Fall prey to the fear-based GI letter or choose your power instead

[Akeia]

It's my heartfelt intention that people hit with these letters will not suffer too much, not let the negative energy from such an ordeal get the best of them. We can rise above these types of conditioned responses and trust in our innate power to see us through!!! It will all work out. Thx to this website, I’ve learned a lot and it confirmed my position to not pay the demands of Getty Images. It also validated that I won’t let my feelings of fear, guilt, anger, etc. control me. If I do, that’s my choice, my responsibility, and I can’t blame GI for that.

I know how it feels when you read the GI letter and your heart sinks. WTF?!?! If you’re like me, you know that you did, in fact, use a photo from the internet that you innocently and naively thought was OK to use (it didn’t have any copyright symbol on it). You feel stupid that you did it and you admit your guilt. I’ve been intrigued with various photos that flash on my screen daily via John’s Background Switcher and have saved many pix just for my pleasure to refer to. I simply right-clicked “save as” into my library of photos. Then, one day, decided to use one for my website not even occurring to me that I was doing anything “wrong.” I thought if these are all out there, they can be used. I know, I was naïve and I now see that this was a false assumption.

I do respect, now that I know, that someone owns these photos and I shouldn’t have used one without permission. But I also believe photographers, GI, etc. shouldn’t allow these to be out there free, for the taking, and so easy to “save” into our libraries if it’s illegal to do so. There was never anything associated with the photos to warn me that this was copyrighted and that I’d be stealing it if I used it. This is one of the dangers of the internet that is not regulated. Glad to see a petition has been started to address this and hope it actually goes somewhere.

But back to my point of this article. There are forces hitting us every day that want to bring us down, make us feel guilty, that there’s something wrong with us, etc. Notice, do these thoughts go through your mind in various circumstances? And these often come through fear-based tactics – like what Getty is applying.

It’s interesting to me that this arose on my “movie screen” of experience at a time when I’ve been consciously taking a stand for my power and reversing a pattern in my life where I’ve given my power over to authority figures, such as forces that are related to me earning income or that require me to pay expenses. I’ve felt powerless in the face of these false “powers” sometimes and it has even led me to feel depressed on occasion where it just seems like too much. So, I’m welcoming this opportunity and am refusing to give in to Getty’s demands as a part of my practice to reclaim my power.

[Matthew Chan]

Akeia,

I think your post is an excellent post and brings out personal, non-legal issues to the forefront in how to deal with the matter.  Certainly, no one likes the unknown or conflict but it is interesting to see how different people respond during the educational process.

Some claim to be too busy to deal with it.  That is fine but don't complain if you remain in the dark.

Some get irrational.  Their survival instinct kicks in and emotion runs high with little intellect to guide it.

Some get ulcers. They fear the unknown, the legal process, and unaccustomed to fighting for themselves. They think themselves powerless.

Some have no spine.  All the education in the world means nothing if you have no ability to stand up for yourself.

Personal power is very much at the heart of how an individual responds.  Some have more than others for a variety of reasons.  Education goes a long way to increasing personal power.  The willingness to stand up for yourself and not someone bully you is another.  Being able to face the possible consequences rationally is another.

I know this may help or only apply to a few people reading this but I did face the possible "realistic" consequences of fighting my case in court pro se and at the end of the day, I could live with putting in the time and effort into it.  I also calculated that anything they could win from me would NOT be "off the charts" as they would have you believe.  I believe that most judges are rational especially in a Goliath vs. David case (which I clearly was).  I knew they would open themselves up to a counter-suit which I could exercise. I also knew about the publicity factor I could generate on this case.  I also factored in the educational experience I would gain by going through it. And it was a fight I truly believe in.  And even if I lost, collecting would also be another matter.  There are a couple of other "secret" tactics I had in my back pocket (that I won't reveal).  Astute readers might pick up on that.  One hint: "scorched earth".

Anyhow, personal power is very much at the core of this case. Whether people believe it or not, they have way more power than they think regarding the Getty Image letters.

Matthew Chan

[Oscar Michelen]

The principal reason Matt started this and that I jumped in with both feet was to empower people! Information is key - the main source of the internet's power is not pornography as some may suspect it is INFORMATION! I remember when Pres Clinton was running for office and he kept mentioning that in the next few years we would be relying on the "Information Superhighway" and wondering what the hell he was talking about (I wish I knew what he was talking about because at that time there were only 40 websites in total.) But Matt's idea to get this info out there to educate the public at large is the main reason why this website exists.  Thanks for the excellent post!