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Messages - Greg Troy (KeepFighting)

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826
They are not going to sue you over one image.  A complaint letter campain should make them go away, it did for me. Copies of all of my letters that can be used for guides may be found here:
http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/an-experiment-against-getty/

Don't copy them or Getty will know.  Relax, they are just trying to panic you into paying.

827
I too find it rather interesting that Getty would use a company not properly licensed to do the job requested of them.

But then again remember that this is the company (Getty) who currently has a class-action lawsuit against them in Israel for using Marot Image to send out demand letters when apparently they had no right to do so as well as sending out demand letters for public domain images here in the states. With a history of unethical business practices this company has while it may be somewhat shocking it's not too surprising.

828
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Letter from Masterfile
« on: January 22, 2013, 03:50:15 PM »
You also had mentioned that the web designer said that all images were registered or free, can he tell you which case the image in question was and provide the documentation to you on the image?

830
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here we go! Got my letter!
« on: January 21, 2013, 10:26:10 PM »
The complaint route seems to work, but make sure you don’t threaten anything that you are not truly willing to do or they will see you don’t mean what you say and continue to harass you.

Don’t worry about the deadline, it is designed to do exactly what it is doing to you now and make you panic, it means nothing plain and simple.  It is not for you to prove your innocence, it is for them to prove your guilt and it sounds like a de minimis case at best (I am not a lawyer and Oscar may tell me I’m wrong) and Oscar recently shared a wonderful case Davis v. The Gap where it said that de minimis is not infringement at all and tossed it out.  You bought the template, even if not the license, believing that any pictures in the template were part of the fee.

Again, Getty has never sued anyone in the states over one image.  The last case they fought was Getty v. Advernet filed Mar 2009 and settled in June 2011 which was over 35 images, Getty was suing for 24k plus legal fees.  They won this case by default when Advernet could no longer afford to fight.  The court looked at the testimony and evidence presented in the trial thus far and ruled that Getty would get no monies as there were issues with every single registration  negating them from being able to collect anything.  This is why Getty will not provide proof of claim because they don’t have any on the vast majority of their images.

Look at my letters and use them as guides, do not copy them or sections of them as Getty will spot it and call you on it, they most likely remember them all too well.  They did call someone out for coping parts of one of Matthews letters so they know and keep tract.


Well Greg you've given me some things to think about.  And options to pursue.  I have a PC guy who has some software that may be able to scan my crashed drive for the template and licence should they be there.  I would like to work out all options, but I feel strong armed to respond to Getty with money in unreasonable time frames.  For example, I have until the 24th to pay $820.00 or the deal is off.  It is difficult to meet their deadlines.  For example, they mailed my first letter January 5.  I did not get it from post office until January 17 - leaving me 2 days to panic and react (14 days). 

I think I may go the complaint route .... They should provide info that they do have rights to the image if they request that I in turn provide proof I have a license to display it.

And, aren't they totally clogging up the jurisprudence system in Washington for $1000.00 cases?  Can the court there handle the demand, and do they want to try to handle the demand?  Seems to me hundreds of people would be dragged to court there monthly - maybe more.         

       

831
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here we go! Got my letter!
« on: January 21, 2013, 09:34:40 PM »
Not quite, I had several letters of correspondents between Getty and myself which are all available for viewing in the Experiment Against Getty thread but the last letter that I received from Getty was there threat saying that they were going to escalate this to their legal Department. I responded with this letter:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/103914504/1-8-Letter-to-Getty-07-03-12-Redacted

Included with that last letter was a letter that they would have to include to NCS collection agency should they try sending it there which would kick it right back to Getty and I also launched a complaint letter campaign against them filing complaints with the Washington state Attorney General's office, the Ohio State Attorney General's office, the Washington state Better Business Bureau, my Congressman, my Senator and the FTC.

Also included in my letter was a promise that they should pass along to their outside counsel Timothy McCormack that if I should receive so much is one word from Mr. McCormack or any of his paralegals without all the proof that I had reasonably been requesting that there would be complaint letters filed against Mr. McCormack with all of the same agencies listed above as well as the Washington, Idaho and Oregon State Bar associations where Mr. McCormack is licensed to practice.

There are also copies of all of my complaint letters, Getty's responses in my replies to their responses available in the thread mentioned above as well. After I sent out these letters and became a major time suck and pain in the asked to Getty I have not heard a word from them since their last letter saying they were going to escalate nine months ago. Also immediately after my campaign started in they saw I meant exactly what I said my online claim status with Getty changed from click continue to make payment or something like that to the status of This Claim Is No Longer Available for Online Payment . It still says this today, which is why the consensus is they are done with me as they would have a hard time taking me to court and demanding money when they have made it impossible for me to settle the claim should I ever take a hard hit to the head and be stupid enough to want to.

Getty also reads these forms and they know that should I hear anything from them I am now prepared to do far worse than I did before and am prepared to do it at a moments notice as I have complaint letters ready to go which I update with new information whenever I find it as well as a means now to have them hand-delivered personally bypassing the interns and secretaries, to my Senator, Congressman, FTC and possibly the Washington state Attorney General and the Congressional research service.

