Messages

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Do I have to prove innocence? Interesting spot with Getty.

« on: August 03, 2012, 01:14:49 AM »

Hey guys, just a quick update if anyone is interested.


I replied to getty with the following letter.  (this letter is in response to gettys inquiry regarding a letter from the IRS stating/proving greenshire is not in fact a real hedge fund).


I honestly felt that the burden of proof is on them, not I.

"Thanks for the response Mr. Bieker, if the case goes to court, I will prove my innocence by supplying documents from the SEC, FIRNA, as well as my personal tax records which will show that there is no hedge fund titled "greenshire capital."

I am sorry that Getty disagrees with me, but I have neither the time, nor inclination to spend my time faxing documents, speaking to representatives, and making numerous unnecessary phone calls to the SEC, FIRNA, and IRS, simply to prove my innocence in this matter.

Getty's claim that the site was used for "profit" purposes is false.


Thanks,
Craig"

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Do I have to prove innocence? Interesting spot with Getty.

« on: July 31, 2012, 09:39:54 PM »

Hey Greg, thanks for the response, lol, yea, you nailed his/her name right on the head.

You know, this whole process with them does not really bother me, I have admitted no guilt and I have yet to pay them.  In fact they sent me one email that said "ok, how about 500?"

All I worry about, long term, is my credit health.  As is, my credit is glistening, and I would be sad if this got to collections and a mark was put on my credit.  I agree with the sentiment here that they will not sue, so I do not feel frightened about litigation, however I am interested in how the collections process goes...I have a theory, however.  PLEASE correct me if I am wrong (which I probably am, as I am not well versed in these things).

-6-12 months pass and I get a random contact from a collector asking if the debt is indeed a debt.

-I say, "no this is not a debt, I do not owe them money, this is a claim by them"

-collector says "fine" and returns to getty with my response.

-then getty decides whether to get a judgement on me, which is severely unlikely since it's one 500-800 dollar image.

Those are my thoughts, would love to hear yours.

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Do I have to prove innocence? Interesting spot with Getty.

« on: July 31, 2012, 03:26:26 PM »

Hey guys, thanks for the responses, here are some emails getty sent me, per your request.  The first email is the email they sent me after I asked for proof that the image is actually theirs..


"To clarify our position, Getty Images represents the photographer who owns the copyright in the imagery. This representation includes the privilege to license their intellectual property and the obligation to protect it from unauthorized use, known as copyright infringement. Rights Managed images, such as the one at issue, are exclusive to Getty Images and available for license only through our website.

The requested proof that we represent the copyright owner would be made apparent through discovery, should the matter reach the court. We have chosen to try to quickly close unauthorized use cases such as this by avoiding the burden and cost of litigation. As you know, registration are not required with respect to settlement, especially when the damages we seek are based on what Getty Images and its represented photographer have been injured as a result of Greenshire Capital, LLC’s unauthorized use and now seeks to be made whole. These damages are calculated by the lost licensing fees, including our costs of enforcement. Had Greenshire Capital, LLC not infringed on our represented photographer’s copyrights, we would not be attempting to recover these fees and the added efforts to pursue this unauthorized use matter.

You can confirm that this image is represented by Getty Images by going to www.gettyimages.com  and entering the image number 200534843-001, the image appears under the Photographers Choice brand. Getty Images is unable to provide further evidence at this time.
 
The terms of this settlement offer shall be kept confidential, except as may be required by law.  Getty Images expressly reserves all rights and remedies available under copyright law. Please let me know if you have further questions."


This is the letter I received from them after I asked them what steps do I need to take to prove to them that the website was purely for informational purposes (this is before I realized that the burden of proof should be on them since they are claiming it is a for profit endeavor)


"Dear Craig Davis,
 
In order to further review this matter, please forward your nonprofit determination letter from the IRS.  Once received, we will review accordingly.
 
Best regards,
 
xxxxxx"


As you can see, they have a person assigned to the case/claim, I made his/her name not readable because I didn't think it was right to air him out like that.  @Lucia, I like your idea.  I mean, I should have to prove to a judge my innocence, not them.  You are right, they are not a judge, just a company making a claim.  Thanks!

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Do I have to prove innocence? Interesting spot with Getty.

« on: July 30, 2012, 05:28:06 PM »

I concur with Robert and SG that if no proof is provided then I would not pay them. I think we would all like to see this correspondence, if you can email it to Robert or Matthew they will redact all personal information from the letter.

Hey Greg,

What correspondence would you like? beginning letter to current?

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Do I have to prove innocence? Interesting spot with Getty.

« on: July 30, 2012, 05:26:07 PM »

Hey guys, just to answer a question that ya'll asked.

The site was up and running for like 3 months.

Lets assume they prove the image is their image; they own the rights.  What next? Should I go thru the steps to then prove that my image was for informational purposes only and the site was in fact not advertising for an actual hedge fund?  I say this because in the letter I received it seemed the only reasons they are pissed is because they feel that the image was used in a for profit endeavor.

thanks for the help!

ps: I am in the process of writing a letter to ask them proof of image ownership.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Do I have to prove innocence? Interesting spot with Getty.

« on: July 29, 2012, 11:28:45 PM »

Hi, my name is Craig.  I received one of those famous getty letters demanding 700-800 bucks for a photo I posted on a website.  The website was a pretend business that I set up for informational purposes only.  The website made no money, in fact I had to pay like 40 bucks to 1and1.com to get it set up.  The business was a hedge fund, and getty claims that the pretend fund I set up was real, I wasnt using the image for information purposes, and they want to get paid!

They recently responded to my email with "get a letter from the IRS saying that this hedge fund isn't real."

But, isn't the burden of proof on them to prove it is real?  In order to be a hedge fund you have to register with all sorts of regulatory agencies, and a bit of paper work is involved. (SEC and whatnot).

I'm curious because I really don't want to have to call the SEC, call the IRS, jump through all these hoops, simply in order to prove my innocence.  It just seems pretty silly all the way around, and I'm not sure where to go from here.

I read some material on this site, and the main thing I took away was that if you ignore them, and they go to collections, never admit its a debt.  I never admitted there was a debt, and simply told them they were wrong.  I also shut down the website immediately.

Any advice helps.

Thanks,
Craig