Received a Copyright Infringement Letter or Photo Demand? How a California Business Should Respond

Last updated: November 2026

A copyright demand letter, usually over a photograph on a website or social media account, is a settlement offer backed by a threat of suit. The amount demanded is rarely the amount the law would award. Whether the claimant can recover statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work, or only its lost license fee, depends on whether the work was registered before the use began. (17 U.S.C. §§ 412, 504(c)(1).) Kolmogorov Law, P.C. evaluates and answers these letters for businesses in Orange County, Los Angeles, and across California.

Call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online before you reply to the letter or pay anything.

What a copyright demand letter looks like

Most arrive by email from a licensing agency, a law firm that files photo cases in volume, or a photographer directly. The letter identifies an image, shows a screenshot of your page, states that the sender owns the copyright, and demands a sum within a short deadline. Some cite the $150,000 maximum for willful infringement to make a four-figure demand look generous. Some attach a registration certificate; many do not.

A second variety comes from software publishers or their trade associations about unlicensed installations, and a third from stock agencies whose automated crawlers matched an image on your site. The analysis below applies to all three.

Do not do these three things first

Do not delete the image and say nothing. Removal stops the ongoing use, which is good, but destroying the evidence of how and when it got there is not, and a claim for past use survives removal.

Do not call the sender and explain. Statements about how long the image was up, who posted it, and what you knew become the claimant's evidence of willfulness.

Do not pay the number in the letter on the deadline in the letter. The deadline is the sender's, not a court's.

How I evaluate the letter

Ownership. Ask for proof that the sender owns the copyright or holds an exclusive license. A licensing agency with a nonexclusive agreement has no standing to sue; only the legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive right does. (17 U.S.C. § 501(b).)

Registration and its timing. This is the question that sets the value of the claim. A United States work cannot be sued on until it is registered or registration is refused. (17 U.S.C. § 411(a).) More to the point, no statutory damages or attorney fees can be awarded for infringement that began before the effective date of registration, unless the work was registered within three months after first publication. (17 U.S.C. § 412.) If the photo was registered after your use started, and outside that window, the claimant is limited to actual damages, which for a stock-style photograph is typically the license fee it would have charged. That changes the negotiation.

Your source. Where did the image come from? A stock subscription, a vendor who built the page, a designer's template, an employee's search? A license, even one bought by your web agency, may cover the use. A contract with the agency may shift the liability to it.

Dates. The claim must be filed within three years after it accrued. (17 U.S.C. § 507(b).) Compare the dates in the letter to your own records.

Defenses. Fair use is rarely available for a decorative image in commercial marketing, but it can apply to commentary, comparison, or news. Innocent infringement, where you neither knew nor had reason to know, can reduce statutory damages to as little as $200. (17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2).)

What a photo copyright demand is actually worth

If registration was timely, the court may award statutory damages between $750 and $30,000 per work, as it considers just, and up to $150,000 if the owner proves willfulness. (17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(1), (2).) Courts often set the award for a single image at a multiple of the license fee rather than at the top of the range. Still, the range is real, and so is the exposure to the other side's attorney fees. (17 U.S.C. § 505.) How courts set the number inside the range is covered on our damages page, linked below.

If registration was late, the claim is worth the license fee and perhaps a modest premium. Letters that open at five figures often settle for far less once the sender is asked for the registration date.

Responding

A written response goes out under our name, not yours. It asks for the certificate, the deposit copy, the chain of title, and the first publication date. It states that the image has been removed without admitting liability. It reserves defenses. If the claim is sound and registered, it proposes a number tied to the actual license value. If the claim is unregistered or defective, it says so and invites the sender to prove otherwise.

Where the letter concerns an image hosted on a platform rather than your own server, the DMCA process may be in play as well. And if your own agency or vendor put the image there, we tender the claim to them and to their insurer.

Our guide to receiving a demand letter covers steps that apply to any demand, and our page on the elements of copyright infringement explains what the claimant must prove.

If a lawsuit follows

Copyright suits are filed in federal court; for Orange County and Los Angeles businesses, that is the Central District of California. Many photo plaintiffs file only when a demand is ignored entirely, so a prompt, lawyerly response reduces the risk of suit. If one is filed, the defenses above become the answer. We handle these cases as part of our intellectual property litigation practice.

What to bring to the first meeting

Bring the letter and every attachment. Bring a screenshot of the page as it appeared with the image, the date the page went live, and the name of whoever built or edited it. Bring your stock subscriptions, your agreement with your web agency, and any license you can find for the image. If you have already corresponded with the sender, bring that too.

Frequently asked questions

Is a copyright infringement notice a lawsuit?

No. A demand letter is a private communication, and the deadline in it has no legal force. It can become a lawsuit if ignored, and some senders do file. The right response is neither panic nor silence: evaluate ownership, registration timing, and your license position, then answer in writing through counsel.

How much should I pay for a copyright demand letter over a photo?

It depends on registration timing. If the photo was registered before your use or within three months of its first publication, the owner can seek $750 to $30,000 in statutory damages and attorney fees. (17 U.S.C. §§ 412, 504(c).) If not, the claim is worth roughly the license fee. Ask for the registration date before discussing money.

Can I just remove the photo and ignore the letter?

Removing it is wise; ignoring the letter is not. Liability for past use remains, and silence is what prompts many claimants to file. A short written response that removes the image without admitting liability and asks for proof of ownership and registration usually leads to a lower resolution.

What if my web designer added the image?

You are still the one displaying it, so the claimant will pursue you. Your contract with the designer may require it to indemnify you, and its license to a stock service may cover your use. Gather the contract and the license, and we tender the claim to the designer and its insurer.

Are these letters from copyright trolls legitimate?

Often the underlying copyright is real and the use was unlicensed, which makes the claim legitimate even when the demand is inflated. Sending form letters in volume is not itself unlawful. What you can do is test the ownership and registration, negotiate from actual value, and refuse to be rushed.

Talk to a California copyright defense attorney

If your business has received a copyright infringement notice, call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. is at 327 Magnet, Irvine, CA 92618, and represents businesses in Orange County, Los Angeles, and throughout California. See also our intellectual property litigation page and our guide to copyright damages.

This page provides general information about federal copyright law and is not legal advice. Outcomes depend on the registration, the license history, the facts of the use, and the court.