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« on: April 09, 2011, 09:30:08 AM »
Hi all,
Like many of you I am completely new to the world of digital image copyright infringement letter of doom from the hands of Masterfile (in this case). Prior to receiving my letter through Federal Express the other day I was completely oblivious to this form of extortion. First off my website is based on real estate, thus the images I post on my site are either 100% original images or images given to me by third parties.
It turns out that one of the images provided by a builder as marketing material was owned/operated by Masterfile. Upon receiving the notice I immediately deleted the file from my website. I proceeded to thoroughly go through the letter in more detail where I realized for one tiny image a cost of 2100$ + Tax (13%) has been levied against me. After sifting through google for the appropriate retort to this letter, I then proceeded to contact Masterfile for an adjustment.
Masterfile in general didn't really seem all too professional. I mean your call goes straight to a receptionist; from there I was sent up to my copyright officer - in charge of my case. In a nutshell this person basically said that despite having no idea about the infringement to begin with; there are no second chances, you must pay the amount for the licensing x 3 for damages or you will go to court. They were very quick to reduce my 2100$ to 1000$ + Tax.
Just a couple quick points about the case. (a) The image was only recently uploaded to my site in Feb/March. (b) The image was on a page that didn't even have links to it from within site - the only way you'd be able to arrive at this page was by typing the full address to the page in the address bar or through the site map (c) the image was very marginal at the periphery of the page (d) the image was provided to me by a third party.
Now although I offered to pay them an amount of 500$ to get them out of my hair - that was a sort of in the moment thing. After reading many of your encounters I don't feel I need to or should pay anything. I completely understand copyright infringement and the protection of ones intellectual property rights. However, this is a case of complete extortion; Masterfile seems to have arrived at their figures arbitrarily and could not appropriately justify the charges. Although they were quick to settle, they continued to talk down to me as though I was a criminal. I find it criminal that a company can just appear and claim copyright on any image on the internet. I feel that in cases like this which deal with a broad medium like the internet a notice should be issued by the party being infringed upon asking to cease and desist from the usage of the material. When I asked Masterfile whether that should be the case in this instance they responded "The law in Canada says we can do whatever we want" (another interesting quote dealt with my initial $200 offer "I wouldn't accept that, I want to keep my job; why don't you offer us something more serious")
Obviously I have come here for some help. I don't want to pay a dime to anyone for something I was completely not aware of. Like many of you I go from pay check to pay check and besides not having the means, I lack the conviction that I've done anything to be penalized for.
I think this site you have here is absolutely a wonderful resource and I'd like to thank you for all the time you've put into it. This is quite a refuge for someone who had absolutely no idea such extortion existed.
I'd like to hear from you with regards to what my action should be. Many of the stories here are from the U.S. and deal with the legal requirements there; however, in Canada aside from the additional 13% tax we do have a slightly different legal structure. I thank you kindly in advance for your help.
One last thing, I've seen first and second time offenders (grand theft, vandalism, violent acts) being treated with more respect than the good people at Masterfile have treated me with thus far.
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