When you find your work has been infringed, there are many things you can do. Many of those things, however, are not good ideas to do. For example, sending an invoice for three times the amount of the license fee is something you hear about from many sources, but there is no legal reason for that amount (or form) of a demand. Calling and threatening the infringer is another bad idea. Rolling over and ignoring it is also not a good plan.
Recently, an author found that his works were (allegedly) infringed by Amazon. Sadly, he’s going to serve as another example of what not to do. After apparently hiring and then firing a lawyer (if what he says in his complaint is at all accurate), he took matters in his own hands and filed suit on his own. This is usually not a good idea because copyright law is complex and it’s important to get the details right. This man, regardless of the legitimacy of his actual claims, will likely have his suit dismissed at the first level simply for all the errors in his complaint.
Oh, and the fact he’s demanding over $50 million in damages won’t help either. You can read his complaint for yourself here.
So what should you do if you think your work has been infringed? If you see it online, take screen shots immediately to record the use. Then, call a lawyer who understands copyright and discuss your case in confidence so that you get the best advice for your own particular situation.
(HT to @ericgoldman via Twitter for the heads-up on this story)
Just as important as everything you mentioned, it’s important to NOT get emotional over any of this. Getting mad can cause you to make mistakes. I’ve decided that when my work has been infringed (and it has), I need to be thankful that my work is good enough for someone to steal. I acknowledge that people can pay a reasonable rate on the front end of the deal or a highly inflated rate that also compensates my attorney. Stay calm, put all of the evidence into the hands of your attorney. Some people just like doing things the hard way.
In today’s economy, a lot of photographers are not able to hire an attorney or pay for a consultation. Even when the image or images are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to an infringement. Most attorneys do not wish to deal with one image infringements – unless the infringement is done by a big company. They consider the infringement too small. These one time infringements add up and the photographer is continually losing income over and over – even with registered copyrights.
“Most” is not accurate but even if it is, it isn’t “all.” Find the right one for you.
And, by the way, if you can’t afford to hire an attorney there are Lawyer for the Arts groups out there. I would suggest, however, that your business not only can afford one, it can’t afford not to have one. I encourage you to watch the video “F**k you, pay me” (sorry for the language– that’s what it’s called) at http://vimeo.com/22053820 to see how a creative professional sees his relationship with his lawyer.