Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: My letter Experience

« on: April 25, 2012, 01:12:40 PM »

Ok thanks! The way I see it now is going back and forth is pointless really. They want one thing, I want another and definitely feel my rights have been violated or to put it another way, I'm being ripped off.
I did put the effort in by calling and writing. I still feel they are unreasonable and wrong and even if someone came to me, gave me the money to pay them, and I did, I would always feel they won on something that was so very wrong and I don't want to be the one contributing and feeding on something that should be taken down for good. I wish it was possible for all of us to sue them at the same time and stop them from doing this to anyone they feel like it. When I tell others they go after people who bought the images, they can't believe it and I plan to tell as many people that I can reach so they are very informed when wanting to put a picture on their site.
I suppose that's why Matthew made this site to begin with and in reading the forums I can see its helped many!

I find this interesting: If they can put technology in the picture to track it, why don't they put technology in the picture that tells someone their license expired or it is copyrighted? I am sure it is not hard to do for a programmer.
We all know the answer to that! thanks everyone for the advice and help!

2

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: My letter Experience

« on: April 24, 2012, 06:49:44 PM »

The fear will last a day or so then turn to being pissed off again so I dont mind hanging in there but would like to know what to expect from here. Do I ignore the letters from now on from Mccormick, or send what I feel is a reasonable offer to pay it off which wouldnt be much to them I am sure? 

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: My letter Experience

« on: April 24, 2012, 09:18:18 AM »

hi all, I have to explain more on this and why it seems confusing. The certified letter came to the house but someone was there, just not me, so someone  refused to sign for the letter because they didnt know what it was so I think when you refuse it, it goes back to the sender. well in the meantime, a few weeks went by and this time they send the Mccormick letter asking for more than twice the amount of the original price. (this wasnt a certified letter) Didnt give me any info on copyright or answer any of my questions at all, just the same bs that you have 3 weeks to pay etc. so I am wondering now that they are asking for more, do I write and offer a settlement on what I feel is right to pay then let it go from there, or just ignore the letter and wait and see. If I ignore it, do they raise the price in each letter when you receive it?
another question, can I get an LLC for the business at this time and will that protect me if this goes further or because they started this months ago, is this something that wont work to protect me? They are not sueing, just asking for money, so I am thinking this might be a good move. Any thoughts on this? thanks for all your help. When Michael gets that book together I am so buying it!!

4

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: My letter Experience

« on: March 19, 2012, 05:33:30 PM »

Yes it was from getty. So you are thinking that after sending them a letter it is not common for them to send a registered letter back then?

5

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: My letter Experience

« on: March 19, 2012, 05:08:02 PM »

A quick update and a question. I did write a letter to them after making a phone call twice, and about 3 weeks later I am told a letter came back to me but they wanted the person to sign for it as I wasnt there and they refused. So I have no idea now what their response would have been or what is going to happen next.
I do have a question though, If they decide to go to court, will you get a certified letter in the mail or will someone knock at your door and say, you have been served? My letter to them basically asked if the images were registered and I wanted a history of the prices of the images since they were asking for so much for them from me. So they could have had an answer to that. I did do a search and did not find them in the copyright office however.
So what do I do next, just wait to see what happens? I don't see a point in contacting them at all. What do you think?

6

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: My letter Experience

« on: February 26, 2012, 12:14:53 PM »

Well with all the input here is sounds like the best thing to do is write this letter and especially to ask if it is indeed copyrighted. The pictures by the way are from the infamous stone collection I hear others on here have mentioned in the past. I havent found them on any other sites for sale but images comparable to this go for under $10. Our argument was over price and what the actual images were worth. I did a cached search of my site and that particular page of the site wasnt even created till jan of 2011. It doesn't even show that I even had those images on the site at all except for the one snap shot of my page they took in Dec. of the same year. Even the back up files I saved doesnt show the image was on there so it had to be on there less than one month, and on their site they charge over $200 for one month of use for the image which I'm sure sites like National Geographic (who they say are clients) find reasonable, but people just getting by including me, think is outrageous. So yes, I would like to find out the history of what they charged for that image and if it is indeed a registered copyrighted image as I, like many on here feel like I'm being taken.

What I can't understand is, isn't the guy who owns this company incredibly rich? Why would someone like that find this loophole and create a division in the company solely to intimidate and basically steal from innocent hard working people? The tactics they use border on criminal behavior and yet they're still allowed to poison the world with their deceit adding them to a long list of wrongdoers. I can see why why this site was madeand why people are even protesting in New York and all over. The problem can be summed up with one word: GREED.
I want to thank the creators and contributors on this site for creating it and supplying this information and especially your input on my case. 

7

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: My letter Experience

« on: February 23, 2012, 09:24:30 AM »

Thanks! I don't regret what I said so much, just how I said it- in the angry tone, even if they do deserve it for being so disrespectful, I still regret doing it.
A letter is a good idea for the next step.
Thanks for the advice! 

8

Getty Images Letter Forum / My letter Experience

« on: February 22, 2012, 08:41:58 PM »

Hi Everyone,
 I have been reading the forum for quite some time and also got the 'letter.'
I don't want to say too much in public just in case they are reading this. I did call them and they did go down in price a small bit, however, when I tried to get them to go down further, an argument broke out instead. I am usually a nice person but this just really made me mad as they charge way too much money. They are charging me for 2 pics that I was ignorant enough to think were free online. I took the pictures down of course right away and never even had them up there long but of course that doesn't matter to them. They truly are extortionists and how ashamed they should be for doing this to good people. I might have said some things I shouldnt have and ended the conversation with 'well then, take me to court' Funny how the whole plan was to be cordial and it did start out that way but...
I had the whole thing planned out what i was going to say and they made me so mad it didn't come out the way I wanted. So now I am wondering, with that said, what do you think they will do next. If you want more details you can email me and I will be happy to share. Thanks for all the information on this forum. I do appreciate it and will continue to read it! I'm just so disappointed that a wealthy man can own a company and do this to people. I don't understand this at all.