Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Need an opinion on a letter I received.

« on: October 04, 2014, 12:39:02 AM »

Thanks, stinger. That helps a lot with regards to how to properly focus a complaint.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Need an opinion on a letter I received.

« on: October 03, 2014, 02:24:58 AM »

Included in the letter was a reference to a copyright application date and number. I have attempted to search for this number on the US copyright office website without success. I have only found 47 records listed under BWP Media and none of them match the number listed or contain the name of the celebrity in the photo. Is this conclusive that they don't have a valid copyright, or is searching on the US copyright office website a hit or miss operation with incomplete records?

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Need an opinion on a letter I received.

« on: October 03, 2014, 12:14:22 AM »

Robert, stinger and Greg,

Thanks for your advice. I guess I was operating on the assumption that the law firm would act in good faith. Perhaps that's just me being a bit naive. Your statements have helped us make a more informed decision about how to proceed and what to expect.

The idea regarding complaining to the bar, etc., sounds like it has been effective for those who tried it. Have you any advice regarding how to go about making an effective complaint to a state bar?  For instance how specific does the complaint need to be - what things are good to include / exclude?

Also, the letter was signed simply as Sanders Law, PLLC - is it possible to file a complaint about the whole firm or do I need a specific name?

4

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Need an opinion on a letter I received.

« on: October 02, 2014, 03:10:23 PM »

In this case, I would totally ignore them.

Thanks for your replies. I am looking for the solution that minimizes the chance that a lawsuit is ever filed. Just having a suit filed is a negative outcome from our point of view. We simply want this matter to end.

If we ignore them, doesn't this increase the chance that they see my relative as an easy/weak target against whom they can get a default judgement? My inclination is to come back with a forceful answer to the charge of copyright violation, and request more information from the law firm which will tend to bolster our case or rather disprove their allegations. I believe if this were done, the firm would not contact us again. Thoughts?

Or consider filing a bar complaint & state attorney  complaint with whatever bar associations they are members of, it should be on them to do some simple fact checking before trying to squeeze money of out of anyone.

I will keep that in my back pocket but our intent is really just to make the matter go away.

5

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Need an opinion on a letter I received.

« on: October 01, 2014, 06:44:28 PM »

JLorimer, thanks for your reply. After looking into the source for the page in question, it looks like all the pictures were linked to the original site, and not uploaded to my relative's site. From what has been said recently, it appears that linking to an image is more favorable for my relative than uploading the image.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Need an opinion on a letter I received.

« on: October 01, 2014, 06:02:42 AM »

A relative of mine recently received the letter from Sanders Law, PLLC. After reading this thread and some related materials, I have advised my relative not to respond to the letter or to contact Sanders. The letter listed 8 infringements but I noticed that a single copyright application number was used, so perhaps it is just a single infringement as the copyright appears to apply to a collection of photos. Half of those photos listed were duplicates so at most it would be 4. After the letter was received I made sure that the site has been taken down. The article in question containing the photos was a news article and as such the reproduction may qualify under the fair use defense.

'The Copyright Act allows
the unauthorized use of a copyrighted work “for purposes such as
criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple
copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research." from "What You Need to Know Before Bringing a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit"' by Stefan Mentzer.

In this case, the initial infringement occurred BEFORE the copyright registration date and continued until the letter was received. And copyright registration occurred more than 3 months after the initial work was created. Based on these facts and my interpretation, I have hope to believe that statutory damages would not apply according to the theory presented in this article:

http://www.ipinbrief.com/ending-confusion-re-statutory-damages-i/

"Copyright holders mistakenly assert they are entitled to statutory damages for an infringement that occurs after they registered their work, even when this infringement continues a pattern of infringement that began before registration."

Oscar, would you care to comment on whether these interpretations sound reasonable, and what if anything I should be advising my relative to do from this point going forward? Thanks!