Photographer sues Getty for extortion letters over her work

[Engel Nyst]

Awesome, Robert. Anyone else who has been ripped off, particularly on her photos, might be able to help. Because they've been lied in her name on her work. I'm not sure if some of you may remember, but I believe there are posts here on this forum, about a photographer who donated her work through the Library of Congress, and Getty or others pretending copyright over the work. I'm on the road and have difficulty searching at the moment.

[stinger]

I remember that there are posts on this site where Getty has claimed copyright control over NASA photos.  If there is hard evidence of this, that might be helpful to Ms. Highsmith in showing the court that this was not a one off mistake, but a calculated pattern to profit.

Of course Getty might hind behind the curtain of the multiple company names it uses.

[Engel Nyst]

Here is a 2014 story of a photographer who terminated his contact with Alamy, but Alamy, in apparent violation of the contract, didn't bother to remove his images:

https://www.tombrossman.com/blog/2014/alamy-copyright-and-ex-contributors/

There were "operational reasons" why it was too difficult for them, apparently. The photographer explains his belief that Alamy was infringing his copyright, continuously, even after repeated requests to remove his images. I don't know what happened after 2014, he mentions photography was more like a hobby to him so maybe he wasn't inclined to deal with a lawsuit.
But this public blog shows that Alamy didn't care before about having proper rights for images they host, even though they knew they don't have the right.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

We've also seen a case ( buried on this forum somewhere) where a person received a letter from Getty, they contacted the artist directly, who informed him that he was no longer affiliated with Getty, yet his images were still available for licensing on the Getty website...needless to say the artist was rather pissed, as he was not making money from the images, or any alleged infringement Getty collected on...this was prior to Getty buying Picscout.

[The-Gobbler]

This is wonderful news in terms of hammering those guys with their own medicine. But I sure hope this helps to expose trolling in general.  My fingers are crossed!

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Here is another case of Getty making claims on Public domain images.

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/don't-pay-getty-thank-you-eli/

[Engel Nyst]

This is another entity well aware that LCS is Getty: the BBB.

On its Getty page, it says:

Alternate Business Names
License Compliance Services
PicScout Inc

http://www.bbb.org/northwest/business-reviews/photographs-stock/getty-images-inc-in-seattle-wa-37000916/

[PM]

AND...so the Dominos begin to fall.
Yet another lawsuit filed against Getty for fraud and content theft.
This truly makes my day.  Couldn't happen to a better group of people.
(misuse of over 47,000 photos)

(http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/getty-images-sued-again-over-alleged-misuse-of-over-47000-photos/)

[Engel Nyst]

Looks like Zuma has a strong case.

If they hold indeed exclusive rights, and published the photos with copyright notice, they're right on the money. Really makes me wonder what the hell does Getty think they're doing.

I find surprising that their complaint is not very aggressive, as many copyright complaints I've seen. They almost sound like making an excuse of sorts for Getty, when they talk about how it's getting too big to be able to manage all imagery. Is it just me who feels it's worded too mild? Also, I can't help but notice how Zuma mentions the "corrosive" effect of the internet on stock photo business. Better get used to it and adapt or die, Zuma/Getty/whoever.

On the other hand, the filing contains references to the hundreds of complaints about Getty to the AG!

I wonder what effect can that have. If this case continues, maybe we'll see Greg's and others' complaints brought in front of a judge.

Edited to add: the complaint contains Greg's CABA Law link to:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/222235974/1-2-Index-of-Compaints

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Another great gift, and I must say it's freshening t see some new blood jumping into the fray...Engel Nyst.

Were you a Getty or other troll victim??? I remember many years ago being filled an enormous amount of energy to aim towards Getty and others, seems it has waned over the years, but I still hate those douchebags.. I'm betting that, those fucktards Jonathn Klien and pot growing Timothy McCormack are glad they got out of this..

[Peeved]

.. I'm betting that, those fucktards Jonathn Klien and pot growing Timothy McCormack are glad they got out of this..

