Compared to what could have happened this is actually pretty mild.
OK, that was a bit of an exaggeration. But back in my day the web had a whole site high-bandwidth site specifically for educating careless webmasters about the dangers of hotlinking: g o a t s e . c x.
It was used to great effect on things like auction sites where the original page html was not allowed to be changed after listing.
I never did a hotlink again.
Some idiot at Company X decides that it's actually your fault, since its your script that did it. To save face, they get an expensive lawyer to sue you. Next thing you know, you're a registered sex offender.
Please learn the difference between civil and criminal law.