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PicRights.com
Da Guy:
I got a letter from them too via email and follow up letter mail. I never heard of PicRights.com until recently. The Copyright Compliant officer is Geoff Beal (of Masterfile) acting on the behalf of Agence France Presse. Offices appear to be in Canada and Switzerland. They're demanding $720 for an image we unintentionally used on our blog 11 months ago. Similar images to license are between $12 to $15. I'm still a newbie on this site, but am quickly learning as I go through the forum and other related websites. Bottom line, it sucks! This is the first time we did not check whether the image was copyrighted or registered. It was definitely unmarked, but still not an excuse. However with that said, most companies would send out a cease and desist letter as a warning. I've done the same to small to big companies who borrowed some of my designs to sell on t-shirts without permission. For a little business guy without high paid lawyers, that was all I could do according to my legal attorney at that time. But the company did pull their clothing from the stores as soon as they got the cease and desist letter. The roles are now reversed here, but these copyright trolls have no mercy.
dthornton:
How do you plan to respond to them?
DavidVGoliath:
--- Quote from: Tuna Guy on October 05, 2017, 07:25:02 PM ---I've done the same to small to big companies who borrowed some of my designs to sell on t-shirts without permission. For a little business guy without high paid lawyers, that was all I could do according to my legal attorney at that time.
--- End quote ---
Going off topic here a bit, but that was spectacularly bad legal advice. I can only guess that your attorney wasn't an IP lawyer by trade and had little to no knowledge of how copyrights function in the real world. Your design wasn't "borrowed", it was stolen - and the fact that it was used in a for-profit endeavor would have weighed heavily in your favor.
--- Quote from: Tuna Guy on October 05, 2017, 07:25:02 PM ---But the company did pull their clothing from the stores as soon as they got the cease and desist letter.
--- End quote ---
... because, when notified of an infringement, if they don't C&D, they'd have been inviting very punitive actions if you had pressed them. A good IP attorney would have been able to weigh your case and, in a lot of instances, negotiate a good licensing arrangement out of it, or at least a modest to adequate settlement.
Never, ever think that because you're the "little guy" that copyright laws can't work in your favor when you've been ripped off by a "larger" entity.
Da Guy:
--- Quote from: dthornton on October 06, 2017, 08:53:36 AM ---How do you plan to respond to them?
--- End quote ---
I have not decided whether to respond or not at the moment. I could ignore it and have them continue to harass me or pay them what they want or offer a fair market value number which they may reject, counter-offer or accept. I have only been notified once via email and hard copy. I'm sure there will be more to come if I choose to ignore it.
Matthew Chan:
I am a little late to the party. But from my online research, PicRights.com shares the street address as Masterfile:
3 Concorde Gate, 4th Floor
Toronto, ON, Canada M3C 3N7
The PicRights website claims that Masterfile, AFP, SciencePhotoLibrary, Loupe Images, Cephas Picture Library, PA Images, Aurora Photos, Jill Greenberg, CartoonStock, and the Associated Press are "clients".
It also lists this business address in Switzerland:
PicRights Europe GmbH
Albisstrasse 14
8134 Adliswil Switzerland
Given the fact that Masterfile has had their Toronto street address for many years, it appears to me that PicRights is leveraging Masterfile's prior and existing office and operations infrastructure for their copyright enforcement letters. It is unclear to me which was created first, PicRights Switzerland or PicRights Canada. Regardless, they appear to be working symbiotically with the Masterfile operation.
Along with PicRights.com, ArtistDefense.com also shares Masterfile's street address.
In addition to sharing the street address, what they have in common are the names of the worker bees like "Geoff Beal" who previously operated as "Geoffrey Beal" years ago. A familiar name "Michael Hilsheimer" who I remember was with Masterfile years ago now works for PicRights.com.
--- Quote from: dthornton on October 04, 2017, 05:01:19 PM ---Has anyone dealt with PicRights.com?
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