Copytrack chasing me

[Leicestercity]

They sent me a email and a few letters now sent me a invoice for 100 euros
A few days later it’s 105
I’m not sure what to do about it I know people say ignore which I have done since day 1
This is the first time they have asked for money
Will it keep going up???
Thanks

[Matthew Chan]

It is possible the claim amount can always go up but not likely. But if you plan on ignoring it, what does it matter the amount they state? If they raise it high enough, does that mean you will take it seriously?

[jren]

Did you steal the work? If so admit it, pay 100E (which sounds cheap) and move on.
Or I bet if you offered them 75E they would accept.

[UnfairlyTargeted]

Horrible strategy.  Whether you "stole" the work or not, they have to PROVE you stole the work.  Absolutely impossible to do.  Admitting you stole something will get your name shared with every troll in the universe and get you more and more letters.  Ignore ignore ignore.  Even if you feel guilty.  Which you never should for a picture on the internet.  For a $100 claim they will never be able to touch you.

[jren]

I guess it just depends on the kind of person you are. Would you go into a store a steal something if the owner wasn't there? some people would and others wouldn't.

[UnfairlyTargeted]

I wouldn't steal something from a store.  But we're not talking about stealing here.  We're talking about a civil law dispute.  And people asking hundreds of dollars for things that people would either never buy or pay only a few dollars for hardly justifies as ethical.

Regardless, nobody will sue over $100 so why even waste your brain cycles thinking about this.  Just move on with your life.

[Matthew Chan]

Jren,

I have read a few of your posts. I am not convinced your breadth of knowledge or understanding of what truly goes on and some of the nuances being discussed here.

First, if you equate infringement (even if it is wilful) to criminal theft, you clearly don't get that this is a CIVIL matter, not a criminal matter. You can conflate "stealing" and "infringing" as one and the same but they are not, NOT EVEN CLOSE.

Second, even if there is a willful infringement (which most infringements are not), it does not give the right to party to arbitrarily and unjustifiably demand and collect any amount of money.

Third, we discuss defense strategies of all kinds.  Some involve mutually agreed negotiated settlements, others do not.

Fourth, there is vanilla unregistered copyright and then there is registered copyright that determines damages. There is also the issue of market value.  If you think infringing upon a $10 unregistered image justifies paying thousands of dollars on the basis of someone's say-so is the "right" to do, then you get to pay the price for your ignorance.

But please don't come here on this forum and make sweeping value statements about readers that visit to this website to get educated and try to insinuate they are ethically or morally challenged. If you felt you infringed on an image and you deserved to pay a settlement because of your "theft", that is your call.

Some people should settle, other people shouldn't. It depends. It strikes me as odd that you came onto the ELI Forums looking for information and strategies but perhaps you didn't find a strategy you liked and you chose to dispose of the matter, suddenly you want to make these subtle snide remarks against others who have the ability and emotional wherewithal to fight back.

The fact of the matter is the MAJORITY of people prefer to settle the matter IF the settlement demand is fair and reasonable. But the majority of demands we see are not. And if you are so trusting of copyright trolls, please feel free to share your real name, website, and case. I am sure once someone gets wind of your name, website, and case and the fact that you seem so willing to settle, others might find other "infringements" you might have made and then you can add that to your insurance claim.

Keep making claims to your insurance company and you will see how much they want you as a customer.

I guess it just depends on the kind of person you are. Would you go into a store a steal something if the owner wasn't there? some people would and others wouldn't.

[Leicestercity]

I have another letter and gone up another 5euros stage 2 letter
Firstly I didn’t steal
I was built a website by a designer
I got a copy of the photo I allegedly stole
Some flies!!!!!
Why I had flies on my website I do not know as I run a window cleaning business
On recieveing my first letter all my images were removed from my website
I’m getting really mad about these letters
I haven’t replied to any and I’m pretty sure the image was never on my website

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

the image in question, may not have been seen by the public, it could have easily been in a upload or image directory on the server, simply sitting there..these trolls use bots to rifle through all of the files looking for matches...chances are good a human from the trolling company never even laid eyes on your site, they are not known for vetting or confirming anything before sending out their dumb letters. They just want your hard earned cash.

[UnfairlyTargeted]

The image in question could also have been seeded onto sites to encourage infringement.  I've successfully gotten a photographer to back off by accusing him and his attorney of purposefully spreading the image in question around the internet to cash in on it.  The photographer was a struggling rather unsuccessful one so it was plausible this was his only method to make money on his subpar images.

Never take a claim by one of these people seriously.  They're all just looking to make a quick buck off people like jren.

[clist]

The image in question could also have been seeded onto sites to encourage infringement.  I've successfully gotten a photographer to back off by accusing him and his attorney of purposefully spreading the image in question around the internet to cash in on it.  The photographer was a struggling rather unsuccessful one so it was plausible this was his only method to make money on his subpar images.

 

[Leicestercity]

Thanks for all your great advice
There not getting a penny out of me as I never done anything wrong
I’ve not responded to them in any way and never will
Thanks

[UnfairlyTargeted]

FWIW i found the most effective way to deal with trolls is to go after the photographer himself.  Make his life a living hell and he tells his attorney to back off. The attorney is only the photographer's hired gun, and the photographer has way more to lose by getting bad press and other sorts of things

[Mikaela.Guerrero1959]

I got a letter from Copytrack yesterday concerning a photo I used for an article I made on my company website. I  have always been downloading stuff from google images except those with watermark. Some photos can't be copied so, clearly, those are the ones that owners refuse to give others permission to copy (at least that's my assumption). My use of that particular image was not to sell a product or a resort but just to show readers what they can see in my country. From the preview of the picture, you can easily right-click and save an image without really seeing the copyright. Now, Copytrack demands that I pay the post-licensing retroactively. Just reading similar messages on this site made me suspect that they could also charge me a huge amount which I don't know how to pay. I came from a 3rd world country, and what I am getting from my pay is not even enough to pay my rent, groceries, and utilities. This is a big let-down. No warnings or anything of sorts. I don't even know whether I should feel guilty for something I did in good faith. Never ever entered my mind that I would get a letter like this for one picture that is not even a good one.

[UnfairlyTargeted]

A crappy photo and a letter from Copytrack.  Sounds like another talentless hack that figured out the only way he can sell his crappy photos is to send people in 3rd world countries demands for more than they make in years.  Ignore, and consider writing a bad review about the photographer.  Do NOT feel guilty, these people prey on your guilt.