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Getty Images Letter Forum / Is the domain owner liable or the company represented on the domain?

« on: September 22, 2012, 12:09:18 PM »

I am a website consultant who works with a third party designer in India. One of our clients received the extortion letter and I have responded by removing the image, writing to Getty (fell on deaf ears of course)and they have started harassing the "owner" of the site who fortunately is a friend of mine. Something just occurred to me - the domain is still registered to my company even though her business is represented on the domain. Does that make me the owner and should they then only be speaking with me?

I have searched the forum for the answer but didn't find a thread addressing this issue. I would be really delighted to find out that I am the legally responsible entity because it would take the heat off of my client and allow me to fight this tooth and nail......

Thanks for any insight.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Previously posted my story....what do I do now?

« on: September 20, 2011, 11:53:53 AM »

@buddapi glad to have you here as a moderator. You have replied to my previous post (Getty Letter with a twist) and I am sure we all appreciate your time dedicated to helping those of us in this situation.

After receiving the letter sent to one of my web design clients I responded as advised here. Requesting proof that they actually owned the image in question (tiny image on a secondary page). Of course they refused to provide proof and in their reply they copied a patient of the clinic whose website we are referring. The patient's email address was in the signature of a testimonial on the website. Outrageous action and my follow-up letter to them stated such. Well they have now sent another letter to the website owner saying that "...the negotiation conversation with your third party has simply run its course and we are no longer willing to work with her." Of course, they have not mentioned their serious breach in copying the unrelated third party.

As an aside, although the photo in question (a man with a paper bag on his head) is currently licensed to GI, on their other site, istockphoto, they have a nearly identical image that you can purchase for 3 credits per year! About $3.60 per year! And they are asking for the ubiquitous $780!

If it were my website I would continue to fight them (and enjoy it!) and maybe even pursue damages for their unprofessional behavior but since it is a client's website I need to make it go away. With this in mind, although at this point I can ill afford it, I will likely have to engage Oscar. My question is what to do next? I see his email and telephone (although Matthew says no phone calls, the phone number for Oscar is still on the website) but am not sure what to include in the email requesting his services. Any advise from the moderators about how to proceed would be very helpful.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Getty Reply With A Twist

« on: September 01, 2011, 01:10:23 PM »

One of my web clients recently received the Getty letter demanding $780 for a thumbnail image on a secondary page (done by an Indian designer - innocently I might add). We immediately pulled the image down and wrote an apologetic letter to Getty while not admitting any liability. In my reply I asked for proof that they actually have the license rights and please to provide the date with which they signed the agreement with the photographer. To this they have replied:

Do you have a sales order number for purchase of a license that would allow display of the image of the [XYZ Company website]?  If so, please provide that to us so we may research its coverage.  If there is no license, and we have not been able to locate one that would allow display of the image on that website, the settlement amount must be paid on or before September 12, 2011.  After that time, we will direct our claim directly to [XYZ Company].

 
Obviously they are not willing to give up their dates or any information. Meantime I have found a nearly identical image on iStockphoto that sells for.....are you ready??  2 credits! $3.26 for one year! Now here comes the twist.......in the Getty correspondence they copied in a patient who had written a testimonial on the website in question! Because the website did not show a contact email address and merely has a contact form, they swiped the email address from an innocent third party and copied them on the correspondence demanding money! We are investigating how they got the email address but think it may have been in the background somewhere. Surely this would give me some legs in this situation? I hope so, since I am trying to fight this myself due to financial difficulties at the moment. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated before I draft my next reply.

Thank you.

Ellie