I've been out of the loop for some time but
I did not know that Timothy B. McCormack actually "got out"?
Interesting...I was under the impression that he was still sending
letters on the side so...good to know.

May the entrepreneurial Timmy continue to "grow" in his new endeavor.
Movin' on up...I'm tearing up now.

[Engel Nyst]

Another great gift, and I must say it's freshening t see some new blood jumping into the fray...Engel Nyst.

Were you a Getty or other troll victim??? I remember many years ago being filled an enormous amount of energy to aim towards Getty and others, seems it has waned over the years, but I still hate those douchebags.. I'm betting that, those fucktards Jonathn Klien and pot growing Timothy McCormack are glad they got out of this..

Thanks for the welcome . And don't worry, I'm confident that sooner or later a lot of the patterns of behavior uncovered by these forums will have consequences, as they should. In fact, you know they already had some real consequences in changing some of Getty's behavior, in raising awareness in online press, and in helping people affected.

I have not received a letter. I'm a software developer and a copyright nerd. I've given a couple of years of my life to learn the law, the jurisprudence, and the understandings in different communities on the internet.

I know this site for a long while, I'm sure. But I registered only recently, because I wanted to answer a photographer in another topic. Funnily enough, the time for approval and other stuff derailed me, and I haven't yet posted my intended answer. I will soon.

What happened recently was that I was in touch with some photographers (not on this forum), and from discussions it became again clear to me that they get the wrong impressions from the rhetoric of copyright enforcement agents. It's an easy recipe for copyright enforcers: just claim whatever is not blatantly false, but not complete story either, and convince them to give you some rights to enforce; you will have the backing of authors for your covert actions, even though you will hide the actual text of your enforcement letters, phone and stuff, and you will actually make more money than by legitimate licensing or decent enforcement - probably more than they even know. It's a sad state of affairs, and copyright law is just too powerful on the enforcement/remedies side, such that bullying is possible. There's almost no disincentive, almost no consequence (legal) to bullying. So it's not surprising that it finds a rich terrain.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

.. I'm betting that, those fucktards Jonathn Klien and pot growing Timothy McCormack are glad they got out of this..

I've been out of the loop for some time but
I did not know that Timothy B. McCormack actually "got out"?
Interesting...I was under the impression that he was still sending
letters on the side so...good to know.

May the entrepreneurial Timmy continue to "grow" in his new endeavor.
Movin' on up...I'm tearing up now.

It has not been confirmed that he is "out", but he's been very quiet as of late, so that's an assumption on my part..

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

.. I'm betting that, those fucktards Jonathn Klien and pot growing Timothy McCormack are glad they got out of this..

I've been out of the loop for some time but
I did not know that Timothy B. McCormack actually "got out"?
Interesting...I was under the impression that he was still sending
letters on the side so...good to know.

May the entrepreneurial Timmy continue to "grow" in his new endeavor.
Movin' on up...I'm tearing up now.

It has not been confirmed that he is "out", but he's been very quiet as of late, so that's an assumption on my part..

We should have an answer shortly, I will be putting in my yearly request for all complaints filed against Getty and we will see if we are still getting the McCormack complaints in there too.  My guess is a few but WAY down.  Pretty hard to be mean and a bully if your new business keeps you mellow all the time.

[Peeved]

We should have an answer shortly, I will be putting in my yearly request for all complaints filed against Getty and we will see if we are still getting the McCormack complaints in there too.  My guess is a few but WAY down.  Pretty hard to be mean and a bully if your new business keeps you mellow all the time.

http://q13fox.com/2014/11/11/behind-the-scenes-of-washingtons-first-legal-marijuana-harvest/
"And when this harvest is complete, Tim McCormack says he thinks he'll finally try marijuana."

Now remember Greg...according to the above old article and quote, Timmy only "thinks" he'll finally try marijuana. lol...
Btw...thank you Robert for the clarification.