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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: First Masterfile Letter...Let's get started.

« on: February 23, 2012, 05:03:15 PM »

Thanks for the great responses.

I'm sort-of at a crossroads now....The information I have gathered tells me that Masterfile is a bit harder to beat and even if I send a response letter with $150 offer, they will decline and continue with their original claim.  I am also seeing many posts that state Masterfile does not normally take single image infringements to court.

Since my issue is a single image, is a response letter with a settlement offer really the best here, or just ignore it and hope it doesn't go to court? 

Thanks again...

2

Getty Images Letter Forum / First Masterfile Letter...Let's get started.

« on: February 22, 2012, 03:35:43 PM »

First I want to thank all of you for investing so much of your time on this site.  As a small business owner, I know how valuable time is and your help is greatly appreciated. 

Two weeks ago I received a certified FedEx delivery from Masterfile.  The letter claims that I have used one of their images on my website and that I need to send them $ 4,830 or they will initiate a lawsuit for copyright infringement.

Here are the facts:

In 2008, I was starting my own business.  After designing my own company logo in Microsoft Publisher, a friend of mine mentioned that it would look better if there was a picture of the earth behind it.  I went out to Google images and grabbed the first generic earth picture I saw.  I used Microsoft Publisher to put my logo over-top of the earth and combined them to create one .jpg image.

I was amazed that a single image could be worth 5k but after all the research I have done on this site, I now understand how crazy this claim really is.

I am thinking of using Oscar Michelen's Letter Program but don't seem to be able to access the link.   It errors out on a 404 - Page not found.

Has anyone else had this problem? 

Any Suggestions?