Dissolved Corporation

[cr2012]

I had a company registered and had a web site hosted. The company was then dissolved last year. Back in December I got a letter from getty images for $845 for one image on that website. The issue is the website is long gone, and have no idea to find it. Also technically I did not own the website. I paid a hosting person for setting it up and all I did was sent him my contact information and some details about type of consulting I would like to do. He set that up so that people can contact me. Also he gave me one email account on that website. But there was no luck and NO work was sought that way. Company made no money so I dissolved it to avoid state fees. Now can they sue me personally? I am unemployed, but my wife is temporarily employed. The letter was just regular mail, so can I ignore it as they cannot claim its delivery? Any advice is appreciated.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

You could ignore it, tho I would not. Who owns / owned the domain name? I am assuming it was in your name, thats who they generally pursue..was the business dissolved before the infringement was found? If so I think you might have a good chance of having this on your side. Also depending on how you had the corp set-up would determine if they could go after your personally.

[Oscar Michelen]

Dissolving a corporation while a claim is pending is never a good idea.  Its always best to just keep the corp open but without assets. The likelihood of being sued over one image is very slim so I would maybe offer $100 and then see what happens next

[cr2012]

The company was out of business for more than 3 years so I did not want to keep it active to avoid associated fees. Company is already dissolved. I got the letter after that. Also I am not the website owner. The owner still agrees that I did not send him any images. I sent him my contact information and he offered me to put it on the site and also an email account. Which he removed few years ago since I didn't need it any more. However, he had my contact information for the website which I was not aware of. He said that way he could pay renewal using the credit card (He is in India). I think they should really contact the website owner not me, correct? Any comments? The company was an Incorporated as Inc.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Getty Images generally do contact the domain owner, and I'm surprised they did not in this case, although your contact info was apparently on the site. If the company was dissolved before their letter, they would be hard pressed to get anything IMHO