Messages

436

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Complaint from BWP Media USA

« on: November 23, 2013, 08:11:41 PM »

Welcome to the forums. First off you need to step back, calm down and take a deep breath. From your description your situation is nowhere near as bad as you think it is. While I agree with your statement that you should not have contacted them, at least not without educating yourself thoroughly first it still is not as bad as you are feeling.

Even if they were to sue you if you don't have the money you can't pay them. We're seeing a rash of letters from these people here in just the last week so we are all still kind of learning more about them and their tactics.

Keep reading the forms, educating yourself on the copyright law and asked specific questions on aspects you don't understand. It is hard to make recommendations when this company seems to have become very active again in just the last few weeks.

I would look into getting your DMCA safe harbor in place prior to putting your site backup. I also think that the courts would take into consideration the fact someone else uploaded this image on your site should you be taken to court.

I have some questions for you. Did you have any sort of disclaimer on your site limiting the content of what people may post or upload to it? What type of picture was this? (A picture of a sprinkler head, a car or a person)

Again, stay calm breathe deeply and relax, panicking will do you no good and will only get in the way of you educating yourself as to the copyright law. I would not contact them again or reply to them until you know more about the law in your situation so you do not say or do anything to make your situation worse. If you feel this is not an option for you I would contact a lawyer who specializes in copyright law. My recommendation would be Oscar as I doubt there is a lawyer out there who is dealt with and defended more copyright issues than Oscar.

437

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: "it was an honest mistake" says Getty Images

« on: November 23, 2013, 07:48:50 PM »

While I was pleased to see the verdict as well as the award in this case I do have mixed feelings about it. For the very reasons Robert has expressed I can see Getty using this to turn up the heat on letter recipients. When a recipient expresses innocent infringement Getty can now just say ignorance is no excuse look what happened to us and we got fined the maximum so pay us before we take you to court. I can see this being just another terror tactic Getty will use against letter recipients.

Of course I realize there is a world of difference in many factors between the average letter recipient and AFP and Getty Images which the average person will not know. I hope I am wrong about this but time will tell.

On the lighter side I can now refer to Getty Images as the company who has been convicted of willful infringement.

And let's not forget Mr. McCormack who I now can refer to as the copyright lawyer whose main client has been convicted of willful infringement. 

i'm sure Getty will appeal, on the grounds of "innocent infringement" or something along those lines. But just like Getty and Timothy B. McCormack constantly squack at letter recipients, "ignorance of the law is no excuse".

438

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Pinterest New Relationship With Getty Images

« on: November 23, 2013, 07:31:01 PM »

That's my policy now too lucy.

First Flickr, now Pinterest ... The Getty scourge has infected the interwebs. My policy is now to use my own photos or nothing at all.

439

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 22, 2013, 08:29:36 AM »

You can look at the letters between Getty and me as a guide on the way it may go.  Mine was pretty typical until I stopped them and made them go away. 

After their last letter escalating it up past the copyright compliance team I would have expected a letter(s) from NCS Solutions (collection agency) followed by a letter(s) from their outside council Mr. McCormack.

Here are the Letters between Myself and Getty Images:

http://www.scribd.com/my_document_collections/3777294

Here are copies of the complaint and follow up letters that I sent out along with any replies and follow-up responses. To date complaint letters have been sent to the Washington State Attorney General's Office, the Washington State Better Business Bureau, the Ohio State Attorney General’s Office, Congressman Michael Turner, Senator Rob Portman and the Federal Trade Commission.

http://www.scribd.com/my_document_collections/3777301

Hope this helps.

440

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 21, 2013, 08:32:58 AM »

Continue to read and learn so you know what each step in the three year process will be.  Develop a plan on how to handle each step and contingencies.  I did this and it took all the worry out of it.

When they sent their next letter I looked at it to see which one it was and I already had my response ready to go and sent it off.  I had/have plans for all situations I can think of them doing including trying to take my to court.  The harassment seems to have stopped when they reached the stage that triggered a complaint letter campaign for continuing to send demand letters and threaten escalation when I let them know I was willing to negotiate with them as long as they provided proof of their claim.

This plan took all the stress out of it, at least for me.  I even had a local copyright attorney who I kept up to speed on my situation ready to go if they tried to sue me. 

This may be a solution for you or if you do not want to deal with it, use Oscar and they can not contact you again.

441

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got my first letter, yay.

