My Client Received the "Infamous" Letter

[jflores81]

Hi,

I am an Internet Consultant and had a web-site designed for one of my clients in Feb. of 2008.  Last week, she received a letter from Getty demanding $2,600 for 3 images from their Stone Collection.  Like everyone else, this came as a surprise to me because we are very diligent with regards to obtaining licensed images.  Nonetheless, I removed the pictures within an hour of my client contacting me and I asked her to fax me the letter.

I contacted Getty and spoke to Janeah and Dave (who were extremely rude and condescending).  I explained that my company was responsible for building the site and we would like to resolve the matter, however, we felt that the amount being demanded was extreme.  For 20 minutes, the conversation was very accusatory and was definitely not productive.  Finally, after requesting that they provide proof that they are in fact the FIRST and ONLY company to have rights to these images, Dave advised that he would no longer give the "courtesy" of speaking with me since I was not the alleged infringer and the conversation ended.

Looking for some advice on how to pursue as I really do not want my client to be burdened with this issue.  I considered writing them a letter detailing our conversation with a counter-offer of $300 ($100 for each image).  However, I would also being willing to have Oscar send a letter on our behalf to have peace of mind that the matter will be resolved..can anyone tell me if he is still offering this service?  Thank you in advance for any and all advice.  It is greatly appreciated!!

Regards,
J. Flores

[Peeved]

Hi,

I am an Internet Consultant and had a web-site designed for one of my clients in Feb. of 2008.  Last week, she received a letter from Getty demanding $2,600 for 3 images from their Stone Collection.  Like everyone else, this came as a surprise to me because we are very diligent with regards to obtaining licensed images.  Nonetheless, I removed the pictures within an hour of my client contacting me and I asked her to fax me the letter.

I contacted Getty and spoke to Janeah and Dave (who were extremely rude and condescending).  I explained that my company was responsible for building the site and we would like to resolve the matter, however, we felt that the amount being demanded was extreme.  For 20 minutes, the conversation was very accusatory and was definitely not productive.  Finally, after requesting that they provide proof that they are in fact the FIRST and ONLY company to have rights to these images, Dave advised that he would no longer give the "courtesy" of speaking with me since I was not the alleged infringer and the conversation ended.

Looking for some advice on how to pursue as I really do not want my client to be burdened with this issue.  I considered writing them a letter detailing our conversation with a counter-offer of $300 ($100 for each image).  However, I would also being willing to have Oscar send a letter on our behalf to have peace of mind that the matter will be resolved..can anyone tell me if he is still offering this service?  Thank you in advance for any and all advice.  It is greatly appreciated!!

Regards,
J. Flores

How interesting their response once you demanded PROOF. It is not surprising that the alleged infringements are from the "Stone" collection. As of today's search, there are 94,671 results and 1,578 pages for "stone" images.

http://www.gettyimages.com/Creative/Frontdoor/Stone

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?p=image&family=creative&contractUrl=1&b=TSIR#

How could they POSSIBLY have EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS to this ENTIRE collection?

It is indeed your client that they will continue to pursue and your client should be notified.

Hoping Oscar can help and wishing you the best.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Yeah, ask a couple of questions, which they refuse to answer and they won't talk to you anymore..once again looking for the low hanging fruit with which to use their scare tactics, in the hopes that people will just roll over and pay..and a good amount probably do just that. You will need to educate your client on this matter and possibly suck up any cost involved to keep your client happy. ( which they probably aren't right at the moment)

[SoylentGreen]

Nothing kills these conversations faster than if they think that you've been reading up on this issue.
Just ask them for proof of registration, or say "i bet you've registered those in bulk", and it's usually over.  lol.

Then, the communication becomes "one-way".  That is, they continually threaten, etc., but don't respond to any inquiries in a meaningful way.

S.G.

[Jerry Witt (mcfilms)]

Yeah at this point they won't likely have anything to do with you. To me, the best option in this case is to completely explain the situation to your client, and offer to pay Oscar's fee on her behalf. The trolls will need to stop contacting her directly and from what I've heard 98 times out of 100 Oscar eats their lunch.

You might also want to search the threads because there are some hinky things with Getty's Stone collection. Seems many of those images were originally available on royalty-free buy-out CDs before Getty acquired the collection.