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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Complaint from BWP Media USA

« on: July 30, 2014, 07:02:40 PM »

I just settled with these guys for 500 dollars. I just feels like I was taken. I was allowed to pay the money via pay pal and received a receipt of payment that included a "Rights Managed License Agreement". I'd be happy to attach it, so that others can see what happens after settling with Sanders, but I do not see an attachment link here. 

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Complaint from BWP Media USA

« on: July 30, 2014, 04:47:39 PM »

I posted the image in question on my blog (www.thebuzzzstop.com) in October of last year and was contacted by Stacy Berkowitz of Sanders Law PLLC in June of this year via phone. They had originally tried to mail me a letter from the law firm in May, but they had the wrong address so I never received it. They managed to come across my phone number and left me a voicemail saying that I infringed on a photo of Miley Cyrus (even though the photo was Julianne Hough).

My blog receives very little traffic, not even enough to receive google's minimum adword payout; I haven't received a penny off of google for ad placement and the blog is more of an outlet than a money making venture. So receiving this type of threat was dumfounding, especially since I pulled the image from creative commons.

The letter they sent me shows that they applied for the copyright in January of this year, two and a half months after I posted the image. It was a 5 page document that discussed my unauthorized usage of the photo and had a picture of the photo I used.

I have been in contact with Stacy via phone and email. She gave me a deadline to respond by a certain date to which I complied, and now, she is requesting that I pay 500 dollars today. The day is slowly ticking away, I guess I have until midnight ET even though that was not stated. They want me to submit my payment online using one of their paysites to settle the matter. They gave me my own little personal code to login and everything.

Any advice today would be great. The responses from lawyers have been mixed. Ive been told by some to take this matter seriously, and ive been told by others that Sanders Law is dealing with so many of these cases that their is a chance that my case gets dropped. From the forums that Ive checked out it looks like many unfortunate people like myself are dealing with these trolls but there is little feedback from those who have settled or had their cases dismissed. Whether or not I hear back from someone today with some advice that will save me 500 dollars, I'll be sure to post how this all shakes out.

Also-- they gave me the "application number" they used to apply for the copyright and wanted me to use that to look up the infringement. I had to dig to find the actual registration number. In the public catalog, however, it does state that BWP is the claimant and it was transferred by written agreement.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Complaint from BWP Media USA

« on: July 30, 2014, 12:22:24 PM »

I have been dealing with Sanders Law PLLC for a few months and my story is similar to those previously posted. They have offered me a 500 dollar settlement which will be taken off of the table today? Any new news in regards to this firm? The person that contacted me from Sanders was a paralegal by the same of Stacy Berkowitz. My dealings with her have been interesting to say the least. Her email signature is inconsistent--- sometimes she will sign the email as "Stacy Berk" or instead of paralegal it will say "team leader". In her initial call to me, she left me a voicemail in which she stated the wrong celebrity in the image I used.

I am strongly debating on whether or not to just settle today. Oscar if you are on the message board today, can you tell me how effective your defense letter program has been, and if that is the best option for someone that wants to avoid settlement and court altogether...