DISCLAIMER

I need to be clear I am NOT an attorney. I am not responsible for your actions and any results you encounter during or after your dealings with PicRights, Higbee and Associates or any other copyright trolling firm. This website contains my opinions - use it and others and make your own decision. 

Who I am is someone who has done hours and hours - days, really - of research on PicRights and Higbee & Associates and their fear-mongering tactics.

I'll repeat what I have written elsewhere in this blog: If you're not a major company who makes a lot of money from your website, they are not going to sue you. It simply doesn't make financial sense for them. Remember their model: hundreds of THOUSANDS of "scary" demand letters, which leads to millions of dollars for them, without ever stepping into a courtroom. 

Am I confident they won't sue you? Let's put it this way: If you're not a major company making tons of money from your website, I'd bet there is less than a .000000000000001% chance you'd ever get sued by these clowns. Remember: It's a losing proposition for them to sue you - even if they won a judgement, it would likely be far less than the money they spent in court costs.

Remember, they send out hundreds of THOUSANDS of letters each year. I can confirm they have taken a very small handful of people to court. So, technically, you can be sued, but research shows you won't - unless you're a big company raking in millions.

Here are a few court rulings copied from Pierre-Nicolas Schwab's blog about PicRights:

In 2024, 3 judgments were handed down in France concerning cases triggered by Picrights. The lessons learned from these 3 judgments are as follows:

Small non-profit structures with low-audience sites using AFP photos without authorization have little to worry about. To date, no court case has been brought against a structure of this type.

On the other hand, larger, more lucrative companies should consider the possibility of negotiating out of court if the amounts involved are reasonable. At the very least, any company contacted by PicRights should refrain from acknowledging the use of the image.

In 2024, 3 judgments were handed down in France concerning cases triggered by Picrights. The lessons learned from these 3 judgments are as follows:

Small non-profit structures with low-audience sites using AFP photos without authorization have little to worry about. To date, no court case has been brought against a structure of this type.

On the other hand, larger, more lucrative companies should consider the possibility of negotiating out of court if the amounts involved are reasonable. At the very least, any company contacted by PicRights should refrain from acknowledging the use of the image.

In the Paris Court ruling of June 27, 2024, the DK Ambassador company, accused of counterfeiting, was not condemned for copyright infringement, due to the photo’s lack of originality, but had to pay €585.75 for behavior deemed parasitic and €3,000 for legal fees. The court’s arguments were based in particular on DK Ambassador’s acknowledgement of the use of the image in an exchange with Picrights.

In the Lille Court ruling of March 29, 2024, a pre-trial order forced Extreme Tennis to pay €2,000 in damages on procedural grounds, but the case on the merits remains to be judged.

In a judgment handed down by the Marseilles Court on December 19, 2024, ERM Automatismes Industriels was ordered to pay €800 for economic loss, €800 for legal fees and procedural costs, as the photo used was deemed original, underlining the importance of the creative effort.

These decisions therefore confirm that the lawsuits mainly concern companies with a significant commercial profile, and not small non-profit sites. What’s more, the sums claimed by PicRights have never been awarded by the courts. When there is a conviction, the sums awarded are much smaller.

Still not convinced? Read THIS fantastic and detailed article re: PicRights and the possibility of actually being taken to court by them.

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My final pieces of advice regarding the letter you received from PicRights:

1. Do NOT stress or worry over it. I get so sad reading the accounts of people who "lose sleep" and are "terrified" and "haunted" by these threatening letters. Just know they send MILLIONS of these letters out fishing for easy money. 

2. Ignore. Throw the letter away. You will read online - mostly from other attorney websites: "Do not ignore the letter." That's malarkey. YES - IGNORE THE LETTER. Remember, the only letter you should not ignore is an official court order. Do NOT respond to ANY emails, letters of calls from PicRights or Higbee and Associates. It's that simple.

3. Do your own research. I highly recommend listening to the podcast below and reading the blog, also linked below. Listen and read intently - both the podcast and blog will leave you with a clear understanding of where you stand. These are the two best and most comprehensive reports on PicRights and Higbee.

-Podcast HERE.

-Blog HERE.

4. Share my website with others. If everyone stopped succumbing to PicRights ridiculous and threatening letters, they'd shutter in 30 days.

5. Sign the petition HERE and join our Facebook group and share your story HERE.

6. The BEST thing you can ever do is contact the companies that hire PicRights. They need to know they are tarnishing their name by aligning themselves with such shysters. Go HERE to get started.

7. And above all, remember...