Messages

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: June 24, 2015, 11:58:22 AM »

1. Great, thanks!

2, 3. Sorry for the confusion. Oscar did a letter for me for Getty late in 2013. It shut them up good. Now I'm dealing with Superstock.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: June 22, 2015, 03:13:00 PM »

And now we have letter #3!  This time is says failure to pay "will result in escalation to our legal representatives and the possibility of legal action being commenced...." Yada yada. So I'll probably get the Robby Cook letter soon.

For certain reasons I won't get into, if I get the Cook letter, I'm debating whether I'll respond with a "$100 take it or leave it, provided you can show you own the copyright" response of the kind some here have discussed...or whether I'll spring for a second letter from Oscar, or just keep ignoring them. But something else occurred to me, a question maybe someone has addressed here before, but I can't find it in a search.

Given the small amounts they're demanding...why don't Getty and Superstock go after people in small claims court?

Is it maybe because in small claims, you're responsible for collecting the judgment yourself?

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: June 07, 2015, 01:02:44 PM »

Got letter #2....only note of interest is that they say they're "willing to offer" another 10 day period to pay and that failure "may result in legal escalation".  So just the usual shtick for now.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: May 24, 2015, 11:17:00 AM »

So! Now I have a print version of the demand letter that was mailed at what seems to have been about the same time I got the email...the return address goes to these guys:

http://www.corporationwiki.com/New-York/New-York/digitaltoprint-inc/56379334.aspx

Nothing new in the print letter, but I realized that their screenshot does have a date on it. They took a shot of the entire screen of a Microsoft Windows setup, and the date is down in the right bottom corner. Now I can see that their date of discovery was as early as October 2013. That means the SOL is more than half over already.

It'll be ignored like the other, but from all I've read here it seems a little odd that they'd let anyone get any hint of the date of discovery.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: May 14, 2015, 12:16:12 PM »

I deleted the images from the website server itself.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: May 14, 2015, 11:01:19 AM »

I'd be interested in the answer to that too. (Though it won't apply to me...I made it so my material can't be archived by Wayback.)

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter; Superstock Update

« on: May 14, 2015, 09:46:39 AM »

I'm not sure I can prove I removed the image in December 2013; but I can absolutely prove that their screenshot is older than February 2014. At that time I did a total redesign of the website, and all my html addresses were forwarded to php addresses. Their screenshot of the listed URL would have been impossible to make after that.

Earlier in this thread Oscar said, "demand proof". If they keep at it, perhaps the first proof I'll demand is the date of the screenshot. (For right now though...I have no plan to acknowledge it at all.)

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: May 14, 2015, 07:58:42 AM »

Hello everyone!

It's been a long time since I posted here, I know. But the time gap is a factor in this new report.

After I called on Oscar to work his magic with Getty, I never heard from them again. I'm posting now because I've heard from "Superstock". I checked the forum and see this is not new in itself, but here's what curious.

First, the extortion letter wasn't a letter, but an email, complete with a link to a Paypal page so you could pay your settlement. (I'm offered a 20% discount if I pay within 10 days -- very generous!)

Second, as seen in this thread, I took down all graphics from my website about a year a half ago. They provided the typical screenshot, but that screenshot had to have been taken before December 2013. So, from what I understand here, the SOL period was already half over by the time they sent this demand email.

Thanks to Oscar, I know better how to manage this now. But this seems to suggest that they're so backlogged with these scams that it takes a long time for them to process them. I wonder if its even possible that the screenshot was taken more than three years ago.

Oh yes, for the record...it was just one image, and the demand amount was $660.00, before the "discount".

9

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: January 25, 2014, 03:16:07 PM »

Well here I am again! I got Letter #2 this week, so after I get someone to convert the stuff to PDF, I'll be in touch with Oscar sometime after next weekend. Would be sooner, but I have a conference to attend all next week.

One rather funny and nervy difference in the 2nd letter...which I assume some here have seen before...they are now offering to "help" me find replacement images by giving me a code for 5 free images from "Thinkstock."

Now that's sure a lot of nerve. Demand $1800 like a bunch of bullies, then offer to give me a pat on the head.   

Well ya know what? I did need some stock footage for a project this week...and I went to their competition!

Anyway, be talking to your office soon, Oscar. Thanks again for being there!!

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: December 27, 2013, 12:10:22 PM »

Okay, progress report: They finally returned my call...I told them, "I just want you to know that I removed the images, and anything further I have to say will be said in writing." The rep said OK, thanked me for my time, and that was it. Much simpler than I expected.

I have material prepped to join the Letter program and will probably do so before too long. Make 'em wonder.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: December 16, 2013, 01:15:47 PM »

OK, thanks, guys. I know someone who can help me with that.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: December 16, 2013, 06:30:44 AM »

I have a technical question about participating in the defense letter program, which I may do.

Instructions are to scan the letter from Getty and email it. What's the preferred file format for doing that? JPG or some other? And should I resize the files? I scanned the pages for my own reference, and the sizes are 3400 x 4679 pixels each. With 10 pages of letter, that'd be a monster in anyone's inbox.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: December 15, 2013, 03:06:51 PM »

Indeed so. It's a shame paranoia is the rule of the day. Keen's Web 2.0 is built for it.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: December 14, 2013, 09:20:57 PM »

Yep, I've been browsing an hour or so and seen that's the route to go. I took the images down within an hour of getting the letter from my mailbox...and will use what I've learned here to compose something to state position, demand proof...then let it be.

You're a genius, Oscar. Bless you!

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Here's Another Extortion Letter

« on: December 14, 2013, 08:13:27 PM »

Hello all! Time for another story. Facts of the case:

* I run a tiny non-profit religious org that draws maybe $25K.
* I'm trained in research and know more than most people about copyright. Not as much as Oscar does, I'm sure, but I know fair use and such well enough to have written on the subject for a popular periodical.
* As such I was VERY careful looking for images to use -- if it wasn't listed as free to use, I didn't use it.
* Apparently not enough so! My demand letter identified two images on the website as theirs. That's out of hundreds I have. I posted the images some 5-6 years ago so I can't recall any details of exactly where they came from.
* They want about $2000 for them both. From what I've read so far here that's a mere pittance!
* So far finding commentary by the folks here useful. I'll keep reading and decide what to do soon. Unfortunately I did call their # and leave a "name, rank and serial number" message before I found this place. I think from here on though I'll just indicate all exchanges will be in writing.

Anyway, I'll keep a tab running here of what happens. I figure the more info, the merrier it will be, right?    (I definitely like the idea of asking them for the proof that they really own the images.)