Messages

526

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Sample replies? Best course of action to take?

« on: September 14, 2014, 06:55:39 AM »

First, you're a fool if you take "all the crap proving it" at face value.. I can easily send you the title for the golden gate bridge stating I own it, would you believe that?... I didn't think so. Heed my advise, go search the registration database for yourself..

I won't get ito the hotlinking question...simple answer is loads of people do, it, hell every sigle image in google image search is hotlinked.

If you are a business with guest writers, you need to spend some business cash on getting a registered agent, if you had done so before hand, you would not be finding yourself in this situation.

You can search Pacer.gov for lawsuits filed by this artist, this will give you an indication if he is likely to sue..also look at the law firm, are they an IP lawfrm, or just a bunch of ambulance chasers?? also could be a clue.

527

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Sample replies? Best course of action to take?

« on: September 12, 2014, 10:24:14 AM »

search the copyright office database, see if the image is registered, if not they have 3 months from the date of the letter to properly register it, lest they will never collect very much IF they file a suit against you.. Also look to see what this images usually sells for, is that price inline to what they are demanding? I don't think I would respond the way you are thinking, browse the forum, there are some good examples of ways to respond, that will not put you in a bad light, but will make them think twice about following through.

528

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Using TinEye (or similar) to find other offending images.

« on: September 11, 2014, 12:17:57 PM »

exactly what stinger states is best policy..however you can also use the following for reverse image searches.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/google-reverse-image-search/

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808?hl=en

The problem with reverse searches, is yes it will find the images, ut it will find them from all sources..bottom line is if you do not possess a license, and aren't sure if they are public domain or creative commons, you should remove them. And don't make the mistake som many before you have, "royaly free" does NOT equal "free"

529

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Need help! Mary Evans picture library

« on: September 05, 2014, 09:13:52 PM »

It's also worth noting that this company is in London, therefore making it much slimmer of a chance they will sue anyone in the US. I doubt Picscout can sue, I even doubt they have any authority to try to collect any monies.

530

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Need help! Mary Evans picture library

« on: September 04, 2014, 05:02:39 PM »

Looks like Picscout ( aka getty) is really ramping up the sending out of letters. I just might have to sign up for an account at picscout to see the inner workings.. Thing is I highly doubt picscout has the authority to collect on any images, as Picscout clearly does not own the images, they only have a contract with the photog/artist to scan for infringements..

531

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Need an opinion on a letter I received.

« on: September 02, 2014, 02:04:53 PM »

When you state "I sourced the images" does that mean you obtained a license to use them? Just not having a website or taking down the site will not make this go away. You really should have gotten educated before" you contacted them, as you basically threw the ball on their side of the court, and they have already come back at you.. DO NOT speak with them, as if you are not educated you will likely tell them things they can use against you.. as far as your name and address, they probably pulled it form the domain whois info, which is likely outdated. Safe photos are either ones you create yourself, ones in the "public domain" ( not the same as royalty free!) , images that are availalbe via creative commons or images you obtain a license to use by purchasing them.

532

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Is posting links copyright infringement?

« on: August 26, 2014, 09:52:04 AM »

as long s it hosted elsewhere, you're golden..  You could contact them and tell them is no infringement, cite the perfect 10 case and advise them if they continue to persue YOU will consider filing suit against them!

533

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Cephas letter

« on: August 25, 2014, 03:19:47 PM »

We would certainly like to see this letter and possibly report on it, with your permission.. We would redact anything that would identify you before posting it publicly.If interested, please scan in all pages of the letter and you can email them directly to me @ admin AT copyright-trolls.com. Once we see the letter we may be able to better assist you.

534

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Techdirt Reports Getty Images Sued for Sending Extortion Letter to IP Law Firm!

« on: August 23, 2014, 01:40:07 PM »

Funny thing is, most if not all of us active members here are content creators of some form or another, Getty and those other named copyright trolls, like to spew the BS that ELI is against copyright..Nothing could be further from the truth.. It's the heavy handed, fear tactics and general way they handle things, that pisses us off.

535

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Techdirt Reports Getty Images Sued for Sending Extortion Letter to IP Law Firm!

« on: August 23, 2014, 12:38:30 PM »

Welcome to the forum gentlemen! Not only does getty send out form letters without fact checking, when it gets escalated to Seattle Attorney Timothy B. McCormack they don't bother checking any fact either, they just raise the demand amount to another absurd level. As far as I am concerned the Washington State Bar Association, should pull his license to practice law. We've seen letters of images that were hotlinked ( as in your case) letters with images in the public domain, letters with images where the photographer has severed ties with Getty, letters where the images were licensed in good faith (as in my case), and even a letter form a US war veteran that was collecting cigarettes to pass out to other veterans.. Getty and their ilk need to be stopped.

536

UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Can we just 'bottom line' this ?

« on: August 23, 2014, 11:32:14 AM »

you're free to speak your mind here, and I won't be banning you.

537

UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Can we just 'bottom line' this ?

« on: August 23, 2014, 08:57:37 AM »

This forum is largely dead, simply because we don't get may UK users here to post, now where did anyone say you were "guilty", you wanted an easy answer, and there is none.each case is different with different avenues to fight.

538

UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Can we just 'bottom line' this ?

« on: August 23, 2014, 08:25:31 AM »

if the image was on a server, obviously it was "copied", and if that image is not in a password protected directory/folder, it's basically publicly facing and is an open target for many bots/ spiders /scrapers /snoopers / fuskers ect..including picscout.

539

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: U.S. Copyright Office casual reading

« on: August 23, 2014, 07:22:29 AM »

don't know about Alaska Stock, but it does mention monkeys and the fact that the copyright office can't/ wont register images created by monkeys, and other animals.. Apparently they can still register images from asses tho.

540

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Tom Schwabel - copyright equivalent of Nigerian scam

« on: August 23, 2014, 07:20:45 AM »

You are missing the point of everyone trying to help you here.  it is one thing to warn people to be careful and avoid using an image but you need to take the image down if you have not done so already, regardless of the value....it's not yours.  ELI tells everyone if you didn't take the photo, license the photo or know for sure it's in the public domain then DON'T use it. There is a world of difference in taking an image down, then fighting the good fight as opposed to your approach.  Just saying.....

hahaha, his web host removed the image for him..along with the entire site. I completely understand that sometimes people will do say things that are way over the top in the heat of the moment...perhaps the OP will rethink his posisition and come to the conclusion, that paying a "few hundred" bucks to a photographer is not only the right thing to do, but would also be the smart thing to do.