Possibly Incoming Lawsuit, Does He Have A Case?

[legalquestion12]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

I run a music blog site. We post new music, news, videos, etc. The other day, there was a song we posted that unknowing to us had been illegally leaked early. We were accused via email by the label for leaking it which we did not. The entire album was leaked by a third party source, thus the songs on it started to spread around the internet. When the song reached us, we thought it was legally out. They are trying to accuse of of not only leaking the song, but also leaking the album which there is 0 proof of because we did not do either. We even did some research and provided him the information as to where the album originally leaked, but the guy from the record label has since emailed us an informal invoice for a ridiculous amount of money. He is claiming we are responsible for a ludicrous amount of single downloads, and a ludicrous amount of full album downloads. We did have the single in question posted on our site for a bout 15 minutes, and we promptly removed it upon receiving the first email from the label which said "if this isn't removed immediately you should expect legal action". Shortly after that, somebody else from the label emailed us accusing us of leaking the material. There is absolutely nothing to back his claims on the amount of singles he's saying we're responsible for, he is just pulling a number. As far as the accusation of the albums, that in no way was connected to our site. We did not upload, download, post, or link to anything regarding that album, but he is somehow claiming we are responsible.

Does he have a case? As of right now, he's illegally trying to extort money the way I see it. He has nothing to back the amount he's claiming we are responsible for, and I believe he might just be trying to scare us. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Zigner]

You post actual music on your blog and you think it's legal?

 

[legalquestion12]

You post actual music on your blog and you think it's legal?

The songs we post are legal releases from the artists. Artists in the hip hop genre release free music daily, that is how they promote. There are tons of legal streaming services for music now too, such as Soundcloud, Spotify, etc. That's how we operate. We post the material that is released for blog placement. But every once in a while, a song does get posted in error that shouldn't have been out which is the case here.

 

[Zigner]

The songs we post are legal releases from the artists. Artists in the hip hop genre release free music daily, that is how they promote. There are tons of legal streaming services for music now too, such as Soundcloud, Spotify, etc. That's how we operate. We post the most that is released for blog placement. But every once in a while, a song does get posted in error that shouldn't have been out which is the case here.

I think you have a problem in that you are posting copyrighted music (sharing) that you don't have the right to post (share). This seems to be a fairly common occurrence that you don't take proper steps to prevent.

 

[legalquestion12]

I think you have a problem in that you are posting copyrighted music (sharing) that you don't have the right to post (share). This seems to be a fairly common occurrence that you don't take proper steps to prevent.

Again, it is usually legal to post what we post. Artists put their singles out for free streaming, and we post the stream. Sometimes they release songs for free downloads for the fans, which we also post. We do not post music that isn't allowed to be out or shared, but as I stated sometimes a mistake occurs. Yes, we had the song posted, and he can say we violated a copyright for that I understand. But he is accusing of actually leaking the song to the public which we did not, we reposted a song that was leaked somewhere else and took it down immediately. He is also accusing us of sharing the album which we did not. Does he have a case when he has no proof that we actually leaked the song or share the full album?

 

[quincy]

... but as I stated sometimes a mistake occurs. Yes, we had the song posted, and he can say we violated a copyright for that I understand. But he is accusing of actually leaking the song to the public which we did not, we reposted a song that was leaked somewhere else and took it down immediately. He is also accusing us of sharing the album which we did not. Does he have a case when he has no proof that we actually leaked the song or share the full album?

Yes, he has a case. Whether it was on purpose or by mistake, there is still infringement.

Now, with that said, the copyright holder will have to offer up proof that you illegally distributed copyrighted material without permission - but you already admit to doing that. Damages, as I said in your other thread, can be mitigated (lessened) a bit if it was truly an innocent act on your part that led to the distribution. But you are still looking at potentially hefty damages awarded against you, should the matter wind up in court.

You need, as I indicated in your other thread, an attorney in your area who can personally review all of the facts and advise you accordingly. The attorney can help you draft a response to the infringement claims.

Good luck.

 

[legalquestion12]

Yes, he has a case. Whether it was on purpose or by mistake, there is still infringement.

Now, with that said, the copyright holder will have to offer up proof that you illegally distributed copyrighted material without permission - but you already admit to doing that. Damages, as I said in your other thread, can be mitigated (lessened) a bit if it was truly an innocent act on your part that led to the distribution. But you are still looking at potentially hefty damages awarded against you, should the matter wind up in court.

You need, as I indicated in your other thread, an attorney in your area who can personally review all of the facts and advise you accordingly. The attorney can help you draft a response to the infringement claims.

Good luck.

