Question about Oscar's response letter

[whythis]

Hi - I just got hit similar to Loopster by Hawaii Art LLC for 1 image (via cpm-creative.com lawyers). I can't find the image anywhere on their site and it was originally pulled from a photobucket post. Still awaiting their response (most of which has been canned so far).

Anyway, my question is if the $195 letter program is available in this situation or is it specific to Getty?

[Matthew Chan]

Don't hold me to it his but I believe Oscar mentioned to me in a conversation that he can do the $195 for Hawaiian Art.  With Masterfile and Corbis, Oscar says it is a very different arrangement because they are much more meticulous about registering photos whereas Getty and many other stock photo companies are quite lax and sloppy about it.

Matthew

[whythis]

Matthew - thanks for your answer! I will give it a shot.

Outside of the "game changer" lawsuit, just the fact that they send the letter implies that they think more money is to be made this way rather than suing. If a good lawyer thought he could make more money by suing - they would!

[Matthew Chan]

To be fair, that is not true.  A lawyer can obviously be influential with their clients.  However, no lawyer can "force" their clients agree to file a lawsuit to anyone.  A lawyer can be supportive but they cannot make the decision.  If a lawsuit were to happen, the decision would have to come from the stock photo companies.

There are many reasons why stock photo companies have not pulled the trigger.  The biggest reason is most the time, expense, and aggravation to do so.  It just isn't financially worth it in most cases. The other big reason is that it opens a Pandora's box that could set a dangerous precedent of NOT going their way.  Anyone can look to Righthaven and RIAA as examples of how lawsuits generates LOTS of negative PR and how courts can turn against them.

Matthew