I want to write Getty complaint letters to elected officials - tips sought

[Mojo88]

I'm a small business owner in RI, getting harassed by Getty for images on my company web site that was built 12 years ago by SOMEONE ELSE. I've had my 30-minute call with Matthew Chan and I have retained Oscar Michelen's services to help me through this, but the whole thing just pi$$es me off to no end. Especially after studying up a little on Getty Images and seeing the outright abuse that they seem to be inflicting on thousands of people.

So my plan is to write my elected officials and complain vociferously about Getty, and I am posting here for some tips about writing the most effective letters and who exactly to contact (Senator, Congressman?).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Dave F. in Rhode Island

[stinger]

The best result I got in my letter writing campaign was from the Washington State Bar Association.  I basically asked them to sanction or disbar the Getty attorney that was pursuing me.  I had to read up on the WSBA attorney code of conduct (easily done, I found it online) and demonstrate why this attorney was violating said code. 

My first letter was a sort of executive summary type thing.  That was a mistake.  If I remember correctly, their first response said they contacted the attorney who claimed she had not violated any code of conduct and that she was "advocating for her client".  They said that if they didn't hear back from me in 30 days, they would close the case.  I responded in detail. 

The end result was that the attorney chasing me had to get another attorney to make her case to the WSBA.  Thereafter, I never heard another word from Getty's attorney.  But they never gave me a chance to refute what her attorney said.  Had I known that was the process, I might have gone into a lot more detail in my second letter.

I also tried writing congressmen, the Better Business Bureau, and the like.  I had little success.  Government officials had their underlings send letters stating they received my correspondence and would pass it along.  That was the last I heard of it.

What I learned from the process that you can use was that you need to understand the function and the processes of whoever you are writing to and present your case to them from their point of view.  They need to see it as something they are supposed to do something about, or they won't.

Greg Troy had much more success with letter writing campaigns.  You can probably find some of the things he did and organized by searching the posts on this forum.  He even tried to play the volume game by organizing people on this board to write letters.  It stirred some havoc and certainly changed how Getty behaved thereafter.  Spend some time searching his posts and I am certain you will find some helpful ideas.

[Engel Nyst]

This is Greg's experiment that stinger mentioned:
http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/an-experiment-against-getty/

It's a long thread but you'll figure it out.

At this time, many people have sent letters to AGs and presented their situations. An index of complaints is maintained by Greg here:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/222235974/1-2-Index-of-Compaints

The last link is present in a court complaint, even, in Zuma v Getty, because really the more they are, the more it shows to everyone, including courts, that it's an usual behavior from Getty's part.

[Mojo88]

Thank you both very much for the information. I will review and then start writing!