Hi Oscar,
so last year I recvd one of these extortion letters for a site that was defunct.
I took the images down - and eventually shut the site down completely and also this past tax year shut down my S-corp that the site was registered to.
I can't say for sure where the images came from. I can say that Getty doesn't watermark anything and I have found out since, that people download getty images by the lot and sell them on other sites as legit. Also sites sell images for tokens and give no receipt. And getty owns sites like this.
But the website was designed for me and I can't say for sure about the original source of images in question.
Images are very difficult to validate the original source. Its not like music where you KNOW or can be MORE SURE of the author/original source.
So as I said, I took the images down, took the site down, and ended up just shutting the company down as well.
I searched the internet at the time I recvd the letter and it seems all were saying ignore it and since I complied (which I thought was the whole point) I did just that. The letters are mailed to my company name and POBox, but they have the phone# from the original site.
At any rate, 2 letters. I ignored them. So far 2 calls from NCS which I have also ignored.
I guess I am just tired of the game - what a waste of my time - not to mention a complete loss of any good will Getty may have had if it were handled better.
SO my question - I really don't have any desire to do anything more since I complied.
BUT I figure I need to be sure of a few things:
1- on AVVO someone mentioned : "Since the Copyright Act was substantially revised in 1976, you don't even have to register a work in the United States Library of Congress anyway" ---- is this valid & true. If so, how does asking them to prove a copyright have any value??
2- on AVVO someone mentioned: "Copyright law, however, grants to registered copyright owners the right to recover at least $750 for each infringing reproduction" - is that true?? If so, the large amount they are asking is less than 2x more.
I cannot afford these extortionary amounts and have no intention of it. Though I do not want to be a test case in the courts.
So can you address those 2 questions and suggest the best route, whether your letter or some other method?
thanks for your time.
Wish I had started this site myself last year or knew who to call.
Thank you for giving your time to this.
I really believe that until Getty's tactics are brought into the light, they will continue to push the edge with their extortion letters.
Thanks again!
K-
so last year I recvd one of these extortion letters for a site that was defunct.
I took the images down - and eventually shut the site down completely and also this past tax year shut down my S-corp that the site was registered to.
I can't say for sure where the images came from. I can say that Getty doesn't watermark anything and I have found out since, that people download getty images by the lot and sell them on other sites as legit. Also sites sell images for tokens and give no receipt. And getty owns sites like this.
But the website was designed for me and I can't say for sure about the original source of images in question.
Images are very difficult to validate the original source. Its not like music where you KNOW or can be MORE SURE of the author/original source.
So as I said, I took the images down, took the site down, and ended up just shutting the company down as well.
I searched the internet at the time I recvd the letter and it seems all were saying ignore it and since I complied (which I thought was the whole point) I did just that. The letters are mailed to my company name and POBox, but they have the phone# from the original site.
At any rate, 2 letters. I ignored them. So far 2 calls from NCS which I have also ignored.
I guess I am just tired of the game - what a waste of my time - not to mention a complete loss of any good will Getty may have had if it were handled better.
SO my question - I really don't have any desire to do anything more since I complied.
BUT I figure I need to be sure of a few things:
1- on AVVO someone mentioned : "Since the Copyright Act was substantially revised in 1976, you don't even have to register a work in the United States Library of Congress anyway" ---- is this valid & true. If so, how does asking them to prove a copyright have any value??
2- on AVVO someone mentioned: "Copyright law, however, grants to registered copyright owners the right to recover at least $750 for each infringing reproduction" - is that true?? If so, the large amount they are asking is less than 2x more.
I cannot afford these extortionary amounts and have no intention of it. Though I do not want to be a test case in the courts.
So can you address those 2 questions and suggest the best route, whether your letter or some other method?
thanks for your time.
Wish I had started this site myself last year or knew who to call.
Thank you for giving your time to this.
I really believe that until Getty's tactics are brought into the light, they will continue to push the edge with their extortion letters.
Thanks again!
K-