Has anyone ever tried to negotiate with the artist directly?

[phxsunbum]

Just curious.. has anyone ever tried to negotiate with the Photographer/Artist who actually owns the copyright to the image?  Just thought that if they only get a percentage of the amount Getty collects, they may be inclined to take a direct settlement for more than Getty would give them but less that what Getty is demanding?

[SoylentGreen]

There's a notorious case in Germany wherein Getty actually sued somebody.
It appears that the alleged infringer arranged some sort of retroactive deal with the artist, and Getty lost in court.

"In Germany, Getty images lost a court case to an individual after the person has proved that he gotten exclusive rights from the photographer."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_images

But, at first I heard that the alleged infringer already had a license, later I heard that he got a license retroactively.
So, it's a bit unclear what the story is.

A few people on this forum have contacted the photographer/artist in their cases.
One didn't respond, however, a couple replied with details about their copyright status in regards to the images.
I don't think that any retroactive deals were made.

Does anyone else have further info, or experience?

S.G.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

the only one I can think of is the most recent post from the person in Israel, where he actually spoke to the photographer ( and recorded the conversation) in which the artist clearly stated he had never given any rights or signed any contract with Getty.. I think Newzshooter may have eluded to the fact that once the artist signs the contract, they are pretty much forbidden from doing anything themselves.. I would have togo back thru some posts to find the exact statement, but for some reason this is coming to mind...

[Matthew Chan]

Contacting the photographer is something I never got to do since Getty had backed off but I did make it clear to Getty that I found the guy on the Internet and had intended to contact him.  Of course, it could have gone either way but I figured it would not hurt to see if the artist was sympathetic to innocent infringement.  I think it is worthwhile if things get serious. But most times, the photographer has no direct power to tell Getty to back off. Having said that, Getty has no incentive to upset any of its photographers either.

Matthew

[Oscar Michelen]

Getty normally has the exclusive right to the image and to its enforcement. Most photographers think Getty is making them more money than they could ever get from their photo so I would not expect them to jump on your bandwagon