notarget,
I would be more than happy to assist you with the process of filing complaints against Higbee especially since you say he has acknowledged the fact that the image was hotlinked and did not reside on your server. I have had some experience with the complaint letter process and can share whatever information I have with you.
Higbee knows that hotlinking does not constitute infringement. In the case of Perfect10 vs Google along with several other cases Perfect10 filed the ruling clearly states that since the images do not reside on the defendants server no infringement has occurred.
https://www.scribd.com/lists/4468896/Perfect-10-v-GoogleFor your complaint letters I would start here with this link:
https://www.scribd.com/lists/3777301/Complaint-letters-filed-against-Getty-ImagesThese are copies of the complaints I filed in my own dispute with Getty Images. I filed complaints with the Washington state Atty. Gen.'s office, the Washington Better Business Bureau, my states Atty. Gen.'s office, my Congressman, Sen. in the FTC. The link contains copies of my letters, Getty's response to my complaint and then in every case I wrote a follow-up letter to the agency correcting Getty's errors, pointing out where they omitted responding as well as outright lies.
I had encouraged others who felt they were being unfairly treated by Getty Images to file complaints as well. The Atty. Gen.'s office started receiving so many complaints in such a short amount of time that Getty Images actually started mentioning me indirectly in their boilerplate responses to the Atty. Gen.'s office. They started saying that
This letter writing campaign is misguided and misdirected. Since Higbee is also an attorney I would recommend filing complaints with the Bar Association(s) he is registered with and I believe Robert has provided you a link with information on that.
If you would like I would be happy to review your letters and give you suggestions before you send them out. If you don't mind I would also like to report on Higbee and your story over on Copyright Anti-Bullying Act. I personally find disgraceful that Higbee is continuing to push this even after acknowledging the images hotlinked.
You can use this link to see examples of almost 200 other complaint letters filed with the Atty. Gen.'s office. You can click on each complaint number to view that complaint in detail.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/222235974/1-2-Index-of-CompaintsThis should give you enough information to get started. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance and if you would mind if I reported on your story.