tracking images files in server

can someone track an image that's in the server but not on the website

[magda]

I would like to know if I the files in my images folder are considered public domain. I know that the folder itself is password protected but not the individual files.
The reason I ask is that I apparently downloaded an image
but didn't use it on my website - somehow though it was left in the images folder of my server.
Now the owners of the image say they've tracked it in my server and want to take action against me for copyright infringement. (I immediately removed the image when I was informed that it was found in my server)
I wonder if anyone can advise if this kind of tracking is legitimate and whether server storage is considered public domain.
Thank you for any information that might help.

[topr8]

welcome to WebmasterWorld

i think you may be confusing the meaning of "public domain" - i believe it means (in short) something on which the copyright has expired or there was no copyright for.

i'm not a lawyer but if you haven't used an image what can you be sued for, you haven't breached any copyright.

also if the image is not viewable on your website i don't think it possible to "find" it on a folder on your server without doing something very illegal

[Mardi_Gras]

Now the owners of the image say they've tracked it in my server

It certainly sounds as though there was a link to that image (in it's location on your server) somewhere. Maybe on your site, maybe on someone else's site. Does anyone else have access to your image folder?

Others will know better, but I can't imagine how anyone could track down an image to your server if it wasn't linked to from somewhere.

You need to find out if indeed the image was available somewhere. You also need to talk to an attorney who specializes in copyright - ideally one with internet experience.

[g1smd]

If you loaded it on to your server, then you published it.

Whether or not you incorporated that image into a site, or not, isn't relevant.

Whether anything else linked to it is also not relevant.

Did you make the image available? The answer seems to be yes.

The law is simplistic in these matters.

[magda]

Thank you for your kind replies. I am really new to this which is why I'm probably in this predicament. I understand what you are saying that by putting the image in my server I am making it accessible to others. But it was not on my website so there was no direct link to the image. The only way to get to it would be to know the path e.g.
www.domainname/images/imagefile
My question is that if I never disclosed this path or the file name of the image to anyone how could they access it on the internet?
From what has been said, I believe that the owners used some sort of software to track the image in my server and hence they got the name of the image file and were able to get the path to it. I am trying to find out if that is at all possible and legitimate.
Thanks again.