Vondran Legal®, Photo Infringement Insights, CopyCatLegal. If you received a demand letter or notice of a lawsuit, call us at (877) 276-5084.
Introduction - Photography Infringement News and Insights!
CopyCat Legal is a law firm with five or so attorneys that are heavily involved in protecting the IP rights of its photographer clients:
- August Image, LLC
- Prepared Foods Photos, Inc.
- Christopher Sadowski
- Affordable Aerial Photography
- Creative Photographers, Inc.
- Others
According to their website:
"CopyCat Legal is a law firm with its primary offices in Coral Springs, FL that focuses on copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and other aspects of intellectual property law. We're real people (or maybe we're trolls masquerading as people… read on to decide for yourself) who represent real people – typically, that includes photographers, artists, music producers, and other creatives whose work was infringed."
They have filed suits in Florida (Southern and Middle District), California (Central and Northern District), Georgia (Northern District), New York (Southern and Eastern), Michigan (Western District), Wisconsin (Eastern District) and Colorado.
Copyright Infringement Settlement Demands
In one case, a client was accused of using a picture of a famous actress on a commercial social media page. The initial demand was $30,000. To learn more about the potential penalties when your business is being pursued in or out of court, watch my video!
As one of their letters noted from Copycat Legal:
"Courts in the Eighth Circuit (which covers Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas) have not hesitated (where appropriate) to impose substantial damages against copyright infringers. See Adventure Creative Grp., Inc. v. CVSL, Inc., 412 F. Supp. 3d 1065 (D. Minn. 2019) (awarding $150,000.00 in statutory damages for each of two registered works for a total award of $300,000.00); Warner Bros. Entm't, Inc. v. Dave Grossman Creations, Inc., 13 F. Supp. 3d 963, 967 (E.D. Mo. 2014) (awarding $10,000.00 in statutory damages for each of 257 infringements for a total of $2,570,000.00)."
As this makes clear, damages can go as high as $150,000 per infringed image, at least in theory. However, this is not what you will typically see, or end up paying. I used this quote to illustrate that there is legal precedent in this area.
Tips on Dealing with Photo Infringement Demands with CopyCat Legal
- This company can come out of the gate swinging with $30,000 demand letters.
- Make sure you know who owns the image (request a copyright registration certificate); without this, they cannot file a lawsuit. Many of their clients are professional photographers (such as Otto Archive and Affordable Aerial Photography) and you may find they are good at registering their copyrights, but you don't know unless you ask to see proof).
- Check the statute of limitations for copyright law in your federal court jurisdiction (do you follow the three year from "date of discovery?" On this point, don't forget to check out my article on "The Professional Plaintiff Photographer" case.
- Review the posting for a potential defense of license (you paid for the image), or "fair use" (you transformed the image), for example, there are JLOMEMES running around that Plaintiff's are suing for. Check out my video below about the fair use defense in copyright law.
- Stay calm, don't go starting an argument with the opposing attorney. This can set your case off on the wrong foot and lead to increased damages.
- Contact Vondran Legal® for a free consultation. We have helped many companies, large and small, and individuals being accused of infringement of copyrights and DMCA 1202 allegations (removal of copyright management information).
Quick Overview on Fair Use
Contact Us
Our firm handles both plaintiff and defense cases of photo, design, and art infringement. We are a leading copyright infringement defense firm in the United States. For plaintiff rights-holders, we offer contingency fee services in most cases. For those being accused of posting unauthorized content on the internet (or offline, including in magazines and brochures), we provide a flat-rate fee defense at prices you can afford for most non-litigation cases. For more information, contact us at (877) 276-5084 or send a message through our contact form.
