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« on: October 11, 2011, 01:08:56 AM »
Hello all - first of all, thanks to Matthew for setting up this website. I recently got hit by the Extortion Letter. I did follow the advice found on this website by calling them, removing the images and sending them a certified 5 pages letter to make my case.
What I did do, in addition to the basic steps, was to do some of my own investigation. I cannot let it sit if someone accuses me for something they cannot provide any evidence of having exclusive rights for.
Here is what I know about my case:
There is a huge number of companies (100's of google hits) all over the world using the alleged picture, including larger corporations, private investigation companies, copyright compliance companies and even law offices but mostly small business and personal websites. Some with slightly modified version by adding their logos or cropping the image. I don't think any of these companies would 'rent' this image as it is completely overpriced. The only money this picture is generating is through Settlement Demands. (No offense to the photographer, but it is an outdated photograph).
The photographer did advertise a similar image, meaning the same location & setting, but with the people on it doing a different activity. This was published on the photographers website over 10 years ago.
Apparently the alleged picture was owned by a different company at one time and GI did merge with that company later on. Therefore, the alleged picture may have been available long before GI did acquire the copyrights for it. That’s why they may not be able to give me exclusive copyright information and I may have to ask the photographer directly.
Can it be possible that GI changed the pricing model from available for purchase to a Rights Managed picture just to be able to extort more money? As for the alleged picture in my case this could be possible due to the fact that it is widely used by a very large number of websites. It is hard to believe they would to that. If they did, it would be interesting to know if this would be allowed by the law. If not, I may have a case against them.
Why would so many companies all over the world knowingly and illegally use this picture if not available through a royalty free CD? My feeling is that this picture was or still is available as royalty free image somewhere out there - I have contacted some of the websites, but to no avail until now.
Additional information: (If the info is incorrect, please feel free to add a comment to this post):
In 1996, PhotoDisc gave customers carte blanche access to download one of the 15,000 high-quality images available through its Web. YOUR photo may have been one of these pictures. Each image came with the standard royalty-free PhotoDisc license that allows unlimited use of the image in printed, multimedia or online materials as long as it's not used in a product for resale.
In September 1997, Getty Images did merge with PhotoDisc. So, the copyrights for some images most likely don’t fall under the Getty Images Copyright as the promotion was before that?
There is a chance they lack of Corporate Governance and may take it for granted that people just pay without checking first. This is why the settlement fee is not high enough for companies to hire an attorney.
Guys, fight for your rights and lets hope that GI makes a few mistakes that can be used against them. I wish that there would be a large Law Firm considering to review cases like mine (pro bono) and if there is a case, go after them - Have them taste their own medicine, but with much, much more bitter taste!
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