Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: CEG Email?

« on: May 18, 2012, 02:35:30 PM »

In my correspondences with him I mentioned the vast amount of support ELI has given me. The more negative publicity these trolls get, the better. I am happy you put that link in the comments. I mean in all honesty who has 35000 siting in the bank for two images. The laws need to be changed to help protect people and not make the rich businesses even richer.

2

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: CEG Email?

« on: May 18, 2012, 02:02:06 PM »

How is a hobby or celebrity fan site any different than a Pinterest or Tumblr page? You weren't selling prints or using it in marketing material.

No one can tell you what to do, but if it were me, I would firmly make my opinion known that I consider this fair use. I would explain that the entire concept of "fair use" is a rather gray area and they probably disagree with that assessment. However if they decide to pursue this matter I would make it very clear that I would become very proactive and very loud. I would mention friends at the EFF, news media and government agencies. I'd let them know that you are the type of person that would like to establish clarity on this issue and you are willing to go "all the way" to get that clarity.

Something like that.

I followed your advice and Techdirt has posted a story about my site. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120515/07173918924/copyright-troll-demands-8500-rarely-visited-lindsay-lohan-fansite.shtml

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: CEG Email?

« on: May 14, 2012, 05:29:17 PM »

I tried mailing the CEG and all they seem to respond with now is

The infringement case will remain open until the matter is settled or litigated. To better protect yourself in the future we suggest visiting our Education & Resources page, and you should consult with your own attorney.

I think it is time to take mcfilms advice on the issue.

4

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: CEG Email?

« on: May 09, 2012, 07:31:39 PM »

I really appreciate everyone's great support and comments.

I am baffled myself, I have asked many other fansites owners and no one has been asked for money. I know it might just be bad luck, but there are fansite hosts which are owned by big companies. One was partnered with Buzzmedia and I know for a fact they all found their images on forums or got logins (all hosted on their domains). There must be a reason no one has taken them down. They have 2-3k fansites and it just shocks me that they are still in business. I thought maybe it is because of pictures being every where, newsworthy or educational. I have previously contacted many picture companies and in their terms they state that they will not sell images to fansites so I am unsure how it could ever be a loss of revenue.

I know it could be a DMCA issue, but the sites themselves are registered to the companies, Hollywood.com LLC being a big one, and the domains themselves do not have an agent.

I did talk to a lawyer today and they seemed on the fence. They mentioned that it would be hard to prove damages, but it could be worse. I checked my analytics and the main page for said pictures had 6 views total. The pictures themselves never registered on the analytics. I am not even sure how their bot bypassed that.

5

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: CEG Email?

« on: May 09, 2012, 11:10:17 AM »

I would like to see a copy of this email by Copyright Enforcement Group if you are willing to share it. This is a new one for us. We are happy to redact the information for you before sharing it. You can send it to matt30060 at gmail.

If you don't want to share it publicly, I would still like to view it privately if that is ok with you.

It can only help others by educating people.

I got 2 emails from the Copyright Enforcement Group. One email for quite a few pictures and one for a thumbnail of one of the already mentioned pictures. The total is near $9000 dollars and I have a month to pay it on their website.

The email just shows an image comparison and the url to the image. Unlike some others who seem to show a screenshot of the website itself. Any thoughts on this one? I have looked thoroughly through the site and most seem to deal with stock images.

I just sent you the email. It also has a PDF attached that they sent.

6

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: CEG Email?

« on: May 09, 2012, 09:11:26 AM »

I looked and it seems that they are indeed registered. I am feeling the same way about them filing. I wonder if it would be worth while to contact the owners of the image or just find a way to pay. There was a user upload form on the gallery for some time actually until last month when I just couldn't deal with the amount of unrelated images going on the website. I am not too sure how to prove that since it was disabled when they (their bot) looked at the website. I wish I had thicker skin when it came to this.

7

Getty Images Letter Forum / CEG Email?

« on: May 08, 2012, 10:59:21 PM »

A foolish hobby seems to have gotten me in trouble. I owned (took it down now) a celebrity fansite that had pictures from AKM images. I didn't know this, they came from a forum and were all around the internet. My site, like all the other fansites, had news, pictures, etc. However, this obviously does not matter because I do not own the images. I got 2 emails from the Copyright Enforcement Group. One email for quite a few pictures and one for a thumbnail of one of the already mentioned pictures. The total is near $9000 dollars and I have a month to pay it on their website. The site was purely non-profit, it did have ads, but made $2 dollars in over a year and that does not cover hosting or a domain name.

I should also mention I did have a DMCA policy up, but it seems you need to register an agent. This is odd in nature isn't it? Signing up for a law does not seem right.

Now looking at the census here and reading for hours it seems a letter is the best approach. I have setup a consultation with a lawyer and am thinking of going with Oscar's letter as well. I searched through the internet and it seems they randomly ask certain people to take down images (same ones they asked me about) with no payment and others they ask for a takedown plus money.

The email just shows an image comparison and the url to the image. Unlike some others who seem to show a screenshot of the website itself. Any thoughts on this one? I have looked thoroughly through the site and most seem to deal with stock images.