Legal Question in Business Law in California

Lien of Copyrighted Material

A friend located in OH offered to help out with my website-he knew in advance, I had very limited funds and couldn't pay him. he said he didn't expect anything from me. No Contract was ever signed or did I ever agree on Rates, Terms etc.

I did tell him I would give him ''something'' if/when I recv'd $$ from a pending PI case. He created an invoice at year end (for my taxes) which he claimed was exaggerated & not anything close to what he expected. I did send him a check for $1500 (which had nothing to do with the invoice)

Because he became upset with me, now he is trying to collect the actual balance of the ''mock'' invoice he created. Said he would take me to State and Federal Court, also he's tried to have my web provider bring down my site & he is saying; that all copyrighted material under my domain name (which is in my name) belongs to him & I'm prohibited to use it until payment or arrangements have been made.

Can he do this? And he's in Ohio, wouldn't he have to file in California? Bottom line there was no contract & I've asked him to provide me with a copy which I signed where I was made aware of his rates, terms etc....all he says is I have 5 business days to accommodate his request.

What can I do?


Asked on 5/22/04, 8:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Lien of Copyrighted Material

First off, he does not have to sue you in California. Under the facts you describe, he can sue you in either California (where the defendant lives) or Ohio (where the services were to be performed). He will surely choose Ohio. His threat to take you to both state and federal court won't work; he has to choose one or the other. Unless his invoice was for more than $75,000, he will probably have to bring the case in state court.

If there is any documentation at all (emails, letters, etc.) which might show that he knew he wasn't going to be paid a specific sum, you will need to find it to use as evidence. If there is no documentation then it may come down to his word against yours, and your story doesn't sound very good.

If you can't directly prove what you and he agreed on, you may be able to prove the rest of your story -- that he became angry with you and only then began seeking payment. See if you can find any evidence of (a) when he did the work; (b) when and why he first became angry at you; and (c) when he started trying to make you pay him.

You also have a serious problem because it looks like telling your story to a judge (which you will have to do while under oath) would involve admitting to tax fraud. The consequences of such an admission could be most unpleasant -- especially if you actually did try to convince the IRS that you are entitled to a deduction in the amount of his invoice.

If he is claiming a modest amount of money he might bring the case in small claims court. I don't know how small claims cases are handled in Ohio (hopefully an Ohio lawyer will enlighten us), but you might end up having to go there in person to argue your case. Here in California you would not be allowed to send anyone -- whether an attorney or not -- to small claims court in your place, but in Ohio the rules might be different.

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Answered on 5/22/04, 8:34 pm


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