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Author Topic: The Hypocrite of the Century!  (Read 10013 times)

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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The Hypocrite of the Century!
« on: April 05, 2012, 04:50:06 PM »
Here are a few gems from none other than Jonathan Klein co-founder and CEO of Getty Images..

“We’re comfortable with people using our images to build traffic. The point in time when they have a business model, they have to have some sort of license.â€

"...when their images are used for commercial purposes they are paid" here he is referring to Getty's "contributors"

"...we don't stop consumers from playing with our images..."

"we don't stop the proliferation of imagery..."


But he hasn’t eliminated the ability to right-click on a Getty photo and save it to your computer. Anyone with the most basic of Photoshop skills could easily get rid of the Getty watermark within minutes. That’s because he’s not concerned about people playing with Getty photos, teenagers using them for school projects, and folks putting them up on their personal blogs — or, at the moment, even Pinterest.

I can't watch or read it anymore this ass-hat ticks me off... I'm reminded of the site that was helping US Veterans, that got a letter from Getty, they made ZERO dollars, they did NOT have ANY ads to generate revenue..

Judge for yourself, and please share your thoughts on this:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/22/for-pinterest-revenue-will-turn-copyright-questions-into-problems/
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
Robert Krausankas

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Jerry Witt (mcfilms)

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2012, 05:11:39 PM »
Any blogger or start up should immediately print this article for their records. It's a shame that their "Demand Letter" division is so out of touch with the CEO's opinion. Hello? Do they have any meetings at Getty Images?

I would LOVE to hear Jonathan Klein's explanation of why aggressive letter campaign against non-profits, blogs, and sites that never went live was justified. If I HAD paid them a dime I would be putting together an invoice of what I paid them today. Seriously.
Although I may be a super-genius, I am not a lawyer. So take my scribblings for what they are worth and get a real lawyer for real legal advice. But if you want media and design advice, please visit Motion City at http://motioncity.com.

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2012, 05:34:20 PM »
I would think as CEO he would be the driving force behind the demand letters, granted he has board members, but as CEO  he could at least be honest, instead of flat out spreading this garbage. He know damn well what his company does, right or wrong makes no difference to him, it's all about the money at the end of the day...
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
Robert Krausankas

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Lettered

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2012, 05:50:57 PM »
Great find Buddhapi.  Actually I'm glad to hear him go on the record like that. 
I would think that would be very good supporting information for an "implied license" defense should one wind up in court.  It appears to me that he is clearly implying a free license for all Getty images, up to a point anyway.  I'm not even sure "implied license" would be the right term . . . sounds explicit to me!
« Last Edit: April 05, 2012, 05:54:09 PM by Lettered »

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2012, 07:41:52 PM »
Great find Buddhapi.  Actually I'm glad to hear him go on the record like that. 
I would think that would be very good supporting information for an "implied license" defense should one wind up in court.  It appears to me that he is clearly implying a free license for all Getty images, up to a point anyway.  I'm not even sure "implied license" would be the right term . . . sounds explicit to me!

The credit belongs to Matt, he brought it to my attention, and he's been busy with other matters and life in general. We briefly spoke about this interview, and I'm sure when he has time there will be an article written. I am quite sure he will some some very good input.
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

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SoylentGreen

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2012, 11:06:31 PM »
They've really screwed themselves.
A good find.  Pure gold.

S.G.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2012, 03:52:47 AM by Matthew Chan »

Peeved

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2012, 11:59:58 PM »


lol
 ;D

scraggy

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2012, 12:41:00 AM »
Quote
Anyone with the most basic of Photoshop skills could easily get rid of the Getty watermark within minutes.

I have to make a correction to the quoted article here.

In order to remove the Getty watermark, you don't need Photoshop skills! You simply follow the instructions that appear above every image. I quote - "Want an image with no watermark? Please sign in or register." You can register as ilovegetty@hotmail.com ( the e-mail address is not verified ), and in seconds, a large ( 650 x 500 approx ), medium resolution ( over 80KB ) watermark free image can be freely downloaded to your computer!

The above is also true of " rights managed" images, whose use is supposedly closely monitored and controlled, and whose value is significantly higher than "royalty free" images. Getty themselves do nothing to protect the easy proliferation of its supposedly more valuable " rights managed" images.

Some might argue that this is tantamount to copyright abandonment.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2012, 12:43:07 AM by scraggy »

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #8 on: April 06, 2012, 06:29:58 AM »
@Peeved T.H.A.T is classic, nothing like protecting yourself from some serious Butt hurt with a Butt Hat!

