Copyright Claim - Sounds Dodgy

[Ahtchoom]

criss74 said:

Any update on this? @librarygirl75?

I got this email too.

Same scenario here.. what a lucrative business..
I am on the same situation here. it's been 3 weeks now and he has been quiet for now..

1 . you need to ask to yourself, if the picture you copied is coming from a real work from the artist or is it a simple photography of something ?
2 . sollicitor just send email with the customer not (really) to the party he is against with. So I have asked him to stop sending me email but standard letter instead. at least the stress of the email will go off..

let me know

[criss74]

I got 4 emails so far within 2 months. First with deadline, second with another deadline, third was calculation costs of eventual court case and fourth with yet another deadline. I talked with other people outside this forum and some said they only send emails to scare people and sometimes they are quiet for months just to start sending emails again.

Do not reply to their emails.

Edited by criss74 on Wednesday 9th December 11:53

[Ahtchoom]

criss74 said:

I got 4 emails so far within 2 months. First with deadline, second with another deadline, third was calculation costs of eventual court case and fourth with yet another deadline. I talked with other people outside this forum and some said they only send emails to scare people and sometimes they are quiet for months just to start sending emails again.

Do not reply to their emails.

Edited by criss74 on Wednesday 9th December 11:53

this is a good news !

[Bayan101]

Hi - just found this thread as i found myself in a similar situation with this German lawyer via Photoclaim website. I noticed the last updates were from Dec 2020. Has this lawyer continued to send you emails or launch any kind of actual legal action by your refusing to respond or pay the claimant?

[criss74]

Just ignore it and don't worry about it. Many people all over the world got those emails/letters and nothing happened. Read comments below this article

https://easydns.com/blog/2019/09/16/fechner-law-of...

[DrBeijing]

Hey guys,

is there any more developments on these cases? I've gotten one of these emails as well from Marcin Zieliński about 1 photo that was posted on a website I deleted a month ago from Jimdo.

Funny enough, they sent me the notification after the site was deleted as if they been waiting for it to maximize their billing. Seems really dodgy and surely not the way to conduct this kind of business. What's more weird is that I can't find the photo that he claims I used on the photographers website.

Anyhow, if there's any more updates pls share.

Cheers

[bad company]

As I said earlier in the thread I had a very similar experience with Getty Images. I asked them for proof that they owned the image but they declined to supply that information. I told them I wouldn’t entertain their claim without that proof/evidence and ignored their subsequent letters & emails. That was 10 years ago so I think I can safely say that it’s over.

There’s also more info here:-

https://copyrightaid.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=5

[robbiefechner]

We got one from this conman also. Easy solution in our case, we're going to ignore it. Total scam. Has one single person actually been brought to court over this? His Google reviews don't look great

[Ian Geary]

robbiefechner said:

We got one from this conman also. Easy solution in our case, we're going to ignore it. Total scam. Has one single person actually been brought to court over this? His Google reviews don't look great

Not seen much publicity about successful court cases...maybe Rosaly's escalation to the Gods and protector spirits back in 2020 did the trick?!?

rosaly said:

i will escalating my case to the Gods and protector spirits

[criss74]

Great summary here

https://fechner-legal-letters.com/

[Umbrella166]

criss74 said:

Just ignore it and don't worry about it. Many people all over the world got those emails/letters and nothing happened. Read comments below this article

https://easydns.com/blog/2019/09/16/fechner-law-of...

Totally agree, just ignore it and you'll be fine.
I've gotten emails like this too.
Nothing horrible will happen for sure.
But you should always protect your copyrights.
This is very important if you really want to protect yourself from scammers.
If you do not understand this much, I advise you to download an application that is familiar to many who understand copyrights and watermarks.
A friend once advised me this application https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.... , it does its job perfectly.
Take care of your safety.

Edited by Umbrella166 on Saturday 9th October 13:11

[ArtyIgloo]

Just want to add my name to the list of victims of this Scum Fechner. See my rant here, please add your stories!
https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceEU/comments/t6...

We need to make sure that all our complaints are all over the internet so that victims won't just surrender to his bullying demands!

He really has no shame. Why hasn't anyone shut him down yet with all his years and probably thousands of victims?!!!

[poguemahone]

Hey folks.