Now you see why Robert and Matthew lovingly call me "FreakShow". I don't take kindly to extortion and I fight back hard :)

I'm guessing Greg that you were escalated and started getting letters from their attorney, and then you started getting letters from a collection agency ....?  And that is where you are now .... wondering what will be in mail, tomorrow...?   

If you all joke around that is fine by me.  Eases the stress of the situation.     

And I really do appreciate your replies, attention, and support ....  !!!!!

832
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here we go! Got my letter!
« on: January 21, 2013, 09:02:34 PM »
Thank you!

I know that it is all in fun, we are all one big family and we have fun with each other.  I laugh every time he says it too me.

2) Matthew and Robert start calling you "Freakshow"  ;)

Please wear that "Freakshow" badge with honor. It's all good IMHO.
 ;)

Freak!

833
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here we go! Got my letter!
« on: January 21, 2013, 09:02:01 PM »
I would not offer more than 200.00 and make that contingent on them providing proof of claim.

Thank you for links Greg and your experiences so far ... I should post mine too for others to consider ... 

Well I guess my offering them $200.00 and their rejection was good on my part.  I could reply and offer them $300.00 just to make it look good ... as they are likely to reject that.  And the fact that I 'may have a license' would be a kick in their pants if they went to the trouble of suing over one image and then 'lost!' They need to factor that into their rubric of pursuit in my case.   

The image in question is patented to the photographer.  http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=greg+pease&Search_Code=TALL&PID=Upt2CigPIGv9NuH2DwQv-O7VI&SEQ=20130121204246&CNT=25&HIST=1   But Getty is not mentioned in the patent ... 

.... So, if the collection agency must go away on request, because this is not a bad legitimate dept, I may as well go with the three years.  Any letters I get anyway, I will promptly "return to sender - not at this address!"   

You say Greg is not past the three year threshold yet.  Is anyone else past it and also left a report of their case with play-by-plays on the site here?

* ...   

     

834
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here we go! Got my letter!
« on: January 21, 2013, 08:59:43 PM »
I know that it is all in fun, we are all one big family and we have fun with each other.  I laugh every time he says it too me.

2) Matthew and Robert start calling you "Freakshow"  ;)

Please wear that "Freakshow" badge with honor. It's all good IMHO.
 ;)

835
Either way they are going to suffer some serious butt hurt, they should stock up now on ointment.

Unfortunately, I agree with Oscar that a settlement is likely on the way.

But, as Robert says, I too would like to see Getty burned to the ground over this.

836
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here we go! Got my letter!
« on: January 21, 2013, 08:34:44 PM »
You get just a wee bit more agressive and you get two things:

1) Getty runs away less in less than two months.

2) Matthew and Robert start calling you "Freakshow"  ;)

and just to be clear, Gregs' case has not yet reached the 3 year mark, so his case is not technically finished, although it's the general consensus that he won't be hearing from them again, but he did address the issue just a wee bit more aggressively than most...  ;D

837
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here we go! Got my letter!
« on: January 21, 2013, 08:25:32 PM »
The three years Robert and I refer to our the statute of limitations from the time you receive your first letter that Getty has to file a lawsuit, again it is a moot point as Getty has never filed a lawsuit over a single image violation here in the states.

838
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here we go! Got my letter!
« on: January 21, 2013, 08:24:34 PM »
I agree with Robert's statements. It doesn't matter what you say or what you do the only thing Getty wants his money. As Robert says you can retain Oscar and uses defense letter program and after that point you will never receive anything directly from Getty again, you can send a letter telling them to pound sand and wait out your three-year statute of limitations dealing with the occasional letters and harassment, or you can fight them and make them leave you alone and move on to easier prey. I chose the last option.

My story start to finish.

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/got-my-getty-letter-thank-you-for-this-site/

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

"penalty"???? no it's not a penalty!! or a "fine"....it's a bullshit claim....they don't care if it came with a template, they don't care if your Hd crashed...they want your money PERIOD. They have NEVER sued over 1 image... My case from start to finish..

I have a license for the image, they threatened me as well, I hired Oscar to draft a letter, heard from them once with a "lowered settlement offer", I declined....the 3 years came and went...end of story..

generally speaking the other stories are basically the same, people either pay them to go away ( thus letting Getty win) or they don't pay ( some hire Oscars services) those that don't pay simply wait for the 3 years to pass and it's over with..

839
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: New Topic: "ELI After Dark"
« on: January 21, 2013, 07:53:58 AM »
LOL! ;D

840
I am currently working on this as time permits but there is a lot of information to go through. I am working on the links pertaining to Getty issues currently. Perhaps someone would like to volunteer to go through the threads and find relevant links pertaining to masterfile issues, Canadian letter recipients, issues related to hotlinking, public domain images and so forth.

These are all on my to do list but will be done in my spare time which isn't a lot.

@S.G. I fully support some sort of FAQ, but I don't support wasting ones time creating it, knowing that most newbies are just going to post the infamous question "got letter, now what?"... I think maybe a better approach would be a sticky post containing the "must read" threads, which would cover anything that would be in the FAQ, plus other general stuff, then when we get the newbie question we can simply reply with a link to the must read stuff..

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