Right I do understand we had it posted, and that is infringement. It was up for about 15 minutes, did not result in many downloads. But what he is claiming, is that we leaked it which we did not. He is also claiming we are responsible for the entire album which is completely separate. The only thing posted on our site was a single song, not the entire album. We in no way distributed the album, and there is no way to prove that. What I am asking is, he can't pin those accusations on us since we did not do them correct? The only thing he can say is we briefly had a song posted, and it was promptly removed once being notified.

 

[quincy]

Right I do understand we had it posted, and that is infringement. It was up for about 15 minutes, did not result in many downloads. But what he is claiming, is that we leaked it which we did not. He is also claiming we are responsible for the entire album which is completely separate. The only thing posted on our site was a single song, not the entire album. We in no way distributed the album, and there is no way to prove that. What I am asking is, he can't pin those accusations on us since we did not do them correct? The only thing he can say is we briefly had a song posted, and it was promptly removed once being notified.

I don't know what the copyright holder can "pin" on you. The copyright holder will need evidence to support his claims, however.

You received notice to remove the infringed material and you did, which works in your favor. You also "innocently" distributed copyrighted material, which also works in your favor.

But the damages that can be awarded for distributing new material can be hefty.

Again, you really need to see an attorney in your area for a personal review of the notices you received, for a personal review of your site's set-up, and for a review of all other facts that may be relevant. We cannot do personal reviews here.

All any of us can tell you from what you have posted here is that it appears the copyright holder has a supportable infringement suit. What negotiating room you may have in any offered settlement amount, or what defenses you may have to a potential lawsuit, can be better determined after the personal review by an attorney in your area.

 

[legalquestion12]

I don't know what the copyright holder can "pin" on you. The copyright holder will need evidence to support his claims, however.

You received notice to remove the infringed material and you did, which works in your favor. You also "innocently" distributed copyrighted material, which also works in your favor.

But the damages that can be awarded for distributing new material can be hefty.

Again, you really need to see an attorney in your area for a personal review of the notices you received, for a personal review of your site's set-up, and for a review of all other facts that may be relevant. We cannot do personal reviews here.

All any of us can tell you from what you have posted here is that it appears the copyright holder has a supportable infringement suit. What negotiating room you may have in any proffered settlement demand, or what defenses you may have to a potential lawsuit, can be better determined after the personal review by an attorney in your area.

He continues to harass us via email, saying we owe him ___ amount. Should we even respond to him at all? Will ignoring his informal invoice email make it worse for us? We have not been contacted by his attorney yet. Should we just ignore him and wait to see if his counsel will contact us?

 

[quincy]

He continues to harass us via email, saying we owe him ___ amount. Should we even respond to him at all? Will ignoring his informal invoice email make it worse for us? We have not been contacted by his attorney yet. Should we just ignore him and wait to see if his counsel will contact us?

I suggest you do not respond to the copyright holder at this point, and I recommend you do not pay anything to the copyright holder, until all communications and all facts are personally reviewed by an attorney in your area. And you would probably be smart to consult with the attorney in your area soon.

Good luck, legalquestion12.

 

[legalquestion12]

I suggest you do not respond to the copyright holder at this point, and I recommend you do not pay anything to the copyright holder, until all communications and all facts are personally reviewed by an attorney in your area. And you would probably be smart to consult with the attorney in your area soon.

Good luck, legalquestion12.

Sorry to bother but one more question.

The invoice was made out to both of our names. The website is not a registered business, and the domain and hosting for the site are registered to only one person. The person whose name is not attached to anything also had nothing to do with the posting of the song. Are both parties still legally liable here, are only the person who the website is registered to?

 

[quincy]

Sorry to bother but one more question.

The invoice was made out to both of our names. The website is not a registered business, and the domain and hosting for the site are registered to only one person. The person whose name is not attached to anything also had nothing to do with the posting of the song. Are both parties still legally liable here, are only the person who the website is registered to?

If you run the site with another person, both of you can be named in any legal action involving the site. Any party wrongly named in a suit, however, can later move to be dismissed.

But, from what you have posted, it does not appear it has come to the lawsuit stage yet. Right now it appears that the copyright holder is only making demands (both for removal of the infringing material and for monetary compensation) and the monetary demands can probably be safely ignored until you are able to consult with a lawyer in your area for a review of all facts (as long as you consult with that lawyer soon).

Again, a personal review is necessary to determine if the demands being made are reasonable (and if they are coming from someone with rights in the work(s) said to be infringing). Certainly asking for the removal of the infringing material is a legitimate demand. The amount demanded, depending on the facts, may not be.