Local Blogger Facing Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

Lawsuit Claims Man Illegally Used Copyrighted Denver Post Photo

A company that preys on people's ignorance when it comes to Internet copyright laws has filed a lawsuit against a local blogger and is attempting to reach an out-of-court settlement for thousands of dollars.
http://www.wxii12.com/news/26956369/detail.html?source=gws

mysteriew said:

Lawsuit Claims Man Illegally Used Copyrighted Denver Post Photo

A company that preys on people's ignorance when it comes to Internet copyright laws has filed a lawsuit against a local blogger and is attempting to reach an out-of-court settlement for thousands of dollars.
http://www.wxii12.com/news/26956369/detail.html?source=gws

Click to expand...

Ugh! 'Preys' is the right word here. That company is despicable.

Why drag this man through court, when all that they needed to have done was send him a DMCA Takedown Notice. It is unfair to him and unfair to clog the courts up with suits that amount to nothing more than bullying those that are not understanding of copyright laws.

Ignorance of copyright laws are widespread, but it is not a bad reflection on those unintentionally violating the laws... it is just copyright laws are so darn complex at times and will cover the most inane things (for instance: think twice before publishing night pics of the Eiffel Tower without permission and paying Paris a copyright fee... Paris copyrighted the light scenery of the tower in 2003) Even the best of the best can screw up and violate it... but it is easily remedied with a DMCA Takedown Notice.

...and let me add, before someone defends the copyright holder: I totally get how frustrating it is to have people swipe your work and post it without your permission, and yes the copyright holder has every right to seek legal action through a court... but unless this man was making money off of the image, a Takedown Notice would have been more than sufficient when it comes to dealing with such issues.

According to this article the point this company seems to make is that it isn't as important to get the photo taken down, what seems to be important is the money they hope to gain. It seems they also like to settle out of court. They wanted $6000 from this guy.