Click Official ELI Links
Get Help With Your Extortion Letter | ELI Phone Support | ELI Legal Representation Program
Show your support of the ELI website & ELI Forums through a PayPal Contribution. Thank you for supporting the ongoing fight and reporting of Extortion Settlement Demand Letters.

Author Topic: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith  (Read 17164 times)

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #15 on: September 12, 2016, 12:00:44 AM »
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/lcs-global-copyright-infringement.352332/

"License Compliance Services, Inc.
101 Bayham Street
London NW1 0AG, United Kingdom
Email: LCS@LCS.global, Telephone: 0800 376 2514, www.LCS.global"

A commentator notes:
"LCS UK registered office is the same as Getty Images in London. A Google search of LCS and Getty together brings some interesting reading. "

So not only in Seattle, offices are the same. (if confirmed)
« Last Edit: September 12, 2016, 12:09:52 AM by Engel Nyst »

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #16 on: September 12, 2016, 12:07:04 AM »
If it was necessary..

http://lcs.global.cutestat.com/

DNS: dns01.gettyimages.com, etc
Sites hosted at the same IP: gettyimages.com
« Last Edit: September 12, 2016, 02:48:19 PM by Engel Nyst »

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #17 on: September 12, 2016, 12:43:58 AM »
About the public domain images that Getty sells as "rights managed" but tells the court that it's not about copyright:

Here are example extortion letters where Getty/LCS says:
"A valid license is required prior to publicly displaying any Rights Managed (RM) image on a website. You do not have a valid license to use the images in question. All it takes for you to infringe is to post a rights managed image publicly without a valid license."

That, by Getty's own words, includes the public domain images it's "licensing".


https://kjfarnham.com/tag/koleta-vee/

http://cakeniron.com/2016/08/09/the-tiger-post-how-copyright-trolls-are-ruining-ideas-pt-1-intro/
« Last Edit: September 12, 2016, 02:49:10 PM by Engel Nyst »

stinger

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 766
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #18 on: September 12, 2016, 09:02:46 AM »
Engel Nyst - I love the work you do here.  My hope is that everyone with a court case against Getty, LCS, et al uses it to put these companies in their proper place - bankruptcy court.

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #19 on: September 12, 2016, 04:22:38 PM »
Trivia:

Carol Highsmith's attorneys are http://www.giocondalaw.com/?p=26

Specialized in trademarks, brand management, anti-counterfeiting.

Getty's lawyers are:
https://jenner.com/people/KennethDoroshow formerly RIAA's lawyer in peer-to-peer cases, if I understand correctly;
https://jenner.com/people/EricaRoss
https://jenner.com/people/ScottWilkens, represented big media against Aereo, and Viacom against YouTube.

/justcurious
« Last Edit: September 15, 2016, 08:53:09 PM by Engel Nyst »

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #20 on: September 12, 2016, 05:04:13 PM »
[Thank you, stinger. Yes, I hope the same.
Since I'm on mobile, I can't analyze stuff at the moment, just scouring the internet]

A commentator here:

https://nctritech.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/the-getty-images-extortion-scheme/#comment-9344

Natureboy2014 on August 30, 2014 at 11:06 am
"The letter I received was not a letter in the mail but an email from License Compliance Services for Design Pics Inc. I looked up the company Design Pics Inc they are based out of Canada and are not owned by Getty Images. [...] My website was developed by a Web Design company based in India. I have no idea that about this. I am not a website developer I run an educational program that I just started and have not even made a single penny in revenue but have spent thousands in opening costs for this program. After they sent me the email i forwared the email to the Web Design Company an they promptly took the picture down to be safe and they are saying that this is a scam because they say the picture in question was part of an advertising campaign (called “Incredible India”run by the Government of India, Ministry of Tourism, and this picture was one of the pictures released in a Media Kit (they sent me the link) by the Government of India to be freely used by companies in their ads in print or online media to promote tourism to India. Government of India gave out CD’s of these pictures with Incredible India logo on them and without. So how can Design Pics claim they have rights to this picture. The email they sent me also had a link to promply make the payment of $600.00 through credit card and they said you can make the payment through bank account and the shady part is that the name on the bank account says Picscout, which is a company based in Isreal and the bank account is in Florida. So a company based in Canada claims they have copyrights to a picture released by Govenment of India media kit and then a company based in Seattle, Washington,US, called “License Compliance Services sends me an email and wants me to pay $600.00 in settlement amount, with a bank account which belongs to Picscout a company in Isreal?? This is shady ?? And then 3 days ago they called and left me a voicemail. Please advise.. I am not going to email or return their calls.."


