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Freelancers keep saying 'I'll just sue them' and that's not how copyright court works at all
I had a client in Portland ghost me after I sent the final files and then put my design on their site anyway, so I looked into what suing would really take. A lawyer quoted me $18,000 up front plus a $400 filing fee, and she said small claims copyright only covers work registered before the theft. So here's the fight: some folks say never sue, just send a DMCA takedown and move on, because you'll lose money either way. Other folks say always register every piece within 90 days of making it, because that's the only way to get lawyer fees paid if you win. I'm stuck in the middle and honestly want to know what you would do with a $600 unpaid invoice from a guy who won't answer email.
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viola_garcia561d ago
$600 is the part that gets me, because you'd spend triple that just to get the paperwork moving. But I'll push back on the "never sue, just DMCA" crowd. A takedown gets your art off their site, sure, but it does nothing about the money. That Portland client already used your files. You can't un-ring that bell, and a DMCA won't put $600 in your account. Here's the thing though: small claims is different from federal court in most states. In a lot of places you can file for breach of contract on the unpaid invoice without touching copyright law at all, and the cap is often $5,000 to $10,000. No lawyer needed, filing fee is like $50. The catch is you still have to collect, and if this guy ghosts email he'll probably ghost a judgment too. So my answer would be registered or not, sue him in small claims for the invoice, not the copyright.
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