I'm going to pass over some of your rant and focus on just a few choice sections.
Occum's razor says he put the images there. Even if I took down the image, I'd still owe him? How can that be anything other than extortion? Look at the crap he spews on his pages about image theft.
Here's why: professional photographers
license their images. I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of licensing, as you may have had cause to need a few in your time such as a firearms license, fishing license and so on. Licenses, or permits as they are often also known as, grant you permission to engage in a specific activity for a certain period of time.
Licenses sit at the very core of how many professional artists earn their income - whether photographers, musicians, filmmakers, designers... especially independent, self-employed ones. They create a work and then, under terms agreed in advance, they allow others to make use of it and, in return, receive payment which is commonly known as a licensing fee.
In using Schwabel's photograph on your own website without his knowledge or permission, you avoided paying for a license to do so. Whether you profited from the use of it is of no relevance - for the same reasons that, if you purchased a fishing license and didn't catch anything all season... well, shucks, that's too bad.
Getting back on point: so Schwabel discovered that you used his photograph and asked you to stop. He also asked that you pay him for the fact that you had been using it for whatever period of time it was between the date of you uploading it to your website and the date he contacted you - which, from your postings, I'm guessing was $200.
That's really quite fair and reasonable, all things considered. You obviously think otherwise but, again, that has little relevance to what appear to be the facts. You don't get to haggle over the cost of a meal after you've eaten it... heck, sit down in any restaurant and, even if you just toy with your steak dinner and have a few nibbles, you'll still be faced with the bill... and you can imagine what would happen if you screamed "Fuck, man, I was just peckish... I could have gone to f'n McDonalds! No way I'm paying that!!!"
Not a great analogy, but it's close enough to how you're attempting to wriggle out of paying for something you had made use of - in this case, Schwabel's photograph.
This guy is a psychopath and social parasite.
Cough... pot, kettle...
cough. (just my opinion)
I came here in good faith to expose him and I've been surprised at some of the responses, but I am glad I am starting to get through to people.
Oh, your're getting through to people alright - but perhaps not in the way you'd like to
And I'm not worried about being sued. I'm just trying to warn other people of the scam this guy is making a living by doing.
Well, karma might just grant you your wish regarding the first part - and if you really believe that reaching out directly to people who have made use of his images and asking them to stop, and pay a small fee for the prior use, is a scam... wow.
Let me reiterate: his first step was
not to lawyer up. Neither was his second step (going to your web host), which would have been a taken only if you didn't voluntarily cease using the photograph. He didn't put a four, five or six figure demand to you... but now your own actions have exposed you to the
possibility of a lawsuit for wilful infringement, where the damages can be as high as six figures, along with reasonable attorney's fees and costs being awarded to the prevailing party.
That dose of karma, when it comes around, might be something you'll rue for a
long time.
Topic: Tom Schwabel - copyright equivalent of Nigerian scam (Read 22776 times)