Photo copyright infringement legal action

[Trackman]

Talking to a friend the other day and I thought I would pass this through the forums as there are lots of photographers on here.
They have sort advice, just wondering what the forums think too.

What happened, will be brief as possible:

They have received an email wanting approx £900 for a photo on their website as it unlicensed, and want proof they have paid for it. This is not a scam BTW. If I said the media outlet name you would have heard of them.
Their website is non-profit making and you would be hard pushed to find it on a Google search, so a bot has picked it up.
They have done their research and found its on sale at Alamy for £25, with the copyright owner company named as the owner.

Any ideas anyone? I can provide more info as I'm contact with them, I just wanted to keep it as brief as possible.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Lucan]

Your friend should remove the photo from their website straight away. I don't think the photo's claimed owner can claim after that.

 

[AlterEgo]

Your friend should remove the photo from their website straight away. I don't think the photo's claimed owner can claim after that.

Of course they can claim. Why wouldn't they be able to?

Either way the amount claimed cannot be punitive and usually must reflect the market rate for the work, which in this case is £25.

 

[meld3]

My wifes friend got caught using pics taken off the internet on her yoga social media pages, and there are companies out there that purely scan the internet looking for duplicate pictures, then claim punitive charges with the threat of you being sued for copywrite.

The thing is, they are not the rights holder but merely opportunists trying to cash in by claiming £500+ per picture, and then they pay the £20 to Alamy or the rights holder.

Like parking ticket companies, they won't go to court and simply want a quick payment. If you tell them to jog on and delete the offending pic they do go away. It's also how I've not paid or been taken to court for over a dozen private parking tickets since 2013, despite people telling me the contrary. It's all about volume and quick payments for these sharks, any hint of an awkward cuss and they move on to the next victim. But feel free to pay up if you don't like being that cuss !!

 

[dosxuk]

Their website is non-profit making and you would be hard pushed to find it on a Google search, so a bot has picked it up.

It would be a good idea for your friend to make sure there isn't any other copyright protected material they've added to their website. Despite what some people seem to believe, there is no copyright exemption for non-profit / personal / hobby / "not many people visit us" uses.

 

[Trackman]

It would be a good idea for your friend to make sure there isn't any other copyright protected material they've added to their website. Despite what some people seem to believe, there is no copyright exemption for non-profit / personal / hobby / "not many people visit us" uses.

That was their main worry, they have taken down the website as they dont want this happening again.

Of course they can claim. Why wouldn't they be able to?

Either way the amount claimed cannot be punitive and usually must reflect the market rate for the work, which in this case is £25.

They have mentioned this, so why £900 or whatever? (I do not know the exact amount) anyway they are going to keep me in the loop.