Yet another Getty Letter, would like to retain Oscar's services

[enigmaticfox]

Hi Oscar,

I have emailed you some details of the Getty Letter I received (from my email address of sherri [at] sherri-alexander [dot] com), but as many of my emails seem to get caught by spam filters, I'm reposting it here in case it's easier for you to answer in this forum.  I've also left voice mail on your direct line and on the general line, but I am sure you're busy or at trial or both! Could you let me know if you received it and what our next steps should be?  I would like to retain your services in this matter, if possible.

Here is the letter I just sent out to Getty, in order to meet their "deadline" of a May 12th response:

To whom it may concern,

I am responding to the letter sent to me on April 28th, 2011 (reference #xxx) about the alleged infringement of the usage rights for a Getty Images photograph.  As an illustrator myself, respect for copyright and proper attribution and payment for artwork is extremely important to me.  Thank you very much for bringing this matter to my attention.  As the design of the website was carried out by a reputable interactive agency (which had hired me to create the front-end website code based upon said design), I was unaware that any of the images contained therein might not have been paid for.

Within 24 hours of receiving your letter, I removed the image from my website completely.  I also took the further step of going through archive.org and making sure that the image was removed from the archives of my site as well, so no further inadvertent infringement would be possible.  I will certainly not be using the image further in any way.

However, I disagree with your claim that I should pay a settlement fee to pay for this inadvertent infringement of your photo.  As I mentioned before, I am an illustrator myself, and I have had to deal with infringement of my own copyrighted images.  The industry's standard (and polite) response is to first issue a warning that an image is being used inappropriately, along with a request to please remove said image and cease usage.  Only if that request is ignored (ie, the infringement is deliberate and flagrant) do you move forward with requests for payment.  In this case, the infringement was entirely innocent -- I had no idea the reputable interactive agency I was working for would use images that were not theirs by right to utilize, and would never have posted the page on my site if I had known.  I have immediately taken action to rectify the situation, and feel that this should close the matter.

I have contacted Attorney Oscar Michelen (with Cuomo LLC in New York City), who will be contacting you on my behalf if the need arises.  Please direct all further correspondence about this matter to him, please.  Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

--Sherri

I hope that I've made the correct response, and that I haven't done anything that would cause difficulty to you!  Please let me know if I can help provide any other information.  Thank you for your time!

Take care,

--Sherri

[Matthew Chan]

That was a well-written reply. I think you did good in acknowledging their letter, explaining yourself, and removing the image.  And more importantly, you put them on notice that Oscar will be involved.  That will give them pause until Oscar can formally contact them.

Good job.

Matthew

[enigmaticfox]

I received a followup email from Getty responding as follows:

"We are in receipt of your email and information.  We respectfully disagree with your position that we are not entitled to pursue damages.  Our position remains unchanged,  If you have  hired an attorney, your attorney should contact us directly to inform us of that representation."

I'm still trying to get hold of Oscar, no response yet.  Oscar, if you're reading this, I've left several voice mails and emails, please let me know if this is something you can help me with.  Thank you!

Take care,

--Sherri

[enigmaticfox]

Ah, I just read the new sticky post. I hope that I haven't become one of the problems...I really would like to pay Oscar for his services, I don't want to take up too much of his time.  I'm just not sure how to go about doing that.  If all I need to do is to mail out a check or wire funds, I'd be happy to do so.  I apologize if I'm cluttering things up or muddying the waters. 

Take care,

--Sherri

[enigmaticfox]

Followup: I just called and spoke with Oscar directly, who went over all the details and options with me. Thank you so much Oscar, you're a lifesaver!

Take care,

--Sherri

[Matthew Chan]

No, it wasn't you specifically.  Just a general statement to everyone waiting for Oscar to get back to everyone. I did speak to him a couple of days a go and he promised to catch up and get back to everyone.

Ah, I just read the new sticky post. I hope that I haven't become one of the problems...I really would like to pay Oscar for his services, I don't want to take up too much of his time.  I'm just not sure how to go about doing that.  If all I need to do is to mail out a check or wire funds, I'd be happy to do so.  I apologize if I'm cluttering things up or muddying the waters. 

Take care,

--Sherri