ExtortionLetterInfo Forums
ELI Forums => Getty Images Letter Forum => Topic started by: stinger on February 23, 2012, 03:44:58 PM
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If you haven't already done so,
- Sign this petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/boycott-getty-images/
- Ask your friends on social network sites to sign the petition.
- Tell them if they don't know why they should, just google Getting images extortion letter and they will know.
- Ask them to share the petition with all their friends
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Hey Stinger,
I signed your petition and I wish you luck. I wish you would make two little changes to your site. I wish you would clearly spell out why you require an email address and how you intend to use it. I also wish that after you submit your signature the Thank you was more prominent and the part where you hit people up for a donation was a little more subtle.
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It wasn't my petition. I found it by doing a google search in trying to research/defend my position after receiving an extortion letter. I don't know where the money goes.
I have to think the amount of chatter out there over this matter needs to be seen by the courts. I don't know how the petition will be used, but I hope for the common good of readers here.
Do any of the lawyers on this board know if there are any grounds for filing a class action suit against Getty and McCormack for their frivolous waste of our time?
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This is brought up frequently. Do a search for "class action suit" on here and you'll se a lot of threads.
I'm not a lawyer, but the question generally seems to be, "what are you going to sue for?" It might seem like a "frivolous waste of our time" to us, but that's not really actionable. And from their perspective they are trying to protect their IP. Now if (or when?) someone gathers evidence of fraud… then we are in business.
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I agree with your comments about "frivolous waste of our time", and I too am not a lawyer, however some things here just seem really wrong.
For example:
- if Getty's business model is to saturate the market with photos that are apparently free and advertised by Getty as royalty free, and then come back later and sue for prices that are 3 orders of magnitude larger than those photos are worth, is that fraud?
- if Getty's business model is to copyright images that others have already used and then go back and sue (for prices that are 3 orders of magnitude larger than the photos are worth) for use prior to the copyright application, I guess that is within the DMCA, but is it right?
- is it right to make no attempt to protect a copyright and then sue for extraordinary amounts when people unwittingly use things that appear copyright free and are almost promoted as such?
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About a class action; it's come up several times on the forum.
The short answer is "yes", as people can sue for anything that they want, as long as they pay the fee.
In fact, I do think that there's some basis for such a lawsuit because of the points that you mentioned, among several others.
But, that's just my opinion. Of course, Getty would fight this quite vigorously, as a lawsuit such as this could kill their industry as we know it.
Here's the problem. While many wish that such a lawsuit would arise, the same people who'd like to see it happen don't have the motivation to bring it on.
For the most part, the people who paid when they didn't have to, or paid too much would be the plaintiffs because they've suffered "damages".
However, the very people who end up paying aren't "fighters" by nature. They've paid, it's over with, and they aren't going to start fighting after the fact.
You could probably categorize people by personality type (if you believe in that sort of thing) and predict the outcome of their situation according to their personality category.
S.G.
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My thought was that you need a law firm that specializes in class action suits on a contingency basis. It seems there are a lot of them chasing Wall Street lawsuits. And they always get paid before the plaintiffs.
How deep are Getty's pockets? And is there a law firm interested in signing up plaintiffs and taking this on? This forum seems like a great place to sign up a class without too much difficulty.
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Here's a new class action brought over high popcorn/candy prices at the theater:
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/03/06/michigan-man-pops-amc-theaters-with-class-action-over-concessions-prices/
Ergo, it's totally feasible...
S.G.
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Feasible but apparently a waste of time and money since according to a story in the Detroit Free Press:
http://www.freep.com/article/20120304/NEWS06/203040519/Filmgoer-takes-stand-on-costly-snacks-sues-AMC-Livonia-theater
"It's a loser," said Gary Victor, an Eastern Michigan University business law professor. He said state Supreme Court decisions in 1999 and 2007 exempted most regulated businesses from the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.
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Yes, a loser.
But, it's "feasible"... a lawsuit can be filed for any reason.
So, it's not a question of whether or not it's possible.
There just needs to be a sound strategy, and somebody would have to spearhead the effort.
S.G.