Medical Justice provides free consultations to doctors facing medico-legal obstacles. We have solutions for doctor-patient conflicts, unwarranted demands for refunds, online defamation (patient review mischief), meritless litigation, and a gazillion other issues. We also provide counsel specific to COVID-19. If you are navigating a medico-legal obstacle, visit our booking page to schedule a free consultation – or use the tool shared below.

It’s Friday afternoon and you’re checking mail before calling it quits for the weekend. One letter is from an attorney. It’s a cease and desist. Plus, a demand for money. Lots of money.

The lawyer is alleging your website, Instagram account, and other social media accounts are peppered with unlicensed pictures of patients from another practice. Two black and white copies of photos of a patient’s nose and lips are included as Exhibits A and B. These are placed next to two copies of photos on your social media properties. They look similar, but it’s hard to tell.

The lawyer continues – your practice has committed copyright infringement, false advertising, and more.

This is not the way a restful weekend begins.

Now what?

The first step is to do some due diligence. Do not ignore the message. If you have committed copyright infringement and have no viable defense, the penalties can be steep. So, see where the pictures in question originated.

Are those pictures your patients? If not, how did the pictures get on your site? Did someone from your practice or a vendor properly license such photos? For example, you can pay companies such as Shutterstock or Getty Images for a license to use their images. As long as you are using such photos according to the license agreement, you should be fine. 

It’s also possible the photos are in the public domain – for example, Creative Commons, and no one needs to pay to use them.

Sometimes, though, well-intended employees or vendors will copy and paste photos they find online – and use them on your website. That’s a no-no. But it is a common practice.

If your vendor is the culprit, dig deeper. Ask him or her for help in resolving your new problem.

Take a look at your vendor agreement. Does it indemnify you for any problems related to their negligence? In a perfect world, such a clause would be present in your contract. It would help, but only if the vendor’s pockets are as deep, if not deeper, than yours. If not, then that piece of paper and its ability to protect you is merely part of an academic discussion. 

OK, now what?

Do you have cyber-liability insurance? Hopefully, the answer is yes. If so, does it include any benefits to address claims of copyright infringement? Yes? Then you know the next call you need to make. Regardless, to our blog readers, now would be a good time to pull out your cyberliability insurance policy to see whether it covers this problem. If not, see if your policy can be beefed up with a rider that will help.

Finally, you may need to hire a lawyer. Companies that license photos, such as Getty, do send letters alleging copyright infringement. The few I have seen make reasonable demands, often lower than what it would take to pay a lawyer to fight the fight. I’ve also seen demand letters from lawyers representing practices (who own the copyright for the photos in question) asking for tens of thousands of dollars. Such ridiculous numbers make negotiating a resolution challenging.

Copyright infringement is one of those problems best avoided before it mushrooms into a giant legal mess. Above and beyond the legal penalties, if a person might reasonably believe these photos are of your patients (and they aren’t), a complaint to the Board of Medicine alleging false and deceptive advertising is sure to follow.

So, the best way to avoid the horrible weekend is to make sure the images on your site are either yours, or you have a proper license. Finally, if they are your patients, make sure you have the patient’s authorization in writing to use as you intend.

What do you think? Have you ever received such a cease and desist letter? Have you ever sent such a cease and desist letter? Let us know in the comments below. Lastly, Medical Justice is more than equipped to work with doctors to resolve such disputes. Use the consultation tool below or visit our consult page to schedule a free consultation with our Founder and CEO, Jeff Segal, MD, JD. 

Medical Justice provides free consultations to doctors facing medico-legal obstacles. We have solutions for doctor-patient conflicts, unwarranted demands for refunds, online defamation (patient review mischief), meritless litigation, and a gazillion other issues. We also provide counsel specific to COVID-19. If you are navigating a medico-legal obstacle, visit our booking page to schedule a free consultation – or use the tool shared below.

Learn how Medical Justice can protect you from medico-legal mayhem… 

Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Chief Executive Officer and Founder

Dr. Jeffrey Segal, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Medical Justice, is a board-certified neurosurgeon. Dr. Segal is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons; the American College of Legal Medicine; and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He is also a member of the North American Spine Society. In the process of conceiving, funding, developing, and growing Medical Justice, Dr. Segal has established himself as one of the country’s leading authorities on medical malpractice issues, counterclaims, and internet-based assaults on reputation.

Dr. Segal was a practicing neurosurgeon for approximately ten years, during which time he also played an active role as a participant on various state-sanctioned medical review panels designed to decrease the incidence of meritless medical malpractice cases.

Dr. Segal holds a M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, where he also completed a neurosurgical residency. Dr. Segal served as a Spinal Surgery Fellow at The University of South Florida Medical School. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as the AOA Medical Honor Society. Dr. Segal received his B.A. from the University of Texas and graduated with a J.D. from Concord Law School with highest honors.

In 2000, he co-founded and served as CEO of DarPharma, Inc, a biotechnology company in Chapel Hill, NC, focused on the discovery and development of first-of-class pharmaceuticals for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dr. Segal is also a partner at Byrd Adatto, a national business and health care law firm. Byrd Adatto was selected as a Best Law Firm in the 2021 edition of the “Best Law Firms” list by U.S. News – Best Lawyers. With over 50 combined years of experience in serving doctors, dentists, and other providers, Byrd Adatto has a national pedigree to address most legal issues that arise in the business and practice of medicine.