Image copyright possible scam, opinions wanted

Question

I’m looking for opinions.

A non-profit group I belong to is theoretically being sued for copyright infringement in April 2020. A person who describes them self as ‘a compliance officer and not a lawyer’ representing a real, very large international company says we used an image that belongs to them.

I think it’s a scam, the snail mail letters we received recently include these instructions, go to this website, login with this password to view payment options.

One of the problems; the entire website of the real company is behind a wall, just to browse their photos you have to register on the site. To use one of their images you must explain who you are, why you want to use the image, where and for how long the image will be used etc, etc and pay a license fee.

I know that the person who used ‘the picture on our website’ did not register on the site. It wasn’t me!

Next possible problem the umbrella organisation that my non-profit group belongs to is taking this at face value and panicking.

The not a lawyer person who says they represent the real company says they don’t need to prove ‘the picture’ is theirs.

The image is almost identical to hundreds of similar pictures posted at the start of the Covid pandemic. It has a brick wall background and says Stay Home!

I have searched the image with Google Lens and found it on several websites including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and others, none of which have attribution to a source.

Comments

Opinion of a reader with zero legal credentials:  I agree with you that what you have described sounds like a scam.  I think I would be inclined to do nothing, and just wait to see if there is any further initiative by the "compliance officer."  I certainly would not part with any money based on that claim.  And I'm not sure what you mean by "theoretically being sued."  I think if you were being sued, you would know that with certainty and have legal paperwork to substantiate it.

If your group isn't comfortable with doing nothing, one possible approach might be to contact the real company via another channel and ask if they have an employee with the name and title described, and see if you can verify the claim independently.

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The latest letter (which apparently is copyrighted and may not be shared with anyone) states that a law firm has been retained to enforce the rights of the 'copyright' owner.

Answer 1

Here the info about this scam.

https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/copyright-infringement-scam/

Comments

Thank you Gary!

After looking at the link you provided. I followed up with a search that included the name of the company that contacted  the non-profit.

They are described as an internet troll, they search with bots looking for primarily old images on blogs, websites of small companies, non profits and volunteer groups.

After looking at many legal websites here in Canada and also for the US. after finding a possibly improper use of an image , they issue a demand letter, then attempt to find the creator of the image who might be interested in pursuing the matter.

The search and its results was very interesting.

Answer 2

Most likely a scam. But treat it as a real claim until you can prove otherwise - especially working with a not for profit organization. The best advice I can give you is to consult a legal expert and be done with it.

I am board member for a 501(c)(3) and deal with Trademarks and Copyrights as a part of my daily work. I am not a lawyer; however, the notification you received sounds more like a DMCA / Takedown request than an infringement case. Check your local regulations on what DMCA / Takedown notices must contain. For example, in the US all DMCA / Takedown Notices have to be sent to very specific people and have to include very specific information.

Comments

Thanks Steve,

I spent the last 2 hours researching this topic, see my answer to Gary above.

Answer 3

Hi M.

1. You need the advice of a lawyer who knows copyright law and not the advice of people here. If your organization is "panicking" then that's what they need to do. Yes, unfortunately legal counsel can be expensive.

2. "The not a lawyer person who says they represent the real company says they don’t need to prove ‘the picture’ is theirs." Well, yeah, they kinda do. Otherwise you don't know them from any other scammer. They won't provide proof, but yet they are demanding money. They can go pound sand. I have worked for a $3B+ company where real compliance people from another company came and showed us that we were violating terms of a license contract. It was an accidental violation and they showed us proof without hesitation. We got the issue resolved. If there is a real issue then people don't resort to "mystery" tactics.

3. I agree with Steve. Treat it as a real claim until you can prove otherwise. In addition to consulting a lawyer, you should immediately take down the photo(s).

Comments

Thanks Eric,

See my reply to Gary above.

I have created a doc with the information I found, and will send it to the umbrella organisation. They have legal counsel and have insurance coverage which apparently covers this topic. Who knew not me, we do have liability insurance through the umbrella organisation, but were not told there was other coverage.

The document that included the image was removed from the website last summer.

A section of the Canadian Copyright Act limits the time period of infringement claims to 3 years from the date that the copyright holder knew, or ought to have reasonably known, of the infringement.

The first letter was received over 3 years from the time the image was published, plus the fair use defense includes news reporting, the document was a newsletter.

Keeping my fingers crossed! I'll report back when I know more.

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Sounds like everything is under control and you guys have nothing to fear. Sorry you're having to go through this.

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Eric, what has been somewhat gratifying is now knowing that this has become a commonplace occurrence. And to know that the company that contacted us cannot initiate court proceedings because they are not the copyright holder.

Plus that the umbrella organisation should now be able to inform the 275 non profits that are included under the umbrella to be aware of this potential problem.

I'm sure that many WikiTree members could belong to organisations that may be targeted by this company or others that are engaged in the same sort of tactic.

Answer 4

To take legal action for copyright infringement, the organisation initiating the action must provide proof of ownership of the copyright and in most common law jurisdictions this must be provided in the initial court filing.
 This claim sounds entirely fraudulent, and should be reported to the appropriate local authorities, here in NZ it would include the Police, the Commerce Commission and other bodies for breach of fair trading law and fraud, in the USA it would be the FTC, I'm not familiar with the Canadian law and fair trading bodies.
 The biggest givaway that this is a scam or fraud is "The latest letter (which apparently is copyrighted and may not be shared with anyone)", your organisation is entitled to consult anyone it wants to about this problem. The saying is that the best disinfectant is sunlight, I'd copy this letter to all relevant regulatory bodies and media organisations.
 I'm not a lawyer, I found lawyers so useless and expensive I taught myself law and court procedure, eventually winning at Court of Appeal and Supreme Court level.

Answer 5

Hi M, I nearly allowed myself to be scammed by a group who left an email indicating an unauthorized charge on my PayPal Account. I nearly fell for it (and had money nearly withdrawn from my account) when my cousin happened to arrive and whispered that I was being scammed! I pulled all the plugs on the computer, etc and went to my credit union. My account was closed and it took several days to set up the new account and several months to do itilities withdrawl. The 'GEEK' who came to my home gave me a 45 minute lesson on what to look for. Just reading what you wrote smelled of scam. The URL that Gary posted is very helpful!

Oh, and I don't even have a PayPal Account! These hackers are very adept.

Comments

Carol, I get these all the time, PayPal scams. I also get Amazon, Norton (anti-virus), etc. scams.