Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Today I Received my "Letter"

« on: December 04, 2013, 04:16:40 PM »

Agree with your strategy, ScrollGirl

You're not alone. The whole thing made me sick to my stomach too. Stressed me out bad and I lost sleep over it. Then I handed it to God and stopped replying to them. I'm sure they'll send me another letter soon, but I won't take the bait. This is a phishing scheme. They are trolling for fools. Don't be one.

Blessings

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: "it was an honest mistake" says Getty Images

« on: November 26, 2013, 05:38:31 PM »

Can't argue with your assessment of them. They are the poster child for corporate avarice. Reprehensible corporate conduct.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: "it was an honest mistake" says Getty Images

« on: November 25, 2013, 01:20:57 PM »

Also, what Getty did wasn't an "honest mistake"! Posting a 100px image you found on Google Images (that is also on a thousand other web sites) on your blog no one reads is an "honest mistake"; lifting images from a calamity victim's Twitter feed and PROFITING from it is CRIMINAL!

 How dare they exploit the word "honesty" to defend themselves. What a dirty, unethical, reprehensible den of thieves! BOYCOTT!

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: "it was an honest mistake" says Getty Images

« on: November 25, 2013, 12:58:03 PM »

Jerry is 100% correct. Getty can't and won't say "look, we got caught, we paid up and so should you." 

They CAN'T because that offensive tactic would not be relevant for the reason Jerry stated.

They WON'T because they would NEVER EVER EVER admit to any wrongdoing, especially to consumers, who could then go share their admission to the world so every photographer on the planet could see that Getty admits to STEALING images from photographers.

No need for mixed feelings. This is a WIN for consumers being terrorized by Getty.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / File a complaint against Getty to the Consumer Finance agency

« on: November 25, 2013, 07:45:33 AM »

If you haven't already, PLEASE go to the government's Consumer Finance web site and file a complaint against McCormack and Getty. This a newer agency and they are in the news right now imploring consumers to file complaints against companies committing fraud and extortion. They are still only getting a relatively small number of complaints so they are able to act on them quickly. If we flood them with complaints about the extortion Getty and McCormack are committing, we may get some traction.

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ (file it as a debt collection complaint)

Do it today!!!!

Thanks and have a great day fellow victims of extortion

6

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 21, 2013, 03:10:58 PM »

As always, thanks. Is there a list somewhere showing the order of the steps they take, what we can expect, and how to respond? is that info consolidated somewhere in an easy-to-digest format?

Thanks again for always responding. Just having someone to talk about this makes it easier to deal with. it's a very upsetting thing.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got my first letter, yay.

« on: November 21, 2013, 03:08:01 PM »

Related question: what if they are suing a corporation that no longer exists and was dissolved several years ago?

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 20, 2013, 06:11:23 PM »

Their Nov 15 deadline to respond has come and gone. I suppose they will now send me a new letter demanding 2x the amount. I'm trying not to stress about it, but it grates on my nerves . Even though the &%#^#@$% don't sue for a single image, there is always the possibility they will start. I do not need this crap in my life.  I didn't try to profit off someone else's work. This is insane

9

Getty Images Letter Forum / Campaign to shed light on Getty's extortion tactics

« on: November 16, 2013, 09:48:39 PM »

All, wherever I see Getty images in use on web sites and blogs I leave a comment imploring the web site owner to stop patronizing Getty. I also tell them to Google "Getty extortion" to learn how Getty is attacking web owners and exploiting its position as copyright holder to force people into purchasing its products for unjust amounts that are not commensurate with actual loss.

Regardless of the outcome of my own situation, you can count me in as a soldier in the war against the Getty profiteers and its ambulance chasing lawyers.

Look, people make mistakes, forget, overlook, and commit errors all the time. Humans screw up-- without deliberate malice. When one makes a mistake, one should definitely pay retail price (and even a small admin fee) for an image they use without license. Fine. But that's where it should stop. Charging someone $1,400 for image use on an obscure web site is WRONG.

