Messages

1036

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Masterfile letter in the mail

« on: February 14, 2013, 10:41:13 AM »

4000.00 divided by 4 years of use...typical number, nope not a scam per se..they want your money, they are notr required to submit a DMCA takedown notice unless you have a "registered agent" which you probably don't...

ignore or repsond??? Get educated by reading the forums, Masterfile are a nasty bunch, and they have filed lawsuits, if after reading the forums you're still unsure of how to proceed you might consider an ELI support call, hiring Oscar to handle this for you, or posting questions that haven't already been addressed on the forum.. most questions have been addressed many times...just a matter of research.

1037

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Getty Demand Letter, part 2

« on: February 14, 2013, 06:36:24 AM »

Thanx for the compliment, little jabs of humor go a long way, and after you're done with Getty or the 3 years SOL, you can begin to look at the whole thing a bit differently, and you too will see just how crazy and stupid these troll are.......we like to reference Greg " as "Freak Show" but animal certainly applies!

1038

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: New Case

« on: February 13, 2013, 08:30:32 PM »

This really has my interest:
"I have seen a case where it did go to court so its a remote possibility."

I need to know what case this is, and why we don't know about it...unless we do know about it..i'm curious..

1039

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: New Case

« on: February 13, 2013, 06:00:33 PM »

We just got one last week. I'll hold back on providing details of who's after us... I've been over this site and forums and will respond based on the guidance and case data provided in these forums. I'm leaning toward the defense letter if things go south. What I haven't seen however is this:

Each troll is different without you naming them, it will be hard to give advice...just sayin'..you need to help us help you

1. If in the rare case they do take you all the way to court, can they get more than the original demand they are asking for? Legal fees, interest incurred over time, etc.....? Besides the inconvenience, what's the risk beyond having to pay something determined by the Judge?

yes, and they will demand more, legal fees, ect....again depending on "who" has much to do with the risk factor, as well as the number of images involved.
2. This has to be filed in federal court, correct? What does this mean, do they have to come to my state, would I have to go there?
yes, federal court in your location.
3. I know its worst case scenario but I want to be prepared. I have seen a case where it did go to court so its a remote possibility.
care to name this case, so we can better comment?

4. I don't understand the 3 year statute. Could I literally do nothing for 3 years before they will take action, if they take action?
they have 3 yrs from finding the image to take legal action, once 3 years passes they can do nothing legally

5. My approach will likely be to respond asking for all the evidence of proof, offer a settlement in good faith, assume it will be rejected then ignore.
totally your choice, but rest assured "whomever" the troll is won't ignore it or let it go, they will continue to be a pest...although if it's one image it won't go to court.

Lastly, thanks to everyone here, both contributors and site owners for standing up to this friggin' scourge. At a minimum I'll be making a donation to the site.

HH9

1040

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Getty Demand Letter, part 2

« on: February 13, 2013, 11:40:00 AM »

Well if you're that pissed, you might want to respond telling them the matters is closed, and if they continue to hound you, you will file complaints with the AG, etc...look at Greg Troys post which we refer to as "going Greg Troy on them" a complaint with the AG probably won't stop them, but they'll have to spend some time replying, and time is money in my eyes..

1041

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Getty Demand Letter, part 2

« on: February 12, 2013, 04:21:35 PM »

Personally I wouldn't send them jack, save the postage!! ( you're on a budget) I would reply that you do not need to nor are required to send them anything, but will gladly supply the documents in court... Thats the game they play, they won't supply proof of anything until it gets to court...it never goes to court.. they will either call you out, in whaich case you'll have to spend some time in court , or they won't, which is the likely scenario...

Better yet if you feel you need to respond, tell them the court records are public knowledge and they are free to go get them, you won't be supplying anything and the matter is considered closed...

1042

UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Other companies selling the same picture that Getty wants me to pay £900 for!?!

« on: February 12, 2013, 03:37:02 PM »

exactly what I meant, innocent until proven guilty! If I send you an invoice for services are you just going to pay me? are you going to pay me when I say, "well I performed the services, it's up to you to show differently" are you going to pay me?? doubtful, same thing with Getty.. They may have the image "watermarked" but this alone doesn't prove anything, except that it's watermarked. we already know that that image is available elsewhere, so the watermark means nada..

I agree no one on this forum condones copyright infringement, the vast majority of us ( me included) are content creators and artists, we get it....I personally fel that in some maybe even most cases Getty does deserve to collect for the infringements, but they certainly don't deserve upwards of 1000.00 for images that they clearly sell on their site and nearly identical images are available on other stock site for a few bucks. They do not have the right to make up the rules and or numbers as they go along... Perhaps if they had a clue and requested numbers that were reasonable and "fit the crime: as it were, they would be more successful... What most of this boils down to is not even a money issue, it's a moral issue, but Getty has none of those and are only trying to enhance their bottom line..

