If you own a small blog and are getting sued for copyrighted image...

[jasmine]

I've been combing through a lot of cases and there definitely is a pattern to the ones that get taken to trial.

These are 'no duhs,' but may give some people with a personal blog a little peace of mind.

Companies with deep pockets. If you are some media company with 5+ employees accidentally using a copyrighted photo, you are on top of their list.

Multiple violations. If you have multiple copyright infringements. If registered, they are guaranteed $750/photo violation so if you have 3+, it's probably worth the time for them to come after you.

Not responding. I'm not sure about this, but they have a good eye for people that do not respond. No responses are good for default judgements.

The photos you infringed upon is not registered. Proving damages is a little more work.

Just my quick observations from looking at a bunch of dockets.

[clive]

Good observation.

They have a bucket full of people that unknowingly used a copyrighted photo from a Google image search.

yes...

I'm sure cherry picking copyright infringements done by companies with "deep pockets" is the first step.

Doesn't mean they won't come after smaller fish to fry IF the bucket dries up.