« on: November 21, 2013, 08:22:57 AM »

Also, make sure that your council is well versed in copyright law, we have seen too often lawyers people talk to recommending to pay when it looks like the case could be fought.  I am NOT a lawyer and the only person here to my knowledge who is a lawyer is Oscar, so talk my advise for what it's worth but you are not going to consult a brain surgeon for the best treatment for cancer. All I am saying is just make sure the lawyer you pick can deal with the cancer that is Getty.

442

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got my first letter, yay.

« on: November 20, 2013, 12:22:54 PM »

Lucia's response is spot on. Please keep us posted on what you decide to do. 

443

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Campaign to shed light on Getty's extortion tactics

« on: November 19, 2013, 08:16:07 PM »

You can make a difference and if you keep letting everyone know what you are doing and why other will join in and help.  Spread the word and keep fighting!

444

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another tale of attempted extortion

« on: November 12, 2013, 07:17:30 PM »

Great news and thanks for the update.  Hang in there!

445

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 12, 2013, 07:14:17 PM »

This may answer your question.

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/jonathan-klein-and-getty-images-a-history-of-questionable-business-practices/

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/jonathan-klein-and-getty-images-know-how-to-treat-their-contributors-not/

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/johnathan-klien-and-getty-images-do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do/

As far as what you can do, read this.

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/an-experiment-against-getty/

What kind of profiteering criminals are running their company? Is Getty where all the Enron thugs transferred to?  This is an outrage.

What can I do?

Thank you

446

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: getty image in free template -- still avaible for download

« on: November 06, 2013, 10:19:21 PM »

Copyright exists from the moment the picture is taken whether the image is registered or not so unless the image is so old that it has fallen into public domain or it's a public release government image then someone has rights to it.  Rights may be waived and the image made public.

You letter from Getty should contain the artist name, from there I would use that information and go here http://www.copyright.gov/records/ to look up if it is registered.

If an image is not registered it limits what can be sought in court but you should not really worry about as it is HIGHLY unlikely Getty would waste their time on your case.  Get screen shots of the free site and the TOS page you quoted.  I am not a lawyer but in my opinion if everything you have stated is correct this is a de minimus case with a 200.00 fine.  The federal courts would not be happy if Getty wasted the courts time over a 200.00 case.

447

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: getty image in free template -- still avaible for download

« on: November 06, 2013, 08:32:02 AM »

I would read the fine print on the site.  I have seen from other people here going through the same issue when they look at the fine print it says that there is no guarantee the images may not be copyrighted. 

From what I have seen Getty will go after the end user for $$$ and leave the person/site alone.  IMO this makes money for them so they don't go after the people spreading the "FREE" image.

In my case the image I received a letter for was on an individuals site, he put his name on it the image like it was his along with a title and placed it in a free public directory.  It appeared to be his image, got the letter and told Getty where i got it from and to show proof of claim since I had Getty and this other person claiming the image.  I continued to check the other site and before I stopped checking about 6 months later the image was still there.  I made note of this fact in my complaint letters to the Washington State Attorney General, BBB, FTC, Congressman, Senator etc.

Unless you take the image yourself there are no guarantees on anything, Getty gets sued at least once it seems like for selling images that are not theirs.

448

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Get getty letter, please help

« on: November 05, 2013, 08:41:02 AM »

If everything stated is correct and it were me I would seek out Oscar or an EXPERIENCED IP attorney.

Remove the images and don't use images that are not yours or you have licensed.  There are sites where you can find good images for just a few bucks and are not affiliated with Getty. ( www.Pond5.com for example).

449

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Small Business up against big Getty

« on: November 05, 2013, 08:32:04 AM »

WTF?!?  "Don't worry they'll drop it when they see it's not the same same picture.......they didn't drop it well you better settle then."  Does your lawyer work for Getty? 

Serious, that makes as much sense as Getty demanding payment from letter recipients and refusing to show they even have rights to the image in question.  If you are going to use an attorney you need to get one that specializes in IP law.

In my opinion I think you have very little to worry about, Getty does not go to court over single image cases 99.99999999999999999% of the time and rarely goes to court at all because their images are not registered properly in most cases and they really don't want to have the spot light put on and their business model.

450

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Social Media Contractor Who's Client Get's Letter From Getty's

« on: October 30, 2013, 02:04:01 PM »

I am pretty sure that you may request it and pay for it so your client won't be bothered.  If you email Oscars office they can answer your questions.