Sorry for no comment on this yesterday.
Had a really busy day – had some work to do, then had to go through my website and then was reading as much about this as I could.
The image in question was of the logo on a building.
The blog was on my website but I have now removed all posts and effectively shut down my blog. I ended up going through my site to ensure there were no more possible violations, All other images were from unsplash etc and I have ensured that all image credits are given as required.
I dont think its a good idea to just ignore this but I will be replying with an offer of the original license cost (£35) x3.
I feel this would be a reasonable offer and think it will be looked upon as being reasonable should this escalate.
I really can’t afford to pay this as I haven’t had any income at all since last November and have been supporting myself with savings, but there is a part of me thinking I just want this to go away. The amount of £500 seems punitive and I suspect if this went to a small claims court that they would be awarded the original license fee that they missed out on. That seems to be the general consensus from the forums I have looked at. The idea is to recoup their losses – not to punish.
This was a really stupid mistake and the stress this is causing is awful.
I probably won’t be able to be back on here until later tonight or maybe even tomorrow.
Thanks for all the comments and help.