Forced to buy license for corel software because of unlicensed copy.
We are a startup digital marketing agency in UP, and invested our lifetime savings to start the firm. I recently got a call from a corel (software) reseller from Delhi that my organization is using unlicensed version of their software.
Someone in my family might have unknowingly installed an unlicensed version from an online source in my personal laptop an year ago. This could be for experimental purposes. The unlicensed software is registered with an unofficial Gmail ID containing my company's name.
But the software was not used at all since we already hired a freelance graphic designer, and it was later uninstalled because of non-use. However, auditors can still find the traces of the uninstalled software.
My company's name was mentioned in the email ID and that's how they Googled my company's information and now calling me daily to buy their software license. I don't have enough budget to buy their software license and I don't have any use of that software as well.
Please note: we have not used the software at all for any commercial or personal use, and uninstalled it a long time ago. Neither have we provided any of our personal information to corel. But they still found out somehow.
Now, after one year, the appointed resellers from corel are forcing me to buy their one year license to cover their damages and never mentioned in this entire year that I am using an unlicensed version. But I am still receiving the calls and emails that I have seven days to renew the license or anyone can visit our organization for an audit with a court order.
Please guide how to proceed.