Received letters from CEG

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

I'm only going to address your questions, I will probably address more when I have the time..in the meantime take a deep breathe and relax.

1. I haven't heard of any of the trolls being accused of this and find it very unlikely. The situation you describe is a classic injection attack.

2. No they probably will not bring it to court as they have no case whatsoever. you've already discussed it with them , so don't waedste anymore time with it, it wil fall on money hungry /deaf ears.

3. IF it were to go to court, it would have to be filed in the state in which YOU reside..

4. again there is no case, if you have the html code showing the image was linked...end of story ( perfect10 v google)

5.  yes you are correct no infringement occured AKM CEG and Asshat Marvin Cable will tell you differently...they want your money.

6. Celebrity images are a bit different than "stock" images, you could copy the url of the image in question and do a reverse image search via google to get an idea of where and how often the image appears on other sites.

7.  They will continue to harass you, unless you retain a lawyer, then by law they cannot contact you.. the statute of limitations is 3 years.. Why would you even entertain settling? the image was never on your server...save your money!

8. no, no and no... you already stated your case, it's a waste of time in my opinion.. if you do engage him, state clearly that the image was NEVER on your servers, you did not infringe and if you here from him again you will filed a complaint with the State attorney General, as well as the Mass. Bar association, as this is harassment.

[mort]

Thank you for the advice.

[26281221]

I have a somewhat similar issue to mort. I also received one of those pay $500 or we’ll sue emails from Ira at CEG TEK for “Unauthorized use of an image.”

Here’s the thing. I run a celebrity fan forum. Registration on the forum is open to anyone. A member made a post with a link to an image on a widely known gossip blog. That is the infringing image.

Now I’m not an expert on internet law by any means, but from what I have read, here and elsewhere, linking to an image on another site is not copyright infringement. And anyway, it’s in a post on an open forum. I can’t be held responsible for what members do, can I? Isn’t that what “Safe Harbor” is about? I removed the post with the link, and I think that’s all that should be necessary.

But, I am worried. They sent a copy of the email to the hosting provider. I haven’t heard anything from them, so I don't think CEG has my name yet. They do however have the name of the domain owner from whois. That person is not involved with the site and I don’t want to cause them any trouble.

Do I just ignore it and hope they move on to the next victim who will panic and pay? Or do I need to do something, and what?

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Linking to animage is not an infringement read up on google v. perfect10, you did not even have to remove the post, as the image was hosted elsewhere. In regards to "safe harbor" you should look into the requirements for DMCA safe harbor... If you do not have a registered agent, you would not be covered...

If i were you I would contact the hosting provider, and explain that the "infringing content" was not infringing, but the post has been removed..some hosting providers ( go-daddy) will pull the plug on the entire domain if they get a takedown notice..

[26281221]

Contact the host before they contact me? Ok. I've gotten a DMCA take down notice before, which they forwarded to me. They only give 24 hours to respond before disabling an account, but it's better than godaddy. This wasn't a takedown notice though, and I don't know how they would respond. To be safe, I removed the post.

So, you wouldn't suggest anything further than that at this time?

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

As was mentioned above, I would tell them that this was a link to an image and cite the Google v Perfect 10 case so there is no infringement and to stop contacting you or you will file complaints on them with the attorney general’s office, BBB, and FTC.