Disclaimer Laws vary drastically by state and country. It is impossible for an attorney to provide legal advice or legal services on JustAnswer. What follows is neither legal advice nor a legal service and may/not apply in your particular state. What follows is general information provided for educational purposes only. No attorney-client relationship is formed. T-USA is not your attorney. No attorney-client privilege exists. Anything you write can be used in court if discovered by an opposing party. The following information is provided for the purpose of encouraging you to seek, in person, the counsel of an attorney who is licensed to practice law in your particular state. It is essential to consult such an attorney as soon as possible. By reading further, you understand and agree to all that is written above. _____________________________________ Answer: Binding really isn't the right term for the email. From what you've described, I understand it to mean the following.The sender of the email believes you have violated the sender's intellectual property rights (which you may or may not have, depending on the nature of your actions). The sender has threatened to sue pursuant to those rights. The sender has threatened to report the violation as a criminal violation to the authorities (which it may or may not be, depending on the nature of your actions).If you violated the sender's copyright, the sender may well have every right to file an infringement suit and report the matter to law enforcement. Only a prosecutor can criminally "prosecute to the fullest extent of the law," and whether or not prosecution will take place is at the prosecutor's discretion. That is not a decision that private parties may make. However, private parties do have the discretion to report illegal activity so as to bring it to the prosecutor's attention and a private party so affected would have grounds for a lawsuit.You will want to retain an attorney to contact this party immediately. Your attorney can evaluate your actions to help you determine whether or not you violated the law. Further, the party may or may not intend to pursue legal action and your attorney can help you determine that. Most importantly, your attorney can discuss this matter with the party while protecting your interests, insuring that no incriminating admissions are made and ensuring that you do not obligate yourself to anything unreasonable.Further, if the party has begun legal action, your attorney may be able to assist you by negotiating with the party to cease the pursuit. Good luck! If you need additional clarification, please ask a follow-up question and I will be happy to elaborate. Please remember that we cannot provide legal advice/services through JustAnswer. Please click the green Accept Button for each and every answer and please remember to leave Positive Feedback. Doing so ensures I will receive credit for my time and my effort spent answering your question. Bonuses are greatly appreciated. When leaving Feedback, please remember that Feedback is left for me as an answerer, rather than the content of the answer. While I enjoy to providing customers with the answers they want to hear, doing so is not always possible. You should consult an attorney who is licensed to practice in your state about these matters. You can find an attorney licensed to practice law in your state through your state's lawyer referral services: http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/lris/directory/
Disclaimer Laws vary drastically by state and country. It is impossible for an attorney to provide legal advice or legal services on JustAnswer. What follows is neither legal advice nor a legal service and may/not apply in your particular state. What follows is general information provided for educational purposes only. No attorney-client relationship is formed. T-USA is not your attorney. No attorney-client privilege exists. Anything you write can be used in court if discovered by an opposing party. The following information is provided for the purpose of encouraging you to seek, in person, the counsel of an attorney who is licensed to practice law in your particular state. It is essential to consult such an attorney as soon as possible. By reading further, you understand and agree to all that is written above. _____________________________________ Answer: Obviously, it would seem easier to contact the company yourself. However, when dealing with legal matters, the easiest way isn't necessarily the best way. I don't think you should contact the company. I think you should retain an attorney to do so.You have been threatened with a major lawsuit. In a civil suit, a court can award up to $150,000 per act of infringement when the infringing party acts willfully.Someone has threatened to report you for criminal conduct. Copyright infringement, in some cases, can be prosecuted as a felony, yielding a term of more than one year in prison. In other cases, it can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor, potentially yielding no prison sentence. The point being: this is something you want an attorney for. I think you should have your attorney contact them immediately to discuss the matter to ensure that you do not make any admissions or take any action contrary to your financial or penal interests.You may wish to send an email that simply notes the fact that you just received the email and that you will call first thing during their business hours. Then you could have your attorney call first thing during their business hours. However, you should let your attorney handle any discussions or emails so that you can protect yourself.Retaining an attorney for the matter is the smart approach. You may or may not have actually violated the copyright if you never completed a sale. Your attorney can help you assess this. Further, your attorney can protect your interests. For you, an attorney may be a very good investment. If you need additional clarification, please ask a follow-up question and I will be happy to elaborate. Please remember that we cannot provide legal advice/services through JustAnswer. Please click the green Accept Button for each and every answer and please remember to leave Positive Feedback. Doing so ensures I will receive credit for my time and my effort spent answering your question. Bonuses are greatly appreciated. When leaving Feedback, please remember that Feedback is left for me as an answerer, rather than the content of the answer. While I enjoy to providing customers with the answers they want to hear, doing so is not always possible. You should consult an attorney who is licensed to practice in your state about these matters. You can find an attorney licensed to practice law in your state through your state's lawyer referral services: http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/lris/directory/
Attorney
Licensed FL Attorney
Disclaimer Laws vary drastically by state and country. It is impossible for an attorney to provide legal advice or legal services on JustAnswer. What follows is neither legal advice nor a legal service and may/not apply in your particular state. What follows is general information provided for educational purposes only. No attorney-client relationship is formed. T-USA is not your attorney. No attorney-client privilege exists. Anything you write can be used in court if discovered by an opposing party. The following information is provided for the purpose of encouraging you to seek, in person, the counsel of an attorney who is licensed to practice law in your particular state. It is essential to consult such an attorney as soon as possible. By reading further, you understand and agree to all that is written above. _____________________________________ Answer: You may be able to pay the $200 fee, assuming the business still holds the offer open and assuming the business honors its promise not to report it as a crime (or retroactively licenses the previous activity). However, in this matter, you want to keep in mind that the offer may have been closed, as a deadline was set. Further, statements you make in negotiating such a civil settlement might be useable in a criminal matter. Circuits differ on the subject.http://federalevidence.com/samples/Circuit_Split_Articles/Circuit_Split_SEP04.pdfSimply put, the potential risk in a copyright infringement is such that hiring an attorney could be the best investment of an individual's life. If you need additional clarification, please ask a follow-up question and I will be happy to elaborate. Please remember that we cannot provide legal advice/services through JustAnswer. Please click the green Accept Button for each and every answer and please remember to leave Positive Feedback. Doing so ensures I will receive credit for my time and my effort spent answering your question. Bonuses are greatly appreciated. When leaving Feedback, please remember that Feedback is left for me as an answerer, rather than the content of the answer. While I enjoy to providing customers with the answers they want to hear, doing so is not always possible. You should consult an attorney who is licensed to practice in your state about these matters. You can find an attorney licensed to practice law in your state through your state's lawyer referral services: http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/lris/directory/