IOW, LCS sent a letter (on behalf of some apparently Canadian company), and demanded payment in a bank account owned by ... Picscout.

(I know this is an anonymous comment somewhere, but maybe a research on similar facts confirms them.)
« Last Edit: September 12, 2016, 11:32:44 PM by Engel Nyst »

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #21 on: September 12, 2016, 05:25:55 PM »
Source: https://nctritech.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/the-getty-images-extortion-scheme/#comment-581

Bigotes on September 12, 2011 at 11:10 pm
I just received letter number two. Although I had consciously selected a non-copy righted photo, Getty’s letters made me think perhaps I had made a mistake. With letter number two on the desk, my partner checked the source code of the original image copy and lo and behold, we discovered that it was tagged “public domain” as of the date we incorporated the image into the website.

I am curious to know Getty’s response to my request for proof of copyright and comment on the fact that image we used was tagged “public domain”.

Anyone encounter that slimy twist?"


I wish we knew what image was this one: commentator says it "was tagged public domain"!

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #22 on: September 12, 2016, 07:50:49 PM »
[this one is interesting b/c according to more than a few, GoDaddy has/had a license to some stock photos, for unlimited use of their customers, included in their site builder. LCS still goes after those customers with terrible first letter; some users may remember where did the pic come from and ask GoDaddy, some may not]

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/the-clubhouse/766520-be-careful-who-you-try-to-scam-2.html#post9388257

My recent scam attack is regarding my website. I have a website with go daddy. I used a background picture that was an option when I created the site. Now I have a scammer telling me I have used an unauthorized copyrighted picture. I called Go Daddy and they said yes this is a scam and ignore it. I received a letter in the mail from this company so I decided to research them. There are sites dedicated to this scamming company and they are looking for people who are easily intimidated. They come up with a random dollar figure to settle and if you don't pay, they intimidate with a potentially higher expense.

NEVER, NEVER trust anyone who calls or emails you....

Who can we trust .... Feel free to call or email me with solutions and I will happily contribute funds



Quote:
License Compliance Services, Inc. on behalf of SuperStock
701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4200
Seattle, WA 98104, United States
Email: LCS@LCS.global, Telephone: +1 855 387 8725, [scammer URL]


February 8, 2016

OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION - Case Number: 384837328
_________________________________________________


1. Our represented imagery is/was used on your website.

2. Our records do not show a valid license for this use of our imagery.

Your action is required within 10 business days to resolve this matter:


Send us your valid license / authorization (LCS@LCS.global)

Or settle online: [scammer URL]
For inquiries, call: +1 855 387 8725
More details can be found below.


Attn: xxxxxxxxxxx


SuperStock, a global provider of digital imagery, has become aware of an instance(s) of its represented imagery being used on your company's website. Our records do not indicate that valid licensing has been issued to your company for the use of the image(s). If your company does in fact hold a valid license(s) for the image(s) in question, please email any relevant documentation (valid license, purchase records, documentation of authorization). We will review your documentation and update our records if appropriate.

This letter has been sent to you by License Compliance Services, Inc. ("LCS"), a company that specializes in assisting copyright holders with the management and protection of their content. With regards to this case, SuperStock has mandated LCS to resolve the matter of your online use of SuperStock's imagery.

Use of imagery represented by SuperStock without proper licensing is considered copyright infringement and entitles SuperStock to pursue compensation for infringing uses (Copyright Act, Title 17, United States Code).


