hire freelance designer and get charged

[danielksy]

hi Oscar, just hope to get your opinion of how can i solve my company problem. Our company received a legal letter from Getty last week, the story was all the same saying that we dont have the copywrite and bla bla bla. Because our company uses freelance graphic designer for all the design and in order to avoid copywrite problem we will let them sign a letter (detail: all photos are free of copywrite and design must do by them).

I have provided all the freelance detail to Getty Image, but Getty Image said unless the graphic designer contact them and solve my case with them then this case will close, but the problem is if the designer does not want to contact Getty Image (since he knows he will get charged) what can I do to solve my problem? I got letter signed from graphic designer and receipt (the design fee paid to designer). The deadline Getty gave me is till 2/5/2011

Thank you for your time and effort spent for my story....

Best regard,
Daniel

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Did your designer sign the letter prior to developing the site?? If so I would suggest that you ask your designer to promptly contact getty in regards to this, I would send a certified letter so you have a signed record, and the designer can't come back and say they never got it. at that point if they refuse to contact Getty, you might want to mention that they ( the designer) will be hearing form your company attorney, as you not only have a signed letter, but you also have the certified letter...If I were in their shoes I would most likely contact Getty and do whats right rather than have to fight 2 legal battles... Curious if I'm right on this as I'm cedrtainly no attorney!

[danielksy]

I have contacted the graphic designer, but the problem is the designer said he took the image from google image and the time he copied there were no copywrite mentioned. We charged by Getty Image for 1 picture RM4950 (crazy amount), and we removed it once the letter received, has anyone encountered this kinds of case in Malaysia or Asia country? Feel free sharing, thank you.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

If he grabbed it from google, then he is responsible for it, there is nothing in the law that states that a copyright must be visable, so in a nutshell he did infact infringe and he should take resposability for his actions. Kinda like walking down the street and seeing a shiny new lawn mower in my yard, just because there is no sign on it stating it belongs to me, doesn't give someone the right to take it..

[Lettered]

danielksy,

I just wanted to make the point the the majority of discussion here is related to US law.  If Malaysian law controls in your case things might be different for you (better or worse . . . I don't know).  If I were in your position, and if Malaysian law controlled, I would be seeking Malaysia specific information:

1)  Do statutory damages exist for copyright in Malaysia?
2) Does the absence of copyright markings help your case?
3) Is there a willfull infringment clause that reduces or eliminates damage recovery potential?
4) Have similar suits been won or lost?
5) Are attorney fees recoverable by either party?

etc

[Oscar Michelen]

Wow, buddhapi and Lettered totally covered this point perfectly  danielksy.  I have no idea about Malaysian copyright law.  In the US though while your designer is liable to you, Getty does not have to go after them.  If they were to sue you then you could sue the designer and drag him into the Getty lawsuit. I would start writing your designer as suggested by buddhapi but first you should get a working knowledge of Malaysian Copyright Law.  Here's a link to a site with some info

http://www.lawyerment.com/library/kb/Intellectual_Property/Coypright/