[dmourati]

This happened to a bunch of flickr photographers and me for a Toyota advertising campaign. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-42743425/toyota-and-s...

When Toyota's ad agency Saatchi was confronted about the misuse, they offered a flat fee of $500 (if I recall correctly ) for each photo. Several of the photographers took the deal. A group of around 10 of us hired a lawyer and settled for much more (withholding amount was part of the deal) per infringement.

[mikeash]

Wow, $500 is an amazingly insulting offer. Statutory damages for willful infringement are $150,000!

[sgfc]

That is the maximum for the willful infringement of an image that is registered with the copyright office [1] and awards are highly vaiable. [2]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_damages_for_copyright...

[2] http://www.ipinbrief.com/whyitsdifficultpredictstatutorydama...

[dmourati]

After the infringement was discovered and before the settlement, I did have to register the photo with the US copyright office. It was a simple procedure and I think I paid $35. This was done to establish that I did indeed hold the copyright Toyota and friends infringed.