To view the image(s) in question together with proof evidencing your use of these images on your website, go to: [scammer URL]


As an example, see below SuperStock's image "1042R-8425" as used on your website:

Original image
Proof of use





TO RESOLVE THIS MATTER - (Case Number: 384837328)

You are required to take action within 10 business days of the date of this email, as follows:

If your company possesses a valid license(s) or other authorization for the use of the imagery, please email license purchase and/or authorization documentation to LCS@LCS.global and we will close this case (upon verification of the documentation by SuperStock).


If your company does not hold a valid license(s) or other authorization for the use of the imagery, you must:


Submit a settlement payment in the amount of $740.00 (payment options are provided below).


Immediately cease use of the image(s) in question.
PAYMENT OPTIONS

Online payment: You may submit payment online at:
[scammer URL]


Check payment: You may send payment by check to:
License Compliance Services, Inc.
701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4200, Seattle, WA 98104, United States
Please include Reference 7554-0924-3616 with check payment.
IMPORTANT NOTES

Discontinuance of use of the imagery does not release your company of its obligation to pay compensation for the imagery previously used. Past usage must still be paid for.


You may have been unaware that this imagery was subject to license. However, copyright infringement can occur regardless of knowledge or intent. While being unaware of license requirements is unfortunate, it does not change liability. As the site owner you are still the responsible party, even if a third party is involved in the unlicensed use.
You may find further information in the FAQ section at [scammer URL]

If you would like to continue to use the imagery in question, or if you have other requests in relation to this letter, please contact us by email at LCS@LCS.global, or call +1 855 387 8725 and we will assist you.

This letter is without prejudice to SuperStock's rights and remedies, all of which are expressly reserved.

Sincerely,

License Compliance Services
LCS@LCS.global
« Last Edit: September 12, 2016, 11:29:40 PM by Engel Nyst »

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #23 on: September 12, 2016, 08:05:20 PM »
LCS = Picscout:

Payment has to be remitted to:
License Compliance Services, Picscout Inc.
605 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 400, Seattle, WA 98104, United States"


Source: http://www.ndcenterfornursing.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Cartoon-Stock-License-Compliance-Services.docx

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #24 on: September 12, 2016, 08:14:53 PM »
PS: there are actually many of these, showing a link between who signs as "LCS" (with their logo or Getty's address(es), so no false positive) and Picscout: demanding payment in Picscout account and/or common signature. They seem to start in 2014 (when did Getty buy Picscout?) but most seem to be, from what I see, in 2015 and 2016.

Like this:
http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/extortion-letter-received-from-lcs-picscout/

About LCS and Picscout:

from picscout:

The PicScout Platform is the industry leader in commercial image identification technology. Our registry houses 200 million premium images from more than 200 content providers. Content providers can upload premium images to the PicScout Platform to ensure they are accessible and protected by the PicScout-powered tools.

PicScout Licensing, Metadata and Compliance services are all integrated with the PicScout API.

Note: once content has been submitted to the PicScout Platform, content providers will have the ability to opt-in to activating their content within the PicScout Licensing, Metadata and Compliance services.

and this from : http://www.picscout.com/solutions/ete/

Now this technology has been combined with global License Compliance specialists in the PicScout EtE Service. When you subscribe to this service, PicScout not only will identify where your images are being used, but also enlist the skills of its global License Compliance team to ensure any unlicensed images are removed and your lost revenue recovered.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2016, 09:07:17 PM by Engel Nyst »

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #25 on: September 12, 2016, 09:39:15 PM »
lol love this: internet commentator talked to LCS at Picscout's phone number:

"Dana 2016-01-05 23:00:26

Hi Soloma,

Thanks for sharing your story. It sounds just like mine. I was just sent a letter from LCS back in December demanding $825 for one photo that I, too, found on the Internet. I replied back demanding all kinds of proof, so Samantha Clemens sent bogus attachments that were suppose to prove ownership. Anyone could have written them and there were no dates, etc. Neither document looked professional.

