Copyright infringement

[Beer van Huet]

I was summoned by the Dutch Press Bureau/ Association to pay $ 650,- within one week for publishing this pic on the forum of my website.
This so called press agency has contracted predator lawyers who scan websites for copyright pictures in my country, the Netherlands.
Here is what I received in my mailbox:
It appears that you have used one or more images from our ANP image bank on your website vrcc.nl.
Although images can easily be downloaded from the internet, copyright applies to virtually every photo. Therefore, a valid license is required for the use of a photo, so that photographers are fairly compensated for their work.
Unauthorized use constitutes a violation of the Copyright Act, as making public or reproducing a photo without permission is contrary to Article 1 of the Copyright Act.
In that case, it is up to the ANP to recover the lost revenue.


In reply, I stated the following

I object to your message case-ID JCQFEO.
The image is an official photo of the White House, taken by a government photographer during the signing of a presidential decree in January 2017.
Under U.S. law, work created by federal government employees as part of their official duties is copyright-free and belongs to the public domain.
The meme falls under 'fair use' because it is not used for commercial purposes.
The photo was also not posted on the website but in the forum and is a parody.
Furthermore, there can be no question of commercial interest because no membership fees need to be paid for the mentioned club and website.
Finally, the website and meme in the photo are specifically intended to promote, among other things, a motorcycle that has not been produced for 23 years.
The photo suggests that the motorcycle manufacturer will resume production. The creator of it, with exactly the same intention, cannot possibly object to that. On the contrary.
I am therefore of the opinion that I can share this meme on social media or with friends without any problems; that is how memes work.

I assume that your message is therefore based on a mistake.
Pending your reply, I will not react on your settlement,

This is what you get when Europeans start their own internet rules.
Gone freedom, gone creativity, welcome revenue means.

[Jersey mike]

I think the meme is great and I feel bad about the way you were targeted for legal action.

Fight the fight if you can.   

[LadyDraco]

OH MY Gosh !  That's crazy ...

I  love  the meme.....

[Road Scholar]

Great meme!  That is just incredible that you were summoned to pay a fine for what is clearly a harmless tongue in cheek meme.  Fight on brother!

[Serk]

Copyright trolls aren't just an EU phenomenon...

In a former life when I was running a forum for saltwater aquarium enthusiasts we had our entire site taken down by our host with a DMCA notice.

It took several days of back and forth with the hosting company to find out someone had filed a DMCA takedown against us because my signature at the time was a one like quote from Carl Sagan about the requirements to make an apple pie.

[RP#62]

It looks like they were fishing.

RP

[old2soon]

      Aw c'mon man just sens em the check!  What "they" did not expect nor desired you did-question their questionable "authority"! You were supposed to just clam up and send the $$$$$$! Should "they" continue to pester you tell em to pound sand up their a$$! And here I THOUGHT all the butt head types existed only in AMERICA! Well upon further reflection guessin butt head types is Everywhere on Earth!  Beer do NOT roll over and spread yer legs for the low lifes!  Keep fightin the good fight Bro!  RIDE SAFE.

[Beer van Huet]

Just to brief you how this ended.
I went to great lengths searching for applicable legislation and constantly trying to renegotiate the amount of money with legal arguments.
ANP finally settled for an amount of $ 209,-. Which I agreed to.
Normally, pictures of POTUS are public domain. Unfortunately, the one I used was taken by a French photographer working for AFM.
The fact that hundreds of these pictures, even exactly the same picture, are used elsewhere online, does not affect the obligation for my specific use.
These people have plenty of money, so if they take you to court and you lose, you will end up paying between $ 9.000,- and $ 25.000,- pending on appeal or not. Mainly because you will have to pay their lawyer expenses as well.
The way these predators operate is just unbelievable. And they have legislation on their side.
They represent over 100 worldwide press agencies and charge people in the Netherlands if they have not payed copyrights. Even in private social media, Flickr, Facebook or websites.
Their main excuse is to pay photographers their entitled copyright money.
To give you an example how far these people go, I searched their photo library of over 90 million pictures and found a picture of myself during a motorcycle meeting. The picture had nothing to do with the motorcycle event where my picture was accidently showing up but was taken specifically of my back where it showed the VRCC logo on my vest (see link below)
Now we all know that the VRCC logo has copyright on it.
Still, they are charging money for someone else to use this picture of the logo, pretending they are paying the legal owner of the logo. Because the reporter/photographer was working in the public interest by providing news, it gives them the right to publish pictures as if they owe them.

The page below states the following
Left
Motorcyclists hit the road for a better image
A member of the Valkyrie Riders Cruiser Club at the start of a ride. Motorcyclists are gathering in Eindhoven and Amsterdam to improve the image of motorcycle clubs with a touring ride.
ANP JERRY LAMPEN

On the right it states
License
Calculate the price
Select the usage below and calculate the copyright rate applicable for use.
Just select the type window and see that you have to pay between € 100,- and € 900,- pending on the type of publication

https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?pictureid=327198775&page=1&pos=1

I post this just to give you a heads up what can happen if you just grab a random picture online for your personal use.
So I erased the picture on my website.
As a matter of fact I completely erased my VRCC website since there are thousands of pictures in there over a 25 year period that would take a lot of trouble to verify.
I deleted my Facebook VRCC page for the same reason and made all my 20.000 Valkyrie related pictures on Fickr private.
Needless to say I think this sucks 

[Jersey mike]

" Needless to say I think this sucks"    I agree 100%. Sounds like a long time of work out the window because someone got their panties in a twist.

[luftkoph]

The good ole days of the internet are long gone and dead.

[Oss]

sorry to hear this sad news

Many rain soaked or snowy days I have read different pages (they were LONG pages lol ) and recalled different rides and pondered others I could not attend

You are a good man Beer, having taken the time to do what you have done

Some day I hope to hoist a cold brew with you if the future allows