Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Velvet fist in the iron glove?

« on: August 21, 2013, 08:32:28 PM »

I got the AG's response today and the crux was, "We regret that we are unable to provide further assistance to you in this situation." The close was, "We appreciate your bringing this matter to our attention. Your complaint will remain a part of our public record of this firm’s business practices."

They included Getty's response. They tried to turn it around by saying, "The Complainant characterizes our attempts to settle our copyright infringement claims as "extortion." However, our communications with them do not in any way constitute "wrongful threats" within the meaning of extortion statutes. On the contrary, demand for payment in satisfaction of a legal claim is not wrongful conduct." Of course, nowhere in their response to they mention the dollar amount, how they arrived at that number, nor their deadlines, etc.

The AG's letter included legal resources for me to consider. One option is that they offer free legal services to people over 60 years old, regardless of income. Well, my income is already pretty much 'regardless' so I guess I double qualify.

I'm not going to do a knee-jerk reaction, I'm gonna let it sit and incubate for a couple of days before I respond, if I decide to respond to the AG.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Is there a definitive IP range for PICSCOUT - i want to kill the spider!

« on: August 08, 2013, 05:00:13 PM »

Laugh for the day.
http://imagery.gettyimages.com/gettylive/dm/gbr/TermsConditions_pc.html
"You are specifically prohibited from: (a) downloading, copying, or re-transmitting any or all of the Site or the Getty Images Content without, or in violation of, a written licence or agreement with Getty Images; (b) using any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods;"
"Such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws including without limitation copyright and trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and applicable communications regulations and statutes."

Methinks the pot just called the kettle black.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got Nancy Monsons' e-mail reply. How much is court?

« on: August 08, 2013, 04:56:36 PM »

I really would not engage her anymore than necessary, you will not convince her of the error of her employer's ways.

I'm not. I have no intention of contacting her (or harassing her) on FB or anywhere else. I'll keep this in the ring.

Some people call it 'divine justice' and others call it 'karma'. Either way, it has a way of sneaking up on you.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Velvet fist in the iron glove?

« on: August 08, 2013, 04:48:45 PM »

Will do. I've filed a complaint with the Washington State AG's office and that's still pending, so I've backed off communicating with them until that's resolved.

To this point, we've had a couple of exchanges and they've been quite cordial. As I peruse web sites looking for other uses of the image that got me in this situation, I see that it has been used commercially, as artwork for stationery, shirts, and hats. So although GI has told me to the contrary, I really wonder if somebody didn't legitimately purchase this image and alter it. In light of this, I've decided that I would have no problem being the 'canary in the coal mine'...that I'm just going to refuse all attempts to shake me down and let it go to court. I've captured these sites on my computer and will present them during the discovery phase.

And, my ulterior motive for not fearing court is, they will be compelled to disclose their methodology for computing these nutty dollar amounts -- and it will be public record for all the world to see.

Maybe I've got a martyr complex but the more I think about this, the madder I get.

5

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Background images?

« on: August 08, 2013, 04:39:10 PM »

It really stops and makes you wonder if there's some cross-pollination with the NSA!

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got Nancy Monsons' e-mail reply. How much is court?

« on: July 25, 2013, 08:17:25 PM »

I think you should share Nancy's profile link, she deserves any attention we can give her!

https://www.facebook.com/nancy.monson.98

Note that she makes mention of the Seattle weather.

Got another reply from her today, where she -- nicely and without additional or repeated threats -- explained why Getty owns the rights to the derivative image. Reading between the lines, it seems that GI is going after commercial sites and giving blog-type sites a pass. Little by little, their business model is becoming clearer.

I've decided to let them drag my ass into court, if this is what they really want to do. I'm building a file showing how this image is being offered as Creative Commons, and in one instance somebody else put their name on it. But none of my searches have found a single mention of the original creator (Wayne Bilenduke) or GI.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got Nancy Monsons' e-mail reply. How much is court?

« on: July 23, 2013, 08:57:07 AM »

Pic-Scout can detect even a small portion of an image even if items are added, removed or just a tiny portion of a picture is taken and used in another picture.

I did a TinEye search and got over a thousand hits on my wayward image, in several derivatives. I find it ironic that the one image that DIDN'T come up was the original Geeezer photo upon which mine is based!

I replied to Nancy's letter, challenging their right to ownership, speculating that the person who added the penguins and cymbals perhaps purchased the original licensed picture.

Getty was sold to the Carlyle Group last year.
[/quote]

Has there been any sign that they're going to change these policies?

BTW, I found Nancy's profile on Facebook. She doesn't have any pictures posted but I found a couple of shots of what could be her female blood relatives. Not bad looking! Maybe I'll ask her out after this is settled.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got Nancy Monsons' e-mail reply. How much is court?