So, I called Gallery Stock who LCS is "representing". I spoke to a girl in the sales department. I said I was writing a paper on copyright infringement. She said they only work with PicScout. She said they don’t work with any other affiliated companies (i.e. License Compliance Services, Gettys, etc.). I asked if they were able to collect on their behalf and she said no. They bring it to their legal departments attention first. She didn’t know all aspects of it, but felt she gave me the correct information.

Then I reviewed PicScout's website and I noticed it had the same phone number as all of the other collectors out there. So, I called PicScout’s number and the lady answered License Compliance. I told her I was writing a paper for school and I was looking for information on the topic of copyright infringement. I said, I thought I was calling PicScout and asked if PicScout was affiliated with them. She said that was confidential information and she was not at liberty to say. Then I said they had the same number. She repeated the number back to me and I said yes, that’s on PicScout’s website. She then said License Compliance is taking over PicScout. I asked if they were going to change their website and she said that was again confidential. I said ok, thank you for your time.

Really? Why is that confidential? The whole thing was so shady. To cover my bases, I then decided to go to the artist’s website and try contacting him about the photo I was interested in using. I didn’t say anything about the current situation of copyright infringement, but that I was interested in using the photo. I asked if he would give me permission, since I am on a tight budget. I told him I would keep his name on the photo and even provide a link to his website. I am not sure if he or anyone else will respond, but I thought it was worth a shot and to try covering all of my bases.

After looking up extensive information on LCS, Getty, PicScout, etc., I decided that I would not respond again. Most people seem to respond once and then ignore the rest of the letters. It seems they will stop after a while. I am hoping that will be the case for me too or that I will get permission from photographer to use the photo so they will leave me alone. We will see what happens next."


Also, she talked to Gallery Stock who LCS claimed to "represent", and was told that they only work with Picscout, didn't know of a *different* company called LCS.
IOW, either LCS was misleading people claiming to be licensing agent, either LCS is part/subsidiary of the same corporation with Picscout.

http://salomafurlong.com/aboutamish/2015/06/bloggers-beware/

The OP's extortion letter is like many others: signed by LCS, Picscout, with payment demanded to Picscout, and Getty corporate address.

http://salomafurlong.com/files/alamy_letter.pdf
« Last Edit: September 13, 2016, 10:46:46 AM by Engel Nyst »

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #26 on: September 12, 2016, 10:36:32 PM »
Getty isn't limiting itself to "licensing" public domain and some photographers' images without permission to do so. It "licenses" and threatens users over "infringements" of Microsoft's imagery included in Windows.

Interestingly, a thread on this forum discussed that back in 2009, but oddly the old discussion seems to assume that those images were licensed by Microsoft from Getty. I don't know why. (Maybe back then one couldn't yet believe that Getty might very well be talking bs?)

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/windows-vista-sample-images/

In 2015, here's the answer to Getty from someone who discovered the image his company was extorted for, in Vista:

"I spoke with the designer that created the video and all became very clear and I am afraid makes your company look very silly indeed.

The image used in the site and in the demo is a standard Windows Vista sample image. Simply type in “windows vista sample pictures” into Google and you’ll see it.[...]

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but if I read the following paragraph (from http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-live/microsoft-services-agreement)

'images, clip art, animations, sounds, music, video clips, templates, and other forms of content (“media elements”) provided with the software available on Office.com or as part of services associated with the software. You may copy and use the media elements in projects and documents.'

[...]Our use of this image did NOT infringe on your copyright and in any event it is NOT your copyright anyway and the image came from a Microsoft freely available source.

Furthermore, and despite my in depth knowledge of the web, I count myself as naive in this regard, imagine my surprise when I typed “Getty Images Copyright Letter” and I see thousands of results regarding “scams” and “harassment”. This really clarifies a great deal about your approach to us.

I want to thank you for your assistance in helping me determine where these images came from and I hereby retract my offer to buy a license for this image from you.

I further want to make this very clear:

Getty will cease and desist from harassing my company immediately. What you are doing is outright extortion and the next correspondence you will send me, if you can be bothered, is an apology and confirmation that you are idiots who cannot even figure out that an image is taken from a sample images folder and not used in any way that contravenes a Microsoft EULA."


