Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Ohio

customer hasn't/won't pay, threatened to sue me if I take his site down.

I made a website for a person I know. We used a free ecommerce store and customized it to to avoid large costs. I worked over 400 hours for him and only billed him $2,000 out of kindness. He took delivery, but has not paid. Now he says there are flaws (which are in the original software, not the work I did) and he says he needs to get a new site, and doesn't want to pay me for the work I did. I told him if he didn't pay that I would have to take his site down. He then responded with an email full of legal jargon stating if I did, they'd sue me for thousands of dollars (detailed in this letter):

www.erafx.com/legal/dom.txt

He also said that I could face jail if I take his site down.

Can he possibly sue me for such damages? I didn’t charge him for the final product, but rather the work I did. He’s using my work and making profit, but he won’t pay. I received free products (about $300 worth), but he never said those were in lieu of actual payment.

He hasn’t paid for hosting, the site design, or any of the services I performed which took many hours. What can I do, and can he sue me for the items in the email? Also, I'm a college student, and he willing sought me and hired me.


Asked on 12/23/05, 12:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

David Anderson Anderson Business Law LLC

Re: customer hasn't/won't pay, threatened to sue me if I take his site down.

I would not be able to answer without reviewing your contract with him and any relevant documents. I do charge for legal representation.

Call or e=mail for further assistance.

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Answered on 12/23/05, 3:38 pm


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