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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Letter from Masterfile
« on: February 08, 2013, 04:56:31 PM »
Hello, everyone - Unemployed, here. Folllowing is a copy of an email I have received from Geoffrey Beal (if that is a real name) after I sent my initial response to their extortion letter:
WITHOUT PREJUDICE (for Settlement purposes only) FRE 408
February 4, 2013
VIA EMAIL
Re: Copyright Infringement
We are in receipt of your letter dated ....
We appreciate that your company has ceased all uses of the image. Thank you for responding so promptly. However, to fully resolve this matter, payment for a retroactive license is required. As exclusive licensee, Masterfile has the right to protect and enforce its interest in the image, and is entitled to the remedies provided by the Copyright Act.
The image listed in the claim is a rights-managed image, which is more expensive than other kinds of images because when a rights-managed image is licensed to a client, Masterfile must keep a detailed history of how the image is used. This is a valuable feature of rights-managed images as it allows clients to know who else has used the image and it avoids competitors using the same image in their promotional materials. Providing false information to our clients may seriously jeopardize our credibility with our clients and our business protocol.
Had the image been licensed properly, prior to being published on your website, you would have been charged a fee of US$970.00 for the same rights as those reflected in our Claim.( Secondary page - 1 year term)
Our standard unauthorized fees start at a 1 year license plus costs.
You can verify this by visiting our website at www.masterfile.com and using our publicly available online calculator to calculate the regular fees associated with our rights-managed images. Enter the image code 700-01112954 into the Masterfile search engine. When the image appears click on it. At the bottom of the enlarged image you will see an icon with a $ sign, click on that icon. Enter Internet, Web Promotion, Secondary page, World, World, Up to one year, and you will see the price $970.00 per image below.
Our claim for US$1,940.00 is based on our Terms and Conditions which provide for a 2X multiplier of our standard license fees for unauthorized uses of our images (please refer to Section 5.6 of Masterfile’s Terms and Conditions at http://www.masterfile.com/terms.html#5). Masterfile’s position is that at a minimum our damages should be measured the standard license fees that Masterfile would charge for the same use of the same image.
Please note our copyright in the image related to this matter, I have attached a copy of our Certificate of Registration VA 1-407-986, issued to us by The Library of Congress, United States Copyright Office for the registration of Masterfile’s rights-managed image 700-01112954 (Artist: Bill Frymire, Bar Chart on Grid). Masterfile registers all of its rights-managed images with The Library of Congress, United States Copyright Office based on the Copyright Office’s directives and filing requirement protocols.
I have also attached redacted copies of our Artist Agreement with Bill Frymire, the artist related to this matter, for your review.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Masterfile is willing to resolve this matter for the sum of One Thousand Two Hundred United States dollars (US$1,200.00). This proposal is based on Masterfile’s standard license fees and the fees that Masterfile has incurred in pursuing this claim, including fees that we must pay to the third party who discovered this image on your website. Please respond to our proposal to settle this matter by February 11, 2013.
Our position is to negotiate a fair, balanced and reasonable settlement for our artist, Mr. Bill Frymire. Artists such as Mr. Frymire are professional photographers who rely on the royalties they receive from the licensing of their work to earn a living.
This letter is an attempt to settle this claim. Masterfile reserves all its rights and remedies whether legal or equitable.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey Beal
Copyright Compliance Officer
Masterfile Corporation
3 Concorde Gate, 4th Floor
Toronto,Ontario,
Canada, M3C 3N7
416-929-6745 (ext. 2276)
416-929-2104 ( FAX)
800-387-9010 (ext. 2276)
[email protected]
http://www.masterfile.com
WARNING: This e-mail message is intended only for the named recipient(s) above and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, subject to copyright and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. You are hereby notified that any unauthorized use of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the named recipient(s), please immediately notify the sender and delete this e-mail message.
At first I became "ill and nearly sick to my stomach" upon seeing this email and stayed that way for several days. I've not even really read the email as it was too stressful so I then put it out of my mind. Today, however, I thought I'd put it out on the forum.
I've finally come to the conclusion that there is simply nothing I can do in the way of a response to this type of bullying. As mentioned earlier, I have no job, no home (staying with a friend) and I have no more savings. I certainly cannot afford an attorney and if and when they pursue this, they will discover that I have no way of paying anything. So, I've decided not to respond at all. They can do whatever they want. I'm too weary to deal with this, so I'm just not going to acknowledge it. Not sure if this is the best way to handle this, but this is what I am thinking at this point. If anyone has any other thoughts to share, they would certainly be appreciated.