Source:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/image-copyright-infringement-getty-images-scam-letter-franco-de-bonis
« Last Edit: September 12, 2016, 10:48:01 PM by Engel Nyst »

Mojo88

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 12
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #27 on: September 13, 2016, 09:50:49 AM »
Engel Nyst, thank you for these postings. Very interesting. Some of it is hard to understand for a layman like me, but hey, that's why we have lawyers!

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #28 on: September 13, 2016, 10:55:05 AM »
I reviewed Getty's current license agreement, which they use for all photos apparently, including the public domain photos. In the post where I copied this agreement (and next post), I made bold the words which obviously explicitly claim or imply IP rights.

Those are statements from Getty that may be useful to debunk Getty's strange claim to the court that their purported license "doesn't say copyright". It does say copyright even, once, it does say intellectual property rights (and for several reasons it's clear that's copyright), it does enumerate the exact rights under copyright (copy, reproduce, display, perform, modify), and it does make claims that cannot - IMO - be understood or stand unless they're backed by copyright.

To be sure, this is now the new license, from August 2016, but I'm sure a lot of it is identical with the past license, which Highsmith and Zuma lawyers have by now.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2016, 10:57:57 AM by Engel Nyst »

Engel Nyst

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: Getty answered to Carol Highsmith
« Reply #29 on: September 13, 2016, 11:11:07 AM »
I dealt here with only the first half of what I called part 3) of Getty's answer: the state law claims, from the perspective of whether they're restating the same claim as a copyright claim or not. There's more to Getty's answer, when they say that the exact elements of these laws wouldn't be fulfilled for Getty's behavior. Here's an interesting one:
(citations sources omitted)

Quote
As the Second Circuit has explained, “the gravamen of” a claim under Section 349 “must be consumer injury or harm to the public interest.” Indeed, the statute is “modelled after the Federal Trade Commission Act,” and “federal courts have interpreted the statute’s scope as limited to the types of offenses to the public interest that would trigger Federal Trade Commission intervention under 15 U.S.C. § 45

Quote
Here, Plaintiffs have failed to allege any direct harm to the public interest. See FAC 256-260 (alleging that Getty Images’ acts have “cause[d] economic damages and irreparable injury to Ms. Highsmith and the Foundation,” without alleging any direct harm to the public).

There is harm to the public, and a significant one at that. It is the public who is affected most by the deceptive practices (as Rothman firm put it in their older case against Getty), because they will believe Getty's purported "rights" over the photos, and buy licenses or settle extortion letters for worry that Getty's lawyers might be entitled to pretend what they do.

On this site, and in recent years many others as well, Getty's practices have been called "legalized extortion". But if Getty insists that it's "licensing" what it knew too well that it's public domain imagery, those practices become something else: namely, I'm not so sure I'd call them legalized anymore, when people are being chased with letters claiming "infringement" to pay up or else. At least, if Getty was honestly convinced they own them, lets say we'd be still in the "legalized extortion" grey area; but since Getty itself insists, in their own memorandum, that it was distributing "public domain" photos because it knew they were public domain, then Getty's behavior appears to be: we know we were wrong, but we'd just yell infringement to individuals or small business owners anyway, just to make them pay up 'cause it's not worth fighting, and hey, nothing will happen to us anyhow since they're public domain.

I'm not sure this paragraph was clear; it is most disturbing to me, to see how Getty tells the court in no uncertain terms, that it thought the images were public domain, and that's why it "licenses" them - it "licenses" "rights" in them, then claims that no one can do anything about it, if they're free to use by anyone. Anyone but the thousands of users who receive automated letters, that is, anyone but those scared into paying up, when nothing was due.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2016, 11:28:04 AM by Engel Nyst »

 

Official ELI Help Options
Get Help With Your Extortion Letter | ELI Phone Support Call | ELI Defense Letter Program
Show your support of the ELI website & ELI Forums through a PayPal Contribution. Thank you for supporting the ongoing fight and reporting of Extortion Settlement Demand Letters.