Lessons and closing thoughts from a letter recipeint

[justaperson]

It appears as though this debacle is behind me now.  As Matthew said in another thread, "There are some valuable life, business, and legal lessons from this."

General lessons

• First of all, if you get a letter, don't just ignore it and hope it will go away. Seek help, and if you're reading this, you've come to the right place.
• Your local attorney may be a great IP lawyer, but they're almost certainly not as familiar and well-versed on the tactics used in these type of cases as are Matthew, Oscar and others on this forum.
• Assuming it's your first letter, your instincts may not be a good guide. If your instincts run contrary to Matthew's, you're probably wrong!

Lessons for webmasters & business owners:

• Just because the image doesn't indicate that it's copyright protected on the site you're viewing, doesn't mean someone else doesn't have a copyright on it somewhere else on the web
• Don't assume that a "noindex" or "under construction" page is really "private". The vultures have tools to find these pages, too
• Assume everything is copyright protected unless:
  
• It specifically states you can use it (like Creative Common rights).
• You paid for the rights, like from iStockPhoto or similar, or
• You took the damn picture yourself!

Lessons for copyright owners and their attorneys

• The court system is designed for people who can't settle their differences in any other way. It should not be used as a threat upon first contact.
• If you think someone took your photo, contact them, inform them you own the copyright, and ask them to take it down. Most likely they don't realize they are infringing.
• If that doesn't work, you can file a DMCA takedown notice.
• If that doesn't work, try a Cease and Decist
• If the infringer refuses to cooperate, only then should legal action be mentioned.

Over the years, I've seen dozens of my own images used on other people's sites. I've even had my entire website cloned, twice! I have always found that a simple email resolves the situation.  The fact that these threat letters immediately ask for extreme amounts and threaten legal action shows that they're all about money, and not about protecting copyrights at all.

JMHO, YMMV.

[Moe Hacken]

Lessons for copyright owners and their attorneys

• The court system is designed for people who can't settle their differences in any other way. It should not be used as a threat upon first contact.
• If you think someone took your photo, contact them, inform them you own the copyright, and ask them to take it down. Most likely they don't realize they are infringing.
• If that doesn't work, you can file a DMCA takedown notice.
• If that doesn't work, try a Cease and Decist
• If the infringer refuses to cooperate, only then should legal action be mentioned.

Over the years, I've seen dozens of my own images used on other people's sites. I've even had my entire website cloned, twice! I have always found that a simple email resolves the situation.  The fact that these threat letters immediately ask for extreme amounts and threaten legal action shows that they're all about money, and not about protecting copyrights at all.

It appears the trolls are perfectly aware that they could do these things first, but refuse to learn even after they get whacked. Why? For the same reason criminals keep committing crimes — they're addicted to their "success" and the thrill of "getting away with it."

Just read the amazingly revealing statements Glen Carner made during his brief appearance as a contributor to this forum. The man seems to think his "business model" is perfectly righteous.

We wish they would learn, but I wouldn't count on it. Great post, though. I couldn't agree more with your points.

[stinger]

Well said, justaperson!

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

I am very happy for you justaperson!  I hope you will continue to stick around and be a part of the forums.