Stockfood.com or StockFood GmbH letter reaches Israel -סטוק פוד מכתב מגיע לישראל

[scraggy]

Today, I received an example of a stockfood settlement letter here in Israel. A local Israeli lawyer claims to represent stockfood.com, or “StockFood GmbH”. (The same lawyer represented Marot/GettyImages in 2008!)

 “StockFood GmbH” is a German company whose head office is in Munich.

http://venturebeatprofiles.com/company/profile/stockfood-gmbh

I would guess that if this company has indeed received exclusive licenses from various photographers, then the license would have been transferred to the company’s head office.

However, in the stockfood settlement demand received in the USA:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/73121453/Stock-Food-Settlement-Demand-Letter

it says “StockFood America is the exclusive licensor for the copyright holder”.

Who is stockfood America? If the German company owns the exclusive license, then isn’t the American branch/subsidiary/franchise/ (whatever they are). …only in receipt of the right to sue alone? 

Stockfood has branches/ representatives in many countries, including the USA. In Israel, they have an agent/affiliate (http://www.visualphotos.com/ )  that also sells Masterfile images. On this site, the catalog numbers are the same as on the Masterfile and stockfood.com sites. 

Do all the national branches/ representatives own exclusive licenses. or does ONLY the German head office own the exclusive license? If the latter is true, then the local offices have no right to sue. It’s Righthaven all over again.

Here in Israel, it’s the main German office that is threatening. Of course, they will have to be the main plaintiff, prove the transfer of the exclusive license, and add the copyright holder to the lawsuit.

Does anyone have any extra information about this company based in Germany, but sending out settlement letters in other countries?

And now, a few words in Hebrew if I may !

חברה בשם סטוקפוד ,סטוק פוד - stockfood (stockfood.com)
החלה לשלוח מכתבי אזהרה לאנשים כתוצאה של הפרת זכויות יוצרים - לכאורה
אני מציע לכם לקרוא פורומים אלו או לשלוח לי דואר אלקטרוני כדי להבין את משמעות האיומים
iancohen@013.net
תודה ( thanks)

[annalise]

And another question related to this- can more than one company have exclusive rights to sell a photo?

Can Getty have exclusive rights and then the company in Israel  (their agent- a separate company) have exclusive rights to sell the same exact photo?

[scraggy]

By Mark F. Radcliffe and Diane Brinson 1 of DLA Piper LLP (US)
http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jan/1/241478.html

A copyright license can be exclusive or nonexclusive. An exclusive license is a license that does not overlap another grant of rights.

The key word is "exclusive". Company A and company B cannot own overlapping rights. If Getty has a worldwide exclusive license to an image, no local company in any specific country can also have an exclusive license, as there would be overlap. The two companies would be sharing the same territory, hence no exclusivity, and therefore no right to sue.

[Oscar Michelen]

Exclusive rights can only be given to one entity.

[scraggy]

Guess who represents STOCKFOOD  in the USA!!

StockFood USA has retained McCormack Intellectual Property, P.S.

http://www.mccormacklegal.com/blog/press-releases/stockfood-usa-has-retained-mccormack-intellectual-property-p-s