1043

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty Settlement Purposes Only Letter - 3rd Letter

« on: February 12, 2013, 11:17:37 AM »

Couldn't agree more with Stingers statement. We've actually seen replies from Getty images, stating, that the responce was clearly copied from ELI, doing research and drafting your own original letter, will go much further, and as stinger points out, one day somkeones letter might just be compelling enough to get a second look.

1044

UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Other companies selling the same picture that Getty wants me to pay £900 for!?!

« on: February 11, 2013, 10:42:43 AM »

They won't supply proof, and even if they did, that doesn't mean you did not purchase the image from the other site..contrary to what getty will tell you, it is up to them, and them only to prove you are guilty, it's not up to you to show them proof of anything.... They always say it's "your responsability to show proof of purchase" clearly this is not the case, but just the opposite. They prey on peoples ignorance of law, in the hopes that most will just cut a check....

1045

Hawaiian Letters & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Glen Carner of Copyright Services International "expands services"

« on: February 10, 2013, 08:30:47 PM »

It pays to check in with our family of trolls once in a while..

1046

Hawaiian Letters & Lawsuits Forum / Glen Carner of Copyright Services International "expands services"

« on: February 10, 2013, 08:06:02 PM »

*NEW EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT* : AD MONETIZATION
Are your images being used non-commercially or are not appropriate for our accounts team or legal representation? Do you see your images shared on the internet with no credit or copyright information given? CSI is experimenting with new technologies that turn copyright infringements into paid advertising spaces while crediting the photographer and linking to their website!  We are looking for photographers who have a significant number of infringements to be part of this cutting-edge project. Send a sample image that is "all over the internet" image to [email protected] to be considered for this revolutionary approach to dealing with copyright infringements.

*NEW EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT* : AD MONETIZATION
Are your images being used non-commercially or are not appropriate for our accounts team or legal representation? Do you see your images shared on the internet with no credit or copyright information given? CSI is experimenting with new technologies that turn copyright infringements into paid advertising spaces while crediting the photographer and linking to their website!  We are looking for photographers who have a significant number of infringements to be part of this cutting-edge project. Send a sample image that is "all over the internet" image to [email protected] to be considered for this revolutionary approach to dealing with copyright infringements.

http://copyrightservicesinternational.com/services.htm

1047

UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: found on another site

« on: February 10, 2013, 01:35:22 PM »

I rest my case....here's a quote from the very same op, and as suspected it's a photographer, who has problems making money from selling his/her images

"Semantics. I sue people when I identify my images have been stolen - money due to me has been subverted due to the theft on my image for their own purposes. 'Copyright infringement' may be a technical term, but for the owner of the image it is simple theft - and fortunetly - because it IS CI makes it a breeze to prosecute when the money is not paid.

'Harshly' in terms of the original claim by the copyright holder is usually upheld, and Getty (and Corbis) as masters at extracting funds claimed for. It usually is within the corporate environment - but as consumers become publishers, they are finding what the real world has in store.

Strict proof is not required in cases like these. You don;t take a taxi, arrive at the destination then argue the price on the meter. You negotiate if this is possible and agree a price. There will be a published schedule of fees for licencing, and a seperate set for those images NOT licenced prior to usage. If the user does not wish to be fingered, they don;t steal anothers product (whether knowing or unknowingly).

1048

P2P/BitTorrent Lawsuits Forum / Re: Judge Wright is fed up with Brett Gibbs’s and Prenda, hints at incarceration.

« on: February 10, 2013, 06:41:07 AM »

Judge Wright starts his order with enumerating various Gibbs’s abuses, then proceeds with an angry tirade, condemning trolls’ “business model,” specifically the weakness of the “evidence” that is used to harass their victims with the purpose of extorting settlements from their targets (including many innocents):

Judge Wright should be introduced to Linda Ellis!

1049

UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: found on another site

« on: February 10, 2013, 06:36:29 AM »

Probably a photogrpaher making this staement, the FACT of the matter GETTY very rarely sues over copyright infringement, a quick browse through pacer proves this. This does not mean they don't sue or are not litigious, because they might be in different areas, but not when it comes to copyright.. Notice the poster of this shows nothing to back up any of his/her statements. If there is a site we can see the lawsuit history in the UK I'b be interested to see it, as PACER only shows US cases.. I realize the laws are a bit different over there, and there is the chance that Getty files more, depending on if they have better chances of winning, clearly hee in the states they have very weak case at best.

1050

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Letter from Masterfile

« on: February 09, 2013, 06:51:11 AM »

That thing about the old book is interesting indeed, if those images are in the public domain, and he photographs said images, are "his copies" no longer in the public domain? I'm guess not, and I'm guessing if he registered them, they would be deemed invalid. perhaps Oscar can shed some light on this..