Hello,
About 2 weeks I was blindsided by an email from ImageProtect demanding $1000 dollars for an image posted on my blog post from 2013. Has anyone heard of this company and if they have ever sued anyone.
This is the letter:
Dear Sir or Madam:
This is not spam. Your website contains copyrighted content in a manner that infringes on the rights of the copyright owner. You could be liable for up to $150,000 per infringement in civil penalties.
Image xxxxxxx was discovered on your website xxxxxxxxxxxxxx and on your server at xxxxxxxxxxx
We represent the copyright owner. This notice is an offer of settlement. If you click on the link below and login to the ImageProtect automated settlement portal, for $1000.00 per infringement, you will receive a legal release from the copyright owner. Or, you may provide proof of a valid license by providing us with a Sales Order, Invoice or other Party License information, and we will release you from legal liability. Click on this link or copy and paste into your browser:
https://imageprotect.com/payment_portal/xxxxxxxxxxx
ImageProtect represents the following "copyright owner(s)" Russian Look and has been directed to pursue this claim on their behalf on the basis of a License Recovery agreement. We have provided Russian Look with a report of the infringing work which includes evidence of your infringing use, such as a screen capture of your website using the image(s).
Russian Look is the exclusive owner of the copyright for of XXXXXX. Russian Look images are subject to copyright protection under the Copyright Act, Title 17, United States Code. The Copyright Act does not require any kind of intent or knowledge on the part of the infringer that his or her use infringed upon another party's copyright. Therefore, even if you did not know that Russian Look images were copyrighted or that you lacked authorization to use them, you are still liable.
We have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of herein is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or by operation of law. I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive rights that have been infringed. We hereby demand that you and any other entity acting on your behalf comply with the following:
• If a valid license was purchased prior to the use of the image(s), please provide us the Sales Order, Invoice, or other License Information. If the image was licensed under an alternate company name (dba) or in the name of a third party, such as an advertising agency, please provide that company name and phone number. We will review that information and respond to you as quickly as possible.
• If a valid license does not exist for the identified usage and you do not plan to use the image(s) moving forward, you must immediately cease and desist use of the image(s), and remove them from your website. In addition, to avoid further action, a payment of $1000.00 for the use of the image(s) in question must be received within 10 days of the date of this letter.
If possible, we can discuss the continued use of Russian Look Image(s) once the fee is paid for past use and if there is no conflict with any current licensed user.
While Russian Look is entitled to monetary damages from the infringing party under 17 U.S.C. Section 504, Russian Look believes that it may be expeditious to settle this matter without the need of costly and time-consuming litigation. In order to help you avoid further legal action from Russian Look, we have been authorized to offer a settlement solution that we believe is reasonable for everyone.
To access this settlement offer, please copy and paste the URL below into a browser and follow the instructions for the settlement offer:
https://imageprotect.com/payment_portal/xxxxxxxxxxxx
Very truly yours,
Jonathan Thomas
CEO
ImageProtect
1401 N El Camino Real, Ste 203
San Clemente, CA 92672
+1 949 361 3959
For any correspondence regarding this case, please send your emails to [email protected] and refer to Notice ID: xxxxxxxxxxxx. If you need immediate assistance or if you have general questions please call the number listed above.
I immediately took the image down and replied back to them asking for
1) Proof that ImageProtect has the right to manage this image in question.
2) Proof of proper copyright registration and the chain of title for the image.
3) Provide sales data for the image.
4) How the amount of $1000.00 was determined
I wonder what the likely hood of them providing this info and if they do then what?
Thanks for any advise I really do appreciate it.
Topic: ImageProtect Extortion Letter (Jonathan Thomas) (Read 8938 times)