Messages

1

Legal Controversies Forum / Sane Approach to Copyrights

« on: October 19, 2012, 10:22:44 AM »

As a content creator and user, I have a vested interest in intellectual property and the way it's used. I support the right of creators to earn from their work and feel that some kind of governance is needed (but not the kind of mindless, baseless threats routinely issued by Getty et al). I just received information this week about a new Copyright Alert System that notifies users when they are infringing by educating (without threatening) them. Take a look at this and see what you think:
http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2012/10/a-sensible-approach-to-the-copyright-alert-system/
I'll be blogging about this myself when I've had the opportunity to delve a little deeper, but I thought you folks might find this noteworthy. I haven't found any other references to this development on the ELI forums thus far.

2

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Haters

« on: August 10, 2012, 03:10:30 PM »

Matt, Just so you know, I did not approve the comment on my blog. The guy didn't have any credibility (no gravatar, links). His name and email didn't match. Essentially, he was spouting off anonymously. If you don't have the balls to reveal yourself, you're not getting any notice in my blog and he can just piss in the wind, as you say ;-)

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Haters

« on: August 10, 2012, 02:40:37 PM »

I'll get it started: http://wp.me/p1S8Jh-1F

4

Getty Images Letter Forum / Haters

« on: August 10, 2012, 11:37:01 AM »

It's funny. Since I started blogging about this, I've gotten so much support, I didn't account for blow-back by haters. Today, this comment was posted by in response to my first entry:

"I have absolutely ZERO sympathy for you. Your’re ranting because you got caught. Theft is theft. The fact that you are a small business is completely irrelevant other than the fact that if you were a big business like Facebook or Amazon your fee for that image would have been ten times greater. Consider yourself lucky you only have to pay $980 for your theft. If it were up to my attorneys in this matter, your fee would be much higher."

I also noticed some activity, with referrals back to my blog from this URL:
http://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=851284

Clearly, there are people (primarily photographers) who feel strongly that people like me should be strung from the highest tree.

It's amazing to me that so many people live in a black and white world. But I'm glad I opened this door and let the light shine in from my little corner. I hope it helps.

5

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: An Experiment Against Getty

« on: August 10, 2012, 10:15:33 AM »

Hi Folks! Just wrote to my senators. Feel free to copy and paste if you like:

Dear Sen. XXX,

I am writing to bring to your attention an egregious practice of habitual extortion against small businesses by the photo archive company known as Getty Images. These people search web sites for images that may or may not be theirs, and threaten people like myself, demanding huge amounts of money for damages and copyright violations without any proof of their claims. This is not an isolated incident. Thousands of small businesses are continually harassed by these people without cause or evidence.

Getty Images' abuse of copyright law to attempt extortion of funds from honest small business owners like myself is predatory and a huge waste of time and resources, having to answer to unsubstantiated charges and defending our businesses and reputations.

I would be happy to provide you with further information and resources to pursue this. I sincerely hope someone will. This has depleted the energies of thousands of people, hindering the productivity and quality of life honest, hard-working business people.

Thanks for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

6

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another Victim

« on: August 10, 2012, 09:52:08 AM »

Thanks for the advice. I have amended my latest letter:

"Dear Ms. Davis,
I have acted in good faith to resolve this matter. You have not satisfied the burden of proof for your claim and I will therefore consider this matter closed.
Any further contact will be deemed harassment and  I will refer this matter to my attorney if you do not cease and desist."

I'll be back with more as the story unfolds ;-)

7

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another Victim

« on: August 09, 2012, 04:22:19 PM »

Thanks, Mulligan! My fear has indeed been neutralized by knowledge.

When I saw the last email from Getty arrive on my iPhone, I waited until I was in front of my computer, seated and calm, to read it. And it was nothing; she just forwarded her previous email.

When I got the Fedex envelope today, it was clear that everything I've been told is spot on. They've got nothing but tenacity and ill will. No proof of copyright is or will be offered. So here's what I'm writing back:

"Dear Ms. Davis,
I have acted in good faith to resolve this matter. You have not satisfied the burden of proof for your claim and I will therefore consider this matter closed.
Kindly refrain from any further contact with me or I will refer this matter to my attorney."

Signed by me and cc'ing Matt and Oscar.

Having enjoyed a recent victory on a different front (an insurance company, where I got an unexpectedly excellent outcome after having written a letter to the right person), I feel a lot stronger. And knowing I can always go to a pro if it gets to be more than I can handle (and so far, so good; the original letter was the scariest part of this whole mess) helps me maintain my resolve. I really appreciate the support.

8

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another Victim

« on: August 09, 2012, 02:51:22 PM »

Today I received Janea Davis' reply to my letter by Fedex. They have no intention of providing proof of copyright "at this stage". There is no further call to action; she simply says it could be a lot worse if they looked back and determined the number of years this image had been in use, providing me all kinds of benefits which were unpaid. Huh boy. So here's my question: do I respond or ignore this? Is there an end game, or does this just go on forever?

9

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another Victim

« on: August 07, 2012, 05:02:46 PM »

Here's my latest blog post: http://wp.me/p1S8Jh-1x Hope you enjoy it and feel free to share it with other victims and potential victims ;-)

10

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another Victim

« on: August 01, 2012, 03:30:47 PM »

Thanks to all for the affectionate abuse ;-) I have spoken to Matt and I will do all of my due diligence, answer Getty with a physical letter (all of their contact to me has been through email, which apparently is a new strategy to save money on freely harassing small businesses) and I will cc Matt and Oscar on the letter to let them know I'm not taking this lying down. I will be updating my blog with the latest in this saga (once I've finished doing my research and letter-writing). I'm not afraid to stand up to these people and I will fight them. Stay tuned!

11

Getty Images Letter Forum / Another Victim

« on: July 27, 2012, 12:15:42 PM »

http://graphicdetailnj.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/getty-me-outta-here/