Back in 2006 I was sent a photo by email from a guy, suggesting I add it to my website. It was a nice photo, relevant to the content of the page so I did. 6 months later I was contacted by a photographer, claiming the photograph as his, and as I had infringed his copyright, I paid him about $1500 to settle out of court. Fair enough - I was naive enough to use the photo in the first place without checking and put it down to experience. You have been warned - don't get caught like I did and always check the source of any images you use. Now the twist - I've been contacted by a Fraud Investigation Officer, who is looking into the business dealings of the photographer and it would seem that he has been sending his photos to lots of websites, posing under an assumed name. He then checks back a few months later and then claims damages for copyright infringement if a webmaster has posted the photo. The Fraud Investigator is putting together a case for entrapment and so there's a chance that justice will be done!
That's unlucky, but didn't you ask the person that sent it to you, if you could use it? Surely if they suggest you use it, that's a form of recognition that they allow you to use it?
Also, if it turns out it was him that sent it to you in the first place, you may be able to recover all the money you paid him.
You can get pictures from everystockphoto.com and photomorgue.com that are free to use. You may need to give credit on your site to the photographer (and really, shouldn't you anyway?), but you won't have to pay for them. Make sure to read each photo's license agreement for details.
I would think if it was anyone important at all, then copyright infrindgements would run into the millions... but $1500? that alone should have told you it was a joke. $1,500 is barely a fender bender in most cases. and for that small amount, that money is already gone/spent, so do not get your hopes up of getting any back...
Doesn't matter if its already gone/spent. The courts can order you to pay money you don't have....and you still only have a certain amount of time to pay it before it is contempt of court and another charge for you to sit in jail for. All he has to do, if it is the guy, is take a copy of the court record to civil court, file a motion, and the judge will issue a court order requiring him to turn over the 1500, all other fees he had to use for this as well. Sometimes you can get that done during the criminal court if you get called to testify. Som ejudges will go ahead and award damages then.
Wow, that definitely sucks. I head that homeless people in big cities will allow people to take pictures of them and then somehow the homeless person would sue the photographer for not signing a copyright release. Hopefully it works how for you.
Ouch! That has to suck, I mean really you need to take action to prevent them from doing it to other people!
Sorry to hear this happened to you but lesson learned, right? I hope they catch the SOB and you can at least get your money back.
I suggest (if you have the image on your desktop) going to tineye.com and seeing if the image is on any other website and contact the webmaster to what he is getting himself into tineye.com is a image search engine, btw