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« on: January 30, 2013, 03:26:09 PM »
Funny your saying "as an IT person". Honestly, I don't think Oscar is really a bit "IT" sort. The letter mignt contain some sort of legal boilerplate, but really not so much.
I think the letter program goes like this:
1) You hire Oscar under letter program and then send all relevant information to Oscar's office. An assistant might be the one things get sent to, but that person is in Oscars office.
2) Oscar might have some conversation with you to clarify whatever might need clarification.
3) Oscar reviews the facts of the case based on the information you provided him and then drawing on his expertise in copyright law and his knowledge of Getty's history and practices, writes *a letter tailored to your specific circumstances*.
4) Because Oscar is representing you and contacted Getty on your behalf, Getty may no longer contact you. If they wish to negotiate further, they must contact *Oscar*. This is US law-- once you have an attorney involved Getty can't go around your attorney and contact you. (For many people, this is one of the major benefits of the program.)
5) Often, Getty makes no further contact. At. All. Not even to Oscar.
6) Sometimes Getty will make further contact- but they have to contact Oscar. They know Oscar is familiar with the law, what typical judgments are and so know that some of the fear tactics aren't going to work. I *think* the letter program covers a 2nd letter *if necessary*. This 2nd letter almost never happens because Getty usually drops it the moment they know that they are dealing with Oscar instead of someone they can scare into sending $800-$1000. Moreover, Getty knows that if they do ultimately file a case, and the court rules against them in a copyright case, the court can also award the defendant legal costs. So even though they like to try to strike fear in the hearts of letter recipients by telling you how much you could lose, they know losing a legal case could be very expensive for them too.
7) Any letter beyond 2 would be extra money for the letter program recipient. If Getty actually files a lawsuit-- once again, that would be a cost.
Oscar or others can correct if I've mis-represented the letter program. But this has been my impression. It's designed to give Getty Letter recipients a good value without suggesting that Oscar would through himself in body and soul to the point of taking your case to the US Supreme Court at the price of writing a letter.
So: Hypothetically, if your case is such that Getty would find it worth while to pursue -- which they might if it turned out you happened to be someone who copied the full Getty portfolio and was offering illicit licenses for free or something like that-- then Oscars program is going to get you a letter and possibly some advice about your case. But as a practical matter, for the typical letter recipient, Oscar writing a letter tailored to their case, Getty goes hunting for other game. But no one can really promise this will happen. After all: Getty still gets to decide what Getty is going to do, and they could suddenly behave differently. Not likely-- but not impossible either.
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