying is that I'm not fully trusting most of the advice given here, while I do agree with most of it.

I'm going to wait to see what kind of response I get to the email I sent notifying the person that I've removed the images (along with everything else because I don't care for this to happen again).

[AdverseDeviant]

i bet hes still gunna ask for money cause its not about the images. its about making the money. its a scam.

[suicide_pact]

I believe demand for payment like this with the threat of legal action could legally be blackmail or coercion.

[Japlabot]

I wouldn't lose any sleep. The car insurance companies wouldn't bother suing me for $500 dollars, why would he bother for $50. Even if he did go to an atterney, they would tell him that he's wasting his time, it's not worthwhile and that they arn't going to bother taking the case. Also, the way settlements usually work is that he gets an atterney to send the letter of demand on his behalf, and ask for a settlement by more reputable/standard payment options (Cheque, Direct Deposit, etc. - not Paypal). He couldn't ask for any more money in court either, as he's already admitted how much they are really worth - $25.

Edited January 20, 2007 by Quick Reply

[Night Prowler]

You do NOT need to remove anything until you get a cease and desist order from his attorneys. You tell him that you understand that these photos may or may not be his and that you will immediately remove any trace of them from the public on receipt of a cease and desist order from his attorney.

It also sounds like he may be trying to extort money out of you. If you are so inclined to pay him, then I would request a formal letter of the proposal from his attorney before money changes hands.

This has happened to me twice.

The first one was a document that I converted for use on the web. The owner made a request for me to remove the document, which I had a lot of time into converting. I then contacted my attorney for advice, and he told me to acknowledge him and request a formal cease and desist order from his attorney, at which time I would immediately remove the material. One week later I received a formal request and the material was removed.

The second time was regarding a frequently ask Question guide that I posted and apparently searching the web this guy finds a link to my site and his document. He asked me to remove the document and I told him the same thing as I told the first. I still have the document available on my site because he failed to follow through. I did receive several letters threatening to sue me but, they are only letters.

This has been my experience and yours could be different?

[C++]

As far as I'm concerned if you find it online, it's free domain.

You are everything that is wrong with the internet.

[primexx]

Unfortunately this isn't a laughing matter to me. I'm dismissing most of the advice given here except by true lawyers or people who've been in a same situation before on grounds that I've given similar legally unbacked 'advice' to similar situations which my opinion seems right, but my opinion doesn't matter in a court.

Pursuing me legally for such misunderstandings is frivolous IMO, especially when he has very little to gain from me. I'm just not sure what to do (reject his paypal invoice or just let it rot??).

Why didn't I go to a lawyer? Because it's Friday night. All that's saying is that I'm not fully trusting most of the advice given here, while I do agree with most of it.

I'm going to wait to see what kind of response I get to the email I sent notifying the person that I've removed the images (along with everything else because I don't care for this to happen again).

I was going to tell you exactly what you should do...but with that attitude.....

Yea I'll tell you anyways...

If he owns the copyright then there's nothing you can do to stop him from what he's threatening to do. The courts would rather protect copyrights than to avoid punishing innocent people. And considering that you're not innocent, you'll be hit with a big fine if he does take you to court. If I were you I'd pay him the $50 bucks, and take the content down. Along with that send him a formal letter of apology for the incident. Maybe he'll forgive you then? :whistle: