Can I be sued for monetary damages for copyright infringement?

Question

I have been using an image on my home theater website that unknowingly belongs to another home theater website. I don't even remember how I got the image and did not realize it was copyrighted.(my dumb assumption). I received an email from a lawyer firm representing the company stating that I remove the image from my website and report to them the income produced by my website. I did respond stating that I did not realize the image belonged to the company they represented and did not even remember where I got it. The website is an informational site about my hobby (home theater) and is not intended for financial gain. I apologized and removed the image. I then received another email from the lawyer firm stating that my negligence was not a valid excuse and I was still responsible for the use of their image. They attached forms for me to fill out for a settlement of $5,000. Is there a good chance they will sue and can they make me pay the 5 grand? I don't have the money. Site is removed

Thanks for all the quick replies. I did have some Google ads on the site to help pay for the hosting but the site had very little traffic so little revenue came in. I did check out the site where the image originated from and the image is on their site so I guess that makes it copyrighted material. Although the law firm is legitimate, it seems odd that all correspondence has been by email including the settlement forms. I don't believe they have my current phone number and address as I have moved since the site was built. Although I don't remember where I found the image, I believe it may have been on Yahoo images. Thanks for the advice!

Answer 1

Firstly, yes, you can be sued for monetary damages for infringment of a copyright. Secondly, ignorance of law is no excuse i.e. you can't violate the law by simply saying you were not aware of it. However, there is a provision of "fair use" of copyrighted material, so if you have used it for your personal consumption without putting it for any financial gain or profit, then you can be exempted under "fair use". You can reply to that lawyer that that you have not made any profit out of the image. You may also contact a local attorney to draft the reply.

Answer 2

Protect yourself.
1. email is not legal notice. This probably means they don't really know who you are. Also i get emails from the "oil minister" of Nigeria a lot. Fraud by email is usually not treated as a serious offense as using the Government delivered mail is. Taking an image was bad judgement, but giving $5000 to some party that may have no legal right is even worse judgement.
2. removal from your site is about the most they can ask for in legal recourse. Statutory damage generally requires some form of deliberate intent on your part, more than simple negligence. The fact they would offer such a settlement is either fishing or perhaps trying to bait you into providing information that they could use against you, such as a street address and other ID theft.
3. don't sign anything or even provide information without getting some kind of prior legal assistance, you can make a simple problem much worse.

Answer 3

1 - all images are copyrighted, by virtue of having been created "in fixed form". so is all writiing too, such as this answer :) Just so you know.

2 - you definitely infringed someone's property. But whose?

3 - You don't really know if this other guy is the copyright owner yet do you?

4 - If they are the owner, they can ask for whatever are fair licensing fees or part of the profit.

5 - But they might be bluffing an blustering too.

6 - this is a time when you need an attorney of your own, and to understand your rights.

7 - You can learn good solid info on your situation at chillingeffects.org. Especially look at the section on valid dmca takedown notices.

8- finding an attorney if you want one is up to you.

Answer 4

Have they proven their copyright to you? It's very doubtful that anyone would sue for $5,000, their lawyers would cost more than that. The letter is probably an attempt to attain the money without actually using the lawyer's full services. He's charging them a fee for the letter. If you didn't steal the logo, and had no intention of profiting off someone else's name or logo, I doubt any judge would rule against you. At any rate, I think the chances of something like that going to court would be next to nil.

Answer 5

Damages are usually limited to disgorging of profits. Since you were not using the pictures in a commercial capacity and you realized no profits, did not compete with the other site, and posted the pictures unintentionally, there would be no punitive damages and no profit to disgorge.

Tell the lawyer to pound sand.

EDIT

Thanks for the thumbs down. I happen to be right. I have handled cases like this before. Have YOU?

Answer 6

I'd spend the $100 and get a lawyer. Ignorance is not an excuse under the law, unfortunately.

Answer 7

Yes If the other party has a good attorney you might loose

Answer 8

They could sue you for the 5 grand. But if you can PROVE that you made NO money from this you may be off the hook. In the future , please be more careful.

Answer 9

well... yes and no it dipeands if you intenchonly did it