copyright internet copyright-notice
Is remove and ignore a valid response for copyright infringement notice in the EU?
<p>There is a Hungarian non-profit organization in the EU, which has a website. One of the members posted an article on that website and use a copyrighted image as an illustration. The image was available on another site, which apparently had the permission for it. After a while the organization got an email from a German lawyer (from <a href="https://photoclaim.com/en/cease-desist-abmahnung-filipp-bickel-robert-fechner/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">photoclaim</a>) that they are violating copyright law and they should remove the image and pay. Looks like the price will be around $1000, which is more than the non-profit organization has on its bank account. The organization removed the image, but did not send any response so far. What happens when they ignore the email and don't respond? Can they be forced to pay? Can they make the member who uploaded it responsible for the infringement and give the contact info to the lawyer, so the member will be sued?</p>

<p>If the communication verifiably came from the PhotoClaim attorneys, then the answer is more strongly in the "must pay" column, whereas otherwise it could be a scam. It appears that they require confirmation from clients that a use is infringing. They offer to negotiate in case the fee is unaffordable, but their business is to protect their client's rights.</p>

<p>What happens next depends on the company and the client. They could directly sue the organization, but the organization can shift blame and perhaps get them to sue the individual
following OLG Frankfurt a. Main (Higher Regional Court), Urteil v. 22.8.2017, Az. 11 U 71/16 and providing the individual's name and email address. But it is not at all clear that the individual is legally on the hook for this uploading, done as an agent / on behalf of the organization </p>

<p>The firm is not imposing a fine on the organization, it is proposing a settlement figure where, if accepted, they won't file an infringement lawsuit. The firm has a list of prior cases <a href="https://photoclaim.com/en/verdicts-and-orders/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> which you can read along with summary of judgments. The organization should get specific advice on what to do from their attorney, but as a general matter, one can always ignore a letter from a lawyer if one is willing to face the consequences. As a delaying tactic, one might ignore the email and hope that they will go away (perhaps what their attorney is thinking).
You might think that they would not bother with such a piddly sum, but their own data indicates that this is a possible amount that they will sue for (and won, in at least one instance). </p>
