“I told him not to pay a cent—and definitely not to shut his website down.”

What would you do if you got a scary letter using legal language, claiming you owed $700 for a photo on your website? In this episode, I share a true story about an old client who received one of these copyright trolling threats, and how we handled it. From sleuthing image origins to proving usage rights, this is one episode you’ll want to listen to if you’ve ever used photos online.

I'm Trudy Rankin and I am the founder of Online Business Liftoff and a seasoned digital strategist who helps people build sustainable, flexible businesses online. 

I ALSO TALKED ABOUT

• What copyright trolling is—and why it’s not quite a scam, but not ethical either.
• How to verify image licensing years after a website goes live.
• The steps to take if you receive a copyright infringement notice.
• Why immediately removing the image can neutralize most threats.
• How creating a simple image tracking spreadsheet could save hours of work later.
• The importance of demanding proof of ownership before taking any legal-sounding demand seriously.
• What to include in a response that shifts the burden back to the sender.

If you've ever published a photo on your website, you need to hear this. Tune in to protect yourself and your clients.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Wayback Machine: https://archive.org/web/

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