Copyright Infringement Claim

[stinger]

I suggest you research this topic on this forum.  Multiple court jurisdictions have ruled that hot linking is NOT copyright infringement.  I am not a lawyer, but I would guess a plug-in is a lot like lot linking.  If the image in question has never been hosted on your site, I would think you are on strong legal ground.

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Stinger is correct if by "pulled" you mean the image is hotlink, if it is downloaded to your server then that is a different story.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

I recently received a similar letter. However mine was a very odd situation. I am using a plugin that pulls photos and displays them from Instagram based on whatever hashtag I want to show photos from. So basically a Instagram user took a photo of a supposedly copyrighted photo and posted it on Instagram. My website then showed that photo for probably 30 minutes (popular hashtag) but yet I am the one they are trying to get pay $500. I am curious from the others that received this letter, what ever happened? Did you ignore it, pay it, how did you respond, and how did they respond? Seems like a scam, but I did call and talk to a human, so I'm not sure now... Thanks!

Tell them to pound sand, the image was never stored or "copied" on your server, it came in through a feed. Tell them you will be invoicing them every single time you have to address this, mail it to them signed/certified mail, in the letter state you expect a reply that they are releasing this claim within 10days, if no reply is recieved, then you assume they agree to YOUR terms, and you can then send an invoice!