Have you received a letter or email advising you that something on your website violates a copyright and that you have to promptly pay some amount in order to avoid being sued in some remote jurisdiction?
Such communications usually come from a “copyright troll.” A copyright troll is a new form of grifter arising because of the capabilities of the Internet. Like many forms of fraud, copyright trolling works on the premise of inducing false fear and presenting an expiring “bargain.” Copyright trolling quickly becomes unprofitable if the victim seeks to substantiate the allegation of copyright infringement. Unfortunately, may attorneys facilitate copyright trolling, so even if the letter comes from an attorney it may be fraudulent.
The following actions are offered as self-help to address the problem of copyright trolls:
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If not yet done, demand that your website designer:
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indemnifies you from claims of copyright infringement arising from the content of your website; and
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provides you proof that all photographs, video, music and text on your website are licensed (such as by copies of any such licenses) or were created by the website designer (such as by a written statement from the designer by email or letter).
Retain the proof provided by your website designer in your records. Please note that this action should be taken regardless of when your website was designed or most-recently updated. Also, you should take this action whenever your website is redesigned, revised or updated.
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If you receive a letter or email advising you that something on your website violates a copyright, demand that the accuser provide:
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the federal copyright registration number(s) of the copyrighted work(s) that have allegedly been infringed; and
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a precise correlation between the specific part(s) of your website that allegedly infringe to the federal copyright registration number(s).
You may be contacted by a copyright owner that is acting in good faith. If this is the case, the demand will be easily satisfied. Good-faith copyright owners carefully determine if infringement has occurred, while copyright trolls make accusations without performing due diligence. If you have been contacted by a copyright troll, this demand will likely end the correspondence because of the effort required to satisfy the demand. Do not hesitate to repeatedly insist that the accusing party provide a thorough and precise comparison between what is covered by the copyright and what is found on your website.
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If the accusing party provides a federal copyright registration number and correlates a part of your website to that number, propose to remove the allegedly infringing part of your website in order to settle the matter, so long as that part of your website is not commercially important.
Typically, a copyright owner acting in good faith merely demands that the infringing content be removed from the website and does not demand a monetary settlement.
Unfortunately, further self-help actions are not recommended and you should retain legal counsel if:
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the allegation of copyright infringement is not resolved after the actions set forth above;
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it seems that the accusing party is demanding changes to your website that are excessive or will be commercially-damaging to your business;
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the accusing party is demanding a monetary settlement; or
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the accusing party fails to provide a federal copyright registration number or fails to correlate a specific part of your website to that number, but continues to demand payment.
