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UK Getty Images Letter Forum / UK Query
« on: March 08, 2012, 04:45:54 PM »
Hi,
I have just been informed of the dreaded Getty letter in relation to an image I used on a website and am looking for some help/advice.
First a bit of background...
I am a member of the Round Table in the UK, which as most people know is a worldwide charity fund raising organisation arranged into small community-based clubs. They recently launched a new website in the UK which allowed individual clubs to edit their own content. I volunteered to act as our club 'webmaster' and in doing so inadvertantly grabbed an image from Google Images to place next to one of our events. It now turns out that this is a Getty image and they are demanding £850 for its use ! The image used was 200 x 200 px and I can buy a similar image on istockphotos for £12 so there appears to be no logic to the price determined by Getty for their very similar image.
I have removed the offending image and don't really know where to go from here...I have been reading lots of posts here but I guess the problem might be who is responsible. The letter is addressed to our HQ and they have then forwarded it to our club. Strangely enough at the end of the letter there under a section entitled Report Data: which contains a copy of the image and a screenshot of our site showing it in position but the homepage URL is not ours but a completely unrelated club !
I am obviously very concerned about this, and more than a little embarrassed, and was wondering if our status as a not-for-profit charitable organisation (although we are not a registered charity) might be my/our best defence.
I searched on google images for 'beer glasses' and the images appears linking to a completely different website. How anyone is meant to know who the owner of an image is and whether copyright has been infringed is beyond me. No excuse I know but you get the picture...no pun intended !
I look forward to any comments anyone has or even just a bit of moral support...
I have just been informed of the dreaded Getty letter in relation to an image I used on a website and am looking for some help/advice.
First a bit of background...
I am a member of the Round Table in the UK, which as most people know is a worldwide charity fund raising organisation arranged into small community-based clubs. They recently launched a new website in the UK which allowed individual clubs to edit their own content. I volunteered to act as our club 'webmaster' and in doing so inadvertantly grabbed an image from Google Images to place next to one of our events. It now turns out that this is a Getty image and they are demanding £850 for its use ! The image used was 200 x 200 px and I can buy a similar image on istockphotos for £12 so there appears to be no logic to the price determined by Getty for their very similar image.
I have removed the offending image and don't really know where to go from here...I have been reading lots of posts here but I guess the problem might be who is responsible. The letter is addressed to our HQ and they have then forwarded it to our club. Strangely enough at the end of the letter there under a section entitled Report Data: which contains a copy of the image and a screenshot of our site showing it in position but the homepage URL is not ours but a completely unrelated club !
I am obviously very concerned about this, and more than a little embarrassed, and was wondering if our status as a not-for-profit charitable organisation (although we are not a registered charity) might be my/our best defence.
I searched on google images for 'beer glasses' and the images appears linking to a completely different website. How anyone is meant to know who the owner of an image is and whether copyright has been infringed is beyond me. No excuse I know but you get the picture...no pun intended !
I look forward to any comments anyone has or even just a bit of moral support...