Getty needs to be treated like the cockroaches they are and have the light shined on them. Web site owners need to know who they are dealing with. All of the business world in fact should know about this. The more exposure the better

10

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 13, 2013, 12:54:54 AM »

Everyone, thanks for the addtl insights.

Lucia, I have no idea. I was only stating possibilities because I'm clueless about the alleged infraction and can't find any trace of an image hosted on the server. Again, the layout they show in their screenshot is one that hasn't been on the site in ages. Don't recognize the image and don't have any knowledge of it ever having been hosted on the server.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 12, 2013, 06:55:20 PM »

Stinger, thanks so much. Can you point me to a resource that explains exactly what steps Oscar takes , what happens next, then what the typical outcome is? I have looked around this site but i don't see anything that spells out exactly what it is. Thank you

12

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty Response to my Response

« on: November 12, 2013, 06:50:58 PM »

I'm in the same boat. This is wrong on so many levels. They are not doing due diligence. They are running a scam. I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted

13

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 12, 2013, 03:16:38 PM »

Lucia, thanks. Again, I have no knowledge of the alleged infringement and cannot find proof of it anywhere--other than the pixelated--and, for all I know, doctored--screenshot they sent in their ransom note. I can't imagine a judge would rule in their favor on the strength of that screenshot alone. Look what it takes to prove speeding. People get off routinely for uncalibrated radar guns and a slew of other technicalities that fall within the plaintiff's burden of proof. Seems to me a good lawyer would eviscerate this claim. Unfortunately, it looks as though I'll have to retain one now. It's really too bad. This is a major waste of human time and productivity for all parties.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 12, 2013, 10:23:50 AM »

Thanks for the additional insights.

It may have been "hot linked" from another site . It's also possible that it was embedded/compiled in a Flash module that showed a montage of very small images. But in either case, it never at any time physically resided on the server as a standalone image, and I have 100% validated that.

I have to tell you, Getty's attack on web site owners  is very disturbing. They are not acting as a responsible corporate citizen, a friend to the arts, nor even a defender of artist rights. If their settlement campaign was truly about ensuring artists were compensated, they would simply request the actual amount of the license and perhaps a small administrative fee to cover their costs. Instead they are acting like Somali pirates, sneaking up on ships in the harbor, climbing aboard, pointing loaded weapons at stunned passengers and demanding outrageous amounts of money.

 "You steal butterfly photo!!!!!! Now you pay or I blow your brains out !!!!!!!!! "

"Ok ok ok ok don't shoot me!!!! I'm sorry!!!! I'm so sorry !!!! It was an accident !!!!!! I will pay you for it !!!! No problem !!! Here, here is the money for it!!!! It's yours!!!!!"

"NO!!!!!!!  You pay ten thousand dollar!!!!!! You steal butterfly photo!!!!!   You hurt butterfly all over!!!!!! You monster !!!!!!! Pay now ten thousand dollar or die!!!!!!!! "

Getty mafia. What they are doing is extortion because it presumes guilt without due process, and they demand outrageous sums of money that have no correlation whatsoever with actual "damages." It's pure corporate bullying, exploitation, and profiteering and needs to be stopped.

I have to tell you, I'm absolutely stunned that an American company has made a business out of attacking small business owners, their own countrymen, who are the very same business owners who have made Getty an outrageously rich company. It makes me sad, too. It's sad that corporate greed has reached this level of severity in America.

I will help fight this great injustice any way I can.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got the Getty extortion letter grrrrrrrrrrrr

« on: November 11, 2013, 03:11:08 PM »

Thank you so much for replying.

One other thing: I see they say they can identify their images because of info hidden in the image file. But if the image file was embedded in a Flash clip, the image's info would not be accessible as far as I know. In order to extract it you'd have to decompile the Flash SWF. Seems like a fairly low level operation for GI's web site crawler to perform. And even if they did, there is no trace of that image of the Flash module it was embedded in anywhere on the web server or elsewhere. So all they seem to have is a screenshot? How is that proof that there is infringement? Can they claim infringement on the screenshot alone? Without any proof that there was an actual image and they verified through its meta info that it was theirs?