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I created a webpage long ago which just sat there. From what I remember, the images were free to use at the time.
Yesterday I received an email from a law firm representing a photographer and the company that owns the photographer's image, claiming that one of the images on my website is copyright protected and that I have been sent several emails previously asking me to remove the image and because I did not comply the law firm was hired to escalate the situation. I am now being sued. I'm certain I did not receive any prior emails, unless they were maybe caught by my spam filter and never made it to my inbox? The email provided a lengthy attached document on the law firm's "letterhead" which included the copyright number of the image in question, a picture of the image and a screen grab of it in use on my web page.
I initially thought this was some sort of scam, but upon further research it seems to check out. The law firm is supposedly known for frequently representing this specific company, and they also seem to have a reputation for being aggressive. In the email they gave a deadline to respond before moving forward with litigation, and a settlement offer to avoid said further litigation (less than $2000).
I managed to get into my site builder and immediately removed the image (and all other images) from my website, replaced them with blanks and published the amended website, then panicked and just took the entire website down because it didn't need to be public anyway.
My only thoughts regarding the protected image are that 1. it was copyrighted at some point after it was offered for free use or 2. it was never truly free use, and the person offering the image did not have the authority to do so? I don't even know how I would go about verifying something like that, or if it even matters. But I suppose either way I'm in the wrong by default. The image was most definitely publicly on my website.
I'm now thinking I probably should not have done this, but I responded to the law firm with a brief email, respectfully explaining the situation and letting them know I had removed the image from the website and site builder, and then took down my website. I had hoped that would be the end of this, but I was wrong.
This morning I received a follow up email from a paralegal on their team who explained that I am still at fault for having the image on my website previously and the settlement amount is to offset costs incurred by the photographer and the company that owns the image for having to retain a law firm to prosecute copyright claims, and I am still on the hook for it, or I can refuse and I would basically eventually be given a court date.
What should I do? What are my options? I definitely can't afford to retain a lawyer or even pay for a consultation, can't afford to go to court, also can't afford to pay a settlement. I just want this nightmare to go away as fast as possible. I'm disabled and not doing well - I can not physically or emotionally handle the extra stress of this
Yesterday I received an email from a law firm representing a photographer and the company that owns the photographer's image, claiming that one of the images on my website is copyright protected and that I have been sent several emails previously asking me to remove the image and because I did not comply the law firm was hired to escalate the situation. I am now being sued. I'm certain I did not receive any prior emails, unless they were maybe caught by my spam filter and never made it to my inbox? The email provided a lengthy attached document on the law firm's "letterhead" which included the copyright number of the image in question, a picture of the image and a screen grab of it in use on my web page.
I initially thought this was some sort of scam, but upon further research it seems to check out. The law firm is supposedly known for frequently representing this specific company, and they also seem to have a reputation for being aggressive. In the email they gave a deadline to respond before moving forward with litigation, and a settlement offer to avoid said further litigation (less than $2000).
I managed to get into my site builder and immediately removed the image (and all other images) from my website, replaced them with blanks and published the amended website, then panicked and just took the entire website down because it didn't need to be public anyway.
My only thoughts regarding the protected image are that 1. it was copyrighted at some point after it was offered for free use or 2. it was never truly free use, and the person offering the image did not have the authority to do so? I don't even know how I would go about verifying something like that, or if it even matters. But I suppose either way I'm in the wrong by default. The image was most definitely publicly on my website.
I'm now thinking I probably should not have done this, but I responded to the law firm with a brief email, respectfully explaining the situation and letting them know I had removed the image from the website and site builder, and then took down my website. I had hoped that would be the end of this, but I was wrong.
This morning I received a follow up email from a paralegal on their team who explained that I am still at fault for having the image on my website previously and the settlement amount is to offset costs incurred by the photographer and the company that owns the image for having to retain a law firm to prosecute copyright claims, and I am still on the hook for it, or I can refuse and I would basically eventually be given a court date.
What should I do? What are my options? I definitely can't afford to retain a lawyer or even pay for a consultation, can't afford to go to court, also can't afford to pay a settlement. I just want this nightmare to go away as fast as possible. I'm disabled and not doing well - I can not physically or emotionally handle the extra stress of this