A Taste of their own medicine ? Getty Images get sued by photographers

[westlake]

Kreindler & Kreindler LLP Files Class Action Against Getty Images on Behalf of Professional Photographers

"Getty has shirked its responsibility as a picture archive to track the use of plaintiffs' images, and to set pricing per use in good faith on a commercially reasonable basis."

..Among the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit are some of the world's leading photographers. Their photographs have been licensed by Getty to major media clients for as little as $2.08 for extensive, untracked use.

Full article : http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Kreindler-Kreindler-LLP-Files-Class/story.aspx?guid=%7BD94CD8EB-FB4A-41BF-A30A-B5F2E5D8283C%7D

[Oscar Michelen]

You beat me to the post westlake! Thanks for getting news of this on our site.  Here's the full article from marketwatch

NEW YORK, Oct 30, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Kreindler & Kreindler LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against Getty Images in the Eastern District of New York on behalf of dozens of professional photographers whose images were incorporated without their permission into Getty's new product "Premium Access."

According to Dan Nelson, a copyright attorney in Kreindler & Kreindler LLP's New York office, Premium Access is not a rights managed product. "Getty has shirked its responsibility as a picture archive to track the use of plaintiffs' images, and to set pricing per use in good faith on a commercially reasonable basis." As a result, photographers have lost the ability to track the uses being made of their images.

Among the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit are some of the world's leading photographers. Their photographs have been licensed by Getty to major media clients for as little as $2.08 for extensive, untracked use. According to Nelson "Getty's prices have severely undercut the market for comparable photographs, damaged the future market for these photographs, and violated both the Rights Managed Image Distribution agreements Getty signed and the Uniform Commercial Code."

Kreindler & Kreindler LLP has extensive experience in copyright matters and in class action litigation. For more information about the firm, please visit www.kreindler.com.

For answers to your questions, please contact Dan Nelson at 212.973.3426 or at dnelson@kreindler.com.
SOURCE Kreindler & Kreindler LLP

 http://www.kreindler.com/

Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved End of Story
Comtex

[Oscar Michelen]

I just wanted to add to my last post that I think this is extremely beneficial to our position. It establishes that Getty has charged as little as $2 for an image from a reputable photographer! How can they possibly claim $1,200 per image as they are trying to do now?

[Matthew Chan]

It would not surprise me if the License Compliance Dept is not aware of some of these external factors.  They know how to preach a message but the karma they have unleashed has come back to haunt them.  Essentially, they claim to be helping the photographers and yet many photographers appear to be very unhappy with Getty Images.

It is interesting to see them fight this on two fronts.  If Getty Images dare take someone to court, the defendants are going to get a lot of free help in providing a more complete picture of how Getty operate.  The publicity potential will be enormous.

Matthew

[dorim]

Now all the people who have been harassed by Getty and NCS Recovery should file a class action lawsuit for unfair business practices, if that's the correct term to describe what Getty is doing.

[BSM]

See... I knew it... Thats why they would not provide any proof, they are trying to extort money out of people. lets all sue them in a class action!

[Oscar Michelen]

Thanks for the support BSM. I am contacting the lawyer on the photographers class action lawsuit to discuss somehow working together with them.

[gugy]

It will be interesting if this whole thing backfires on Getty.
Hopefully this will be a lesson they will learn forever.

For sure I will not ever recommend them again to my clients when they need stock.

[JohnInAZ]

Can a class action suit be brought upon Getty on behalf of those who have PAID on the demand letter?  I for one would like to get my money back.

[Oscar Michelen]

It will be tough to prove a class action against Getty for a RICO type case but a few people are looking into the possibilities. Will keep you posted

[BSM]

Same here gugy, I now use better stock sites for all my clients that does not hold a gun to your head for images they do not even own or have license for... Just remember, what getty does will come back 10 fold. It always does.

[dorim]

Oscar Michelen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It will be tough to prove a class action against
> Getty for a RICO type case but a few people are
> looking into the possibilities. Will keep you
> posted


Forgetting Rico, can't we start a class action lawsuit against Getty for harassment and unfair business practices? Their letters are harassing and the letters/calls from NCS are harassing too.

[madetomom]

This does help prove our case a great deal. So the photographers are suing Getty because their photos were sold at a low price for UNTRACKED use. UNTRACKED. So, these photos are everywhere on the web - so hundreds of us can use them innocently and then get settlement demands.

This makes me so angry. I say we take it to "press" ourselves. Let's start putting some publicity and heat on Getty.

[dorim]

madetomom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This does help prove our case a great deal. So the
> photographers are suing Getty because their photos
> were sold at a low price for UNTRACKED use.
> UNTRACKED. So, these photos are everywhere on the
> web - so hundreds of us can use them innocently
> and then get settlement demands.
>
> This makes me so angry. I say we take it to
> "press" ourselves. Let's start putting some
> publicity and heat on Getty.


I agree! Maybe we can get Oprah to do a story, or 60 minutes, etc. More publicity would only help our case I think!

[Matthew Chan]

I cannot reveal too much right now but we are slowly working towards bringing news publicity to this case.  Interestingly, the more they do, the more we have.  We are gathering and compiling information we cannot yet share.

Oscar and I thank everyone for their enthusiasm and passion in this case.  We believe what Getty is doing is plain wrong.  And until Getty "gets" the message, they will remain unpopular.

I cannot get into specifics but I believe we have gained some new powerful allies.

We hope to make an announcement in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned.

>
> I agree! Maybe we can get Oprah to do a story, or
> 60 minutes, etc. More publicity would only help
> our case I think!