Hello, like many here I received a settlement demand for $1560 for two images that were on my website from an RSS feed I was getting from Hypebot.
A little background on myself, I am a humble musician who runs a music school and am working hard at my own music career. I understand how it is to have your hard work ripped off. When I received this letter I was horrified. I called getty and explained to them that the infringement was unintentional, but I knew my ignorance was not a defense and was able to negotiate them down to $800. I had till April 30 to pay them or the original amount they required would be 'moved forward'.
Then it hit me, if I paid them for this infringement.. then I open the door to be sued for every image that I had fed to me via RSS. I contacted the CEO of Hypebot and explained the situation to him and he told me that his business model depended on his articles adhering to copyright law (via purchased license and creative commons) and hypebot has never been contacted by gettyimages.
I emailed gettyimages about that and all I got back from them was.. "Thank you for making sure the images have been removed. Payment of the settlement amount is all that is left to close this matter."
Obviously, I need to draft a letter and send it out today. This is what I was thinking of sending them..
Nancy Monson
Copyright Compliance Specialist
Getty Images Headquarters
605 5th Avenue South, Suite 400
Seattle WA 98104 USA
Case #1333597
Nancy,
Again, I appreciate you bringing to my attention the following images/articles on my website.
- http://www.hypebot.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e20176178a5810970c-popup (http://leegattenbymusic.com/2012/07/03/artists-and-labels-must-accept-the-new-music-industry/)
- http://www.hypebot.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e2017742f8b9cc970d-popup
(http://leegattenbymusic.com/2012/08/31/new-jobs-on-the-hypebot-job-board-2/)
As stated in my previous communication from you, I have removed this RSS feed and deleted all articles from Hypebot.com so they no longer appear on my URL. Being a musician, I fully understand what its like to have your hard work stolen by others. It is my intention to comply with copyright law because it affects me as a musician as it does your photographers.
I have been in contact with Bruce Houghton, president of Skyline Music (which owns Hypebot.com). He states he has never had correspondence with Gettyimages over the images you mentioned. What concerns me is that I may be paying damages in error for proper licenses secured by Hypebot.com to distribute the images in question via RSS through creative license.
I require the following burden for proof from you.
1. Copy of the copyright registration of the image(s) in question.
2. Signed and dated paperwork from the photographer that transfers copyright to Getty Images.
3. Creative image number(s) in the Getty Images library.
4. The date which Getty Images claims the image(s) entered their library.
5. License records, including all fees, of the image(s).
Should this request to fulfill your burden of proof not be completed in whole, I will conclude that your claim is null and void (because Hypebot did indeed have proper licensing), and further more ask you to cease and desist ALL further communication with me.
Kind Regards
Lee Gattenby
Lee Gattenby Music
Thank you all in advance to answering my questions.
Show Posts