Kind regards,
Unemployed
WITHOUT PREJUDICE (for Settlement purposes only) FRE 408
February 4, 2013
VIA EMAIL
Re: Copyright Infringement
We are in receipt of your letter dated ....
We appreciate that your company has ceased all uses of the image. Thank you for responding so promptly. However, to fully resolve this matter, payment for a retroactive license is required. As exclusive licensee, Masterfile has the right to protect and enforce its interest in the image, and is entitled to the remedies provided by the Copyright Act.
The image listed in the claim is a rights-managed image, which is more expensive than other kinds of images because when a rights-managed image is licensed to a client, Masterfile must keep a detailed history of how the image is used. This is a valuable feature of rights-managed images as it allows clients to know who else has used the image and it avoids competitors using the same image in their promotional materials. Providing false information to our clients may seriously jeopardize our credibility with our clients and our business protocol.
Had the image been licensed properly, prior to being published on your website, you would have been charged a fee of US$970.00 for the same rights as those reflected in our Claim.( Secondary page - 1 year term)
Our standard unauthorized fees start at a 1 year license plus costs.
You can verify this by visiting our website at www.masterfile.com and using our publicly available online calculator to calculate the regular fees associated with our rights-managed images. Enter the image code 700-01112954 into the Masterfile search engine. When the image appears click on it. At the bottom of the enlarged image you will see an icon with a $ sign, click on that icon. Enter Internet, Web Promotion, Secondary page, World, World, Up to one year, and you will see the price $970.00 per image below.
Our claim for US$1,940.00 is based on our Terms and Conditions which provide for a 2X multiplier of our standard license fees for unauthorized uses of our images (please refer to Section 5.6 of Masterfile’s Terms and Conditions at http://www.masterfile.com/terms.html#5). Masterfile’s position is that at a minimum our damages should be measured the standard license fees that Masterfile would charge for the same use of the same image.
Please note our copyright in the image related to this matter, I have attached a copy of our Certificate of Registration VA 1-407-986, issued to us by The Library of Congress, United States Copyright Office for the registration of Masterfile’s rights-managed image 700-01112954 (Artist: Bill Frymire, Bar Chart on Grid). Masterfile registers all of its rights-managed images with The Library of Congress, United States Copyright Office based on the Copyright Office’s directives and filing requirement protocols.
I have also attached redacted copies of our Artist Agreement with Bill Frymire, the artist related to this matter, for your review.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Masterfile is willing to resolve this matter for the sum of One Thousand Two Hundred United States dollars (US$1,200.00). This proposal is based on Masterfile’s standard license fees and the fees that Masterfile has incurred in pursuing this claim, including fees that we must pay to the third party who discovered this image on your website. Please respond to our proposal to settle this matter by February 11, 2013.
Our position is to negotiate a fair, balanced and reasonable settlement for our artist, Mr. Bill Frymire. Artists such as Mr. Frymire are professional photographers who rely on the royalties they receive from the licensing of their work to earn a living.
This letter is an attempt to settle this claim. Masterfile reserves all its rights and remedies whether legal or equitable.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey Beal
Copyright Compliance Officer
Masterfile Corporation
3 Concorde Gate, 4th Floor
Toronto,Ontario,
Canada, M3C 3N7
416-929-6745 (ext. 2276)
416-929-2104 ( FAX)
800-387-9010 (ext. 2276)
[email protected]
http://www.masterfile.com
WARNING: This e-mail message is intended only for the named recipient(s) above and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, subject to copyright and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. You are hereby notified that any unauthorized use of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the named recipient(s), please immediately notify the sender and delete this e-mail message.
At first I became "ill and nearly sick to my stomach" upon seeing this email and stayed that way for several days. I've not even really read the email as it was too stressful so I then put it out of my mind. Today, however, I thought I'd put it out on the forum.
I've finally come to the conclusion that there is simply nothing I can do in the way of a response to this type of bullying. As mentioned earlier, I have no job, no home (staying with a friend) and I have no more savings. I certainly cannot afford an attorney and if and when they pursue this, they will discover that I have no way of paying anything. So, I've decided not to respond at all. They can do whatever they want. I'm too weary to deal with this, so I'm just not going to acknowledge it. Not sure if this is the best way to handle this, but this is what I am thinking at this point. If anyone has any other thoughts to share, they would certainly be appreciated.
Kind regards,
Unemployed
