Goodreads sued for user-posted photo

Here's the PaidContent story. Was this really a good use of time and effort, especially given Goodreads' DMCA policy?  Should fees be available when, as is apparently sometimes the business model, a copyright owner jumps straight to suing without using a DMCA policy?  The picture is apparently the one in the center bottom of this screenshot of a small reading group--not exactly a high-profile commercial/substitutive use: