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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I've never seen this picture before??

« on: October 21, 2013, 04:08:42 PM »

Thank you so much guys! I'm glad this isn't all in my head. This site and its contributors are amazing and I will absolutely keep you posted on how everything turns out.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I've never seen this picture before??

« on: October 21, 2013, 02:52:54 PM »

No URL for where the picture is supposed to be, just my home page address. I did the website through my broker's templates. It's pretty basic. I'm no techie, so I'm not sure what you mean by "left something behind". If you'd like to check it out, it's www.realestatetlc.com. I clicked on everything and can't find what they're talking about. Like I said, it's the most basic of basic, nothing fancy. And there's no reason why I would have pictures of animals on a site designed to sell houses   

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I've never seen this picture before??

« on: October 21, 2013, 02:42:01 PM »

Not quite. The letter states "Attached is a copy of the image(s) in question along with the usage found on your company's website." However, they only provided a picture of what they said I posted on my website. It goes on to say "Usage: Web - Corporate or promotional site" "Placement: Secondary page" Release Information: No release, but release may not be required." Then under "Screen Capture" is a blurry image of what I think they're saying is my website, but it's not. 

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Getty Images Letter Forum / I've never seen this picture before??

« on: October 21, 2013, 01:29:24 PM »

I am a Realtor, which means that I am "self-employed" and maintain every aspect of my business myself. I recently started receiving letters from Getty Images addressed to my broker's Legal Department with my name on it; ie: Legal Department/Broker's Name - My Name/Broker's Address. It's probably worded the same way every else's letter is so I won't go into that. I'm having an issue with the fact that they are sending me letters stating that I've been using a picture on my website that I've never even seen before! It's a picture of a dog and cat sitting next to each other, nothing at all do to with real estate. I've been doing some research and every blog and post I've seen says that the first thing to do upon receipt of this letter is remove the image. How can I remove something that was never there? It seems that the majority of people have used one of their images unintentionally, but what happens in my situation?
When I received the first letter, I kind of laughed it off because it was so ridiculous that some company was going to try to con me out of $800 for a picture that I've never even seen before. I figured they'd get the hint that I'm not naive and it would go away. I was wrong. I received another letter 30 days later telling me I had better respond. I'm not laughing anymore. I'm not afraid that anything will happen to me, because I did nothing wrong. I am, however, irritated that they are making false accusations and threatening to sue me for something that never happened. How do I make it stop?