Do this when you receive a copyright infringement letter demanding money

[Dion]

It's been a month since I received my demand letter and if you're reading this.. I'm with you.. I've gone through the 5 stages of grief over and over. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.

ANYWAYS, I came up with the process. Once I had this in my mind.. I felt a little at ease.

Alright, I wanted to jot down what I went through and my battle plan for the upcoming months now that I got a demand letter. This is just my experience. Please talk to a lawyer since all cases are different, etc.

FIRST - CONFIRM THAT YOU MADE THE INFRINGEMENT.

• Is the image actually copyrighted?
• Is it an image that you paid for?
• etc. etc.

SECOND - Ok, so I made the mistake. Time to take a breath and get ready to pay.
* From reading through A LOT of discussions, many people choose to ignore demand letters until they are actually served. I would check on the photographer to see how often they sue and for what kind of violations.

1. Remove the image from the server. Keeping it up will add to the chances of me being "wilful" about the infringement. "Your honor, defendant didn't remove the photo even after we told him..." is not going to look good.
2. Offer the settlement.
   IF the image was actually registered AND If this goes to court, I'm looking at the statutory damage which is $750-$30,000. The $30k is for some architectural Realistically, I've read through tons of similar court cases and they usually end up in the ballpark of $750-$3000 (not including lawyer fees) for an one image on a small blog site.
   
   SO, from here, we have to play negotiation like at a flea market.
   
   I would start at a fair $375 (half of minimum statutory damage) and work up to $1250.
   
   I'm hoping/expecting around $1000.
   
   Why $1250 max? $750 for the minimum statutory damage + $500 for the lawyer's time.
   
   If the work was unregistered. The photographer needs to show actual damages. How much do they sell their photo for? My risk of being taken to court over 1 photo where they need to prove damages is probably not worth their lawyer's time. Maybe just offer $375 for them to go away.
3. They serve me with papers.
   I hope it doesn't get here, but if it does... Make sure to answer the complaint. Admit where it's needed.
   
   I'm once again not a lawyer, but I'd look into Rule 68 where the defendant makes a settlement offer.
   It has to be at least a certain number of days before court date.
   I'd let the plaintiff know what my strategy is and make my Rule 68 offer.
4. IF I end up in court...
   For 1 photo...
   I don't plan on getting a lawyer since it just adds to my cost and it's a simple case.
   I pray that I get a reasonable judge that can see that I won't do it again.
   Looking at past cases, I may be looking at
   Statutory Damage - $750-$3000
   Their Lawyer Fees - ~$3000
   Court Fees + Summons Fees - ~$450
   I'm looking at a total of somewhere around ~$4000-7000..