@scraggy, another great nugget there, I'm heading out of town and won't have internet, but perhaps a couple of screen shots to document this would be good to have...just for the record as it were.
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

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Robert Krausankas

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Mulligan

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #9 on: April 06, 2012, 01:04:56 PM »
Just like many of us have long suspected... Getty's salting the web with images too so they can then try to extort exorbitant sums of money from people. It's pretty remarkable, however, that one of the top dogs at the Getty Pound would actually admit what he admitted in the interview.

At least those being threatened by Getty and its associated law firm and collection goons now have more ammunition to use for defensive purposes.

Greg Troy (KeepFighting)

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #10 on: April 06, 2012, 01:08:46 PM »
Thanks for the information and the link to the article, this is VERY interesting.  I agree with buddhapi, the CEO has to know of and approve of what the demand letter department is doing.  I’m sure that enough people just pay the settlement fees out of fear of a lawsuit, lack of research or whatever the reason that it must be worth it for them to continue this activity.  I would love to see one of their financials and see what percentage of income is derived from the Demand Letter Department.  Must be pretty darn good as I would never do anything that would portray my company In a negative light or damage it’s reputation, I can only hope that this comes back to bite them  in the long run and all the copycats out there.
Every situation is unique, any advice or opinions I offer are given for your consideration only. You must decide what is best for you and your particular situation. I am not a lawyer and do not offer legal advice.

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Matthew Chan

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #11 on: April 07, 2012, 01:12:55 AM »
Believe me when I tell you that I have a few words on the subject. When I eventually get to this, it will be a full-blown ELI article, not simply an ELI discussion reply. I have been trying to catch up on various cases and news that were not yet reported. I am working my way through my backlog.
I'm a non-lawyer but not legally ignorant either. Under the 1st Amendment, I have the right to post facts & opinions using rhetorical hyperbole, colloquialisms, metaphors, parody, snark, or epithets. Under Section 230 of CDA, I'm only responsible for posts I write, not what others write.

Greg Troy (KeepFighting)

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #12 on: April 07, 2012, 09:00:39 PM »
Looking forward to the article, I will be very interested in reading it.  After I made this post I continued to think about the subject for a while.  I would also be interested in knowing if the owners of the image(s) are notified of every letter that is sent out and how much of any amounts recovered goes to the artist and how much goes to Getty. 

From what I have read in the forums it looks like Getty used to charge reasonable amounts for most of the images they manage, now they charge hundreds of dollars for the same images apparently so they can justify the amounts requested in their demand letters.  My Demand Letter wants $850.00 for one image, when I went to the Getty site to see what the image cost they wanted over $500.00.  I think very few people would pay over $500.00 for one image for one year.  I wonder how the artists feels about their images being priced so high as to drive away real sales.  I would love to see the artists pull their images from Getty when their contracts expire and move them to stock photo companies that are actually in business to license images. 

As I wonder why a company is allowed to continue to behave in this manner I realize the answer is simple, like most, until I received my letter I had absolutely no idea this was happening.  If there was only a way to bring national attention to the Getty Demand Letters practice and produce enough negative light on the company to cause them to rescind this practice, but I have no idea how to do this and the only thing I can do is to keep fighting and telling everyone I know about what is happening. 
Every situation is unique, any advice or opinions I offer are given for your consideration only. You must decide what is best for you and your particular situation. I am not a lawyer and do not offer legal advice.

--Greg Troy

Oscar Michelen

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2012, 11:53:07 AM »
I think I may add some of his language in my Getty letter when I respond on behalf of small mom and pops or not for profits or hobby sites that get his company's demand letters.  In the nearly four year I have been involved with this I can state that 90% of letter recipients who come to us fit into this category. 

Matthew Chan

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Re: The Hypocrite of the Century!
« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2012, 03:54:29 AM »
Oscar is exactly right which makes what Jonathan Klein says in that TechCrunch video laughable. That is why ELI has called him out on that hypocrisy.

I think I may add some of his language in my Getty letter when I respond on behalf of small mom and pops or not for profits or hobby sites that get his company's demand letters.  In the nearly four year I have been involved with this I can state that 90% of letter recipients who come to us fit into this category.
I'm a non-lawyer but not legally ignorant either. Under the 1st Amendment, I have the right to post facts & opinions using rhetorical hyperbole, colloquialisms, metaphors, parody, snark, or epithets. Under Section 230 of CDA, I'm only responsible for posts I write, not what others write.

 

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