« on: July 22, 2013, 08:16:01 PM »

BTW, I recall reading in a post that somebody was working on buying Getty Images. What is this company that would want to buy a basket of rattlesnakes?

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got Nancy Monsons' e-mail reply. How much is court?

« on: July 22, 2013, 08:08:28 PM »

Will do.

I thought about this all weekend. I kept feeling like there was something I was missing...something so obvious it's right in front of me. Then it finally hit me: the picture GI licenses is a sleeping polar bear and the image they busted me on is that sleeping polar bear with two added penguin characters. So...how do I know that the person who added those penguins didn't own the rights to the original picture and have the right to distribute it?

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Is there a definitive IP range for PICSCOUT - i want to kill the spider!

« on: July 22, 2013, 08:04:43 PM »

Good idea. I just sent an e-mail to archive.org asking them to remove all of my pages.

11

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got Nancy Monsons' e-mail reply. How much is court?

« on: July 19, 2013, 05:26:13 PM »

Greg, always glad to see a fellow Ohioan prevail! I read a good portion of your journey. I'm still going to have to think this one through. Whatever I decide, I'm sure it will involve letting others know about GI's tactics.

12

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Is there a definitive IP range for PICSCOUT - i want to kill the spider!

« on: July 19, 2013, 04:42:10 PM »

You're welcome.

Getty hasn't accused me of using the images of the ribbons/medals against their license. This was a precautionary step I took, of 'sterilizing' all my web sites to make sure that not a single questionable image remained that they could possibly come back and send me another round of extortion letters.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Got Nancy's e-mail reply. How much is court?

« on: July 19, 2013, 02:08:30 AM »

Mulligan, I like your style! Here's a joke you may get a kick out of:

Chief of Staff: Mr. President, I have some good news and I have some bad news. The bad news is, the Martians have landed and their weapons are superior to ours.

President: Then what's the good news!?!?

CoS: They eat Getty trolls and piss gasoline.

OK. Enough of my wit.

Seriously -- I haven't decided how I'm going to respond to this. In looking at her letter again, she wasn't as nasty as she could have been; I'm sure I've seen (or dealt) worse in my lifetime. Given this, and the fact that any communication can be used in court, I'm inclined to be decent until it's time to not be decent.

I don't know whether this particular image is 'registered' or not but the licensing is crystal clear. I traced the original picture back to the photographer's web site; and, he clearly specifies that GI is his licensing rep. My only justification would be that several web sites offer it under the creative commons license -- which as we all know doesn't work with them.

Judging by what I was able to determine with their calculator, I would have paid about half of what they're charging me to license this image. With a $200 minimum fine, I just may roll the dice and see if they'll haul me into court over this single item. They didn't come back with a counter offer so perhaps fines, court costs, etc., will be less than $1,065. But I'm going to get very busy soon and don't have a lot of time to play games with them.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Is there a definitive IP range for PICSCOUT - i want to kill the spider!

« on: July 19, 2013, 01:48:36 AM »

can you explain how tineye is telling you whether images are public domain or copyrighted?

I didn't explain myself fully on this one.

The images in question have been on my web site for years, as a tribute to my father. They are pictures of the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. I didn't remember when or where I got them, so I used TinEye to see if these pictures appeared anywhere else on the web. They did; and the links that TinEye came back with were federal government web sites (if I recall), and these web sites clearly state that there is no copyright restriction for the use of these images.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Got Nancy Monsons' e-mail reply. How much is court?

« on: July 18, 2013, 04:24:52 AM »

Summary: Getty charged me $1065 for a single image; I responded with a generous 'best offer' (I'm a former union steward) of $75 and a demand to know how they arrived at their figure.

So I got an e-mail from Nancy M. today, rejecting my offer and coming back with this: "A breakdown of line by line items would be made available at the time of trial should this progress to that point" and "Getty Images needs to recover the lost licensing fees for payment to the photographer, along with costs of enforcement.   Had the infringement not occurred, Getty Images would not have had to deploy the additional resources needed to pursue this matter with respect to the infringing website.  Both issues of settlement must be accomplished on or before July 25, 2013."

They're also seeking proof that I had a license. What I'm tempted to do is tell them that the picture I posted (gag picture of polar bear + penguins) is all over the 'net as 'Creative Commons' but the picture they own is of the polar bear alone. I know it won't go far, but it would satisfy me.

Since I have an attitude problem, I'm also tempted to throw down the gauntlet and dare them to take me to court (in so many words). Assuming the worst, and they throw the book at me, what are the costs?