Remember to leave Robert a review of your experience. Others need to be made aware:
- Trusted Reviews 1
- Trusted Reviews 2

Along with the previous users Reddit post there is a website dedicated to this scammer:
fechner-legal-letters.com

[Schnabster]

Same story here, extremely aggressive a d a fantastic claim of 2700 euro within 2nd of December or else legal action will be taken. I have blacklisted the email-adress now. Had he not presented these fantasynumbers I would have taken him serious. It still hits a nerve when the emails from this devil arrives, so no he is just sending them to nowhere. Obviously some victims are paying him due to fear, cause or else he wouldn't have done it. I hope someone brings that devil to court.

Edited by Schnabster on Saturday 26th November 10:17

[HBHSBG]

So I had recieved 2 emails from a Zielinski law over a photo I had Googled under "free desert pics." There was no cooywrite info then. Now there are watermarks. I used it on my website as a banner oic nit reakizing there was an issue. Then, I get these scammy feeling emails. On the off chance it was an infringement, I took the picture down. In doing more research, now the photo comes up under the original photographers page, but everytime you go to purchase the use of said photo or copies of said photo and "add to cart," It says page not found? The entire thing feels sketchy and scammy.
So, now today i got a postal letter from Germany with a cease and desist (which there is no action to cease as the picture was removed long ago) along with a breakdown for a exorbant amount of money that I have to pay with a deadline of 6 days.
I've found a ton of chatter about these German lawyers doing this for Photoclaim. But indeed, was anyone ever ordered to pay? This is being done under German law, yet I live in the US. If anyone can share their final experience it would be wonderful

[Johnson2023]

I'm in the same boat. So far, I have received 3 emails from these clowns at Zielinski claiming I used some copyrighted image and that I owe them some ridiculous amount of money. The truth is it's a very common image of a view of a city, there are 100s of them online.

The last email said they're filing a lawsuit at some German court in Berlin. That was like 3 weeks ago, since then I've heard nothing. Still waiting to be taken to court. Joke's on them. My blog is an educational site, not for profit. Even on the off chance that they would try to sue me, they would be laughed out of court for such a superfluous lawsuit, and I'd argue fair use. But I'll wait and see what happens next. I'm in the US too.

[superlightr]

Johnson2023 said:

I'm in the same boat. So far, I have received 3 emails from these clowns at Zielinski claiming I used some copyrighted image and that I owe them some ridiculous amount of money. The truth is it's a very common image of a view of a city, there are 100s of them online.

The last email said they're filing a lawsuit at some German court in Berlin. That was like 3 weeks ago, since then I've heard nothing. Still waiting to be taken to court. Joke's on them. My blog is an educational site, not for profit. Even on the off chance that they would try to sue me, they would be laughed out of court for such a superfluous lawsuit, and I'd argue fair use. But I'll wait and see what happens next. I'm in the US too.

plenty of advice of what to do. remove the picture may be a good start.

[Johnson2023]

I did that. I removed it right away. I did not, by any means, ever mean to infringe on any copyrighted material, and as far as I know, I was using a Creative Commons-licensed picture. I should also add that if I had received a notice telling me to pay for the photo's license and if they had demanded a down-to-earth amount, I would have taken them seriously. But they claim I owe them something like 7K Euros. I mean, FFS. And the lawsuit threats? Nope. That is just a scammer's approach, and I'm not falling for it.

[HBHSBG]

So I found the image on the photographer's site. This guy has instagram, YouTube and a huge website with thousands of photos. What is ODD... if you go to purchase anything on this photographers site, and you hit add to cart, it immediately gives you a "404 page not found" prompt. Which makes this all the sketchier. I DO NOT feel comfortable about sending money on behalf of a lawyer in Germany, representing a Polish company called Photoclaim, for a UK photographer and Iam in the US. Photographers website LOOKS professional but there's too much that makes this seem like a shake down more then a legitimate lawfirm.
From all I've read, most folks do this accidentally, they're notified by email or letter (I've received both) and still the emails keep coming asking for money. In talking to legal council, seems they would have to open a case in the US. And for a $400 usage fee to use that pic, that's seems foolish and costly. Not worth the time. Let alone they can't go after you for court fees from what Iam reading.
I would like to know for folks years back, did you ever go to court? What was your outcome? Etc.
I think they operate on a barely legal line and in a area where its all very vague and over international lines. The more we compare notes, the better.

[superlightr]

no they never took me to court. I didnt pay them anything. I did remove the picture complained of. Many years ago 5+ could even be 10+

hope that helps