ExtortionLetterInfo Forums
ELI Forums => Getty Images Letter Forum => Topic started by: Nitrotech on February 22, 2012, 03:35:43 PM
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First I want to thank all of you for investing so much of your time on this site. As a small business owner, I know how valuable time is and your help is greatly appreciated.
Two weeks ago I received a certified FedEx delivery from Masterfile. The letter claims that I have used one of their images on my website and that I need to send them $ 4,830 or they will initiate a lawsuit for copyright infringement.
Here are the facts:
In 2008, I was starting my own business. After designing my own company logo in Microsoft Publisher, a friend of mine mentioned that it would look better if there was a picture of the earth behind it. I went out to Google images and grabbed the first generic earth picture I saw. I used Microsoft Publisher to put my logo over-top of the earth and combined them to create one .jpg image.
I was amazed that a single image could be worth 5k but after all the research I have done on this site, I now understand how crazy this claim really is.
I am thinking of using Oscar Michelen's Letter Program but don't seem to be able to access the link. It errors out on a 404 - Page not found.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Any Suggestions?
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I can't speak for the link issue, but I can tell you that MF is a different beast than Getty Images, in a couple of ways..
They are more aggressive and file suit more often, but seldom over 1 image
They generally have their act together..ie registrations.
I know Oscar has handled some MF cases, but the pricing structure is different that the standard 195.00 Getty Letter..
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I feel bad for you because NASA provides some stunning shots of the earth and they are free to use. Unfortunately you used one that MF claims to hold the copyright on. But if you think about it, How did MF come to hold the copyright to this image? THEY didn't finance a space expedition to get the shot. We taxpayers did. I doubt NASA would (or even COULD) grant an exclusive license to this imagery. I suppose it is possible that it is some artist's rendering or from a third-party (USSR?).
In any case I would be very suspicious of any claim of exclusive rights to an image of Earth from outer space. And would require detailed information about how they came to have such an image.
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MF has (or used to have) a lot of "space-style" artist renderings.
It could be one of those.
S.G.
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Thanks for the great responses.
I'm sort-of at a crossroads now....The information I have gathered tells me that Masterfile is a bit harder to beat and even if I send a response letter with $150 offer, they will decline and continue with their original claim. I am also seeing many posts that state Masterfile does not normally take single image infringements to court.
Since my issue is a single image, is a response letter with a settlement offer really the best here, or just ignore it and hope it doesn't go to court?
Thanks again...
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Only you can decide what course of action to take based on your research and personal world-view.
One thing that everyone agrees on is that there's no "one-size-fits-all" solution...
S.G.