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Legal Controversies Forum / Looks like Home Depot is trolling in a similar way Getty et. al. has been

« on: September 11, 2013, 03:00:20 PM »

Looks like Home Depot is trolling in a similar way Getty et. al. has been:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/home-depot-harassing-accused-shoplifters-paying-fees-lawsuit/story?id=20201531

This sounds almost exactly like the same practice Getty Images and the rest have been doing..  Only difference is it's no longer cyber.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / GI, Florida sinkhole, and pink planet

« on: August 12, 2013, 08:13:25 PM »

As some of you know, there was a 100' wide sinkhole that happened Florida EARLY this morning (8-12-2013) near Clermont.  I've seen several articles online that are showing photos of it; most of them show: Photo: photographer's name, Getty Images .

Recently there was a new planet discovered that was pink(ish) in color (GJ 504b for those interested).  The image in question if of.. well.. a pink planet on the left against a star background with a sun on the upper right. It was released by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the artist is S. Wiessinger.  USA Today has a cropped version of this image on their website, credit is being given to AFP/Getty Images.  Neither the artist nor his pink planet can be found on Getty, however.

There is another image I've run across of The Helix Nebula that IS on Getty's site and THEY give credit to another stock image website called StockTrek Images..  However, Getty is more than happy to charge for use of said image (and yes, you can also pay for use of said image over on StockTrek's site as well - yet on ST's website they give credit to a Robert Gendler!!!).

I wonder if this is an instance of getty taking an image and trying to "claim" they are the ones who "represent" the photographer.  The more I look into and investigate Getty the more I see how "in the dark" they operate.

I'm tempted to break out my camera and start taking a bunch of new photos just to see if Getty tries to take em...

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / copyright questions

« on: July 20, 2013, 08:20:07 AM »

I was encouraged by another member to post this; while it's not directly related to a getty letter, I do feel that perhaps some of the answers could help everyone out in the long run when it comes to possible copyright infringement.

After getting my Getty Letter I got freaked out.  Lost sleep, felt sick to my stomach, had arguments with the wife, etc.  Then I found this forum and sought out all I could find about copyright rules and laws.

That stuff is fairly easy to come by, albeit the language is sometimes a bit beyond my understanding.

I do understand that the moment something is created that the creator owns the copyright.  I get that.  When a photographer takes a photo, the moment the button is pressed they own the copyright to that photo.  I get that too.  What follows, however, are some questions that I just cannot figure out.  For sake of argument we can assume that no one was contacted to obtain copyrights.

If I have an image that I found on another website and crop it to half it's size and use that, can I do that?

If I post a picture of a  movie poster on my website that I got from my favorite animation studio's website, can I do that?

If i'm at the actual movie theater and take a picture of just the movie poster, can I post that on my website?

If I'm at the actual movie theater and take a picture with a bunch of friends around the movie poster (with the movie poster in full view), can I post that on my website?

If I have an image and add text to it, change some colors, and alter it, can I post that on my website?

If I make a video and I'm wearing a shirt with a famous superhero logo on it, shoes with a famous shoe maker logo on it, and a hat with another famous logo on it, am I infringing upon those copyrights?

If I make an audio (like a radio talk show / podcast) to post online and use.. say.. a clip of a cartoon's voice, or 15 seconds of someone's song, can I do that?


I've got a few more questions, but I think I can research them a little to find my answers.  I thank you for your time.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Whois Information

« on: July 19, 2013, 07:48:07 PM »

What i am about to ask is in no way trying to encourage taking images.

When registering a website (or any time thereafter) one can make the who-is information non-public.  In an instance where someone has unknowingly used a copyright image on their site; would it having non-public who0is information slow down getty?

Or do they still have ways of finding out the owner?

5

Getty Images Letter Forum / Got the Getty Letter

« on: July 19, 2013, 03:36:49 PM »

I won't bore you with the story; it's pretty much the same as everyone else here who has received a letter from getty.
I will state, however, that the template I purchased included the image that getty is alleging that I am infringing upon.
I got the letter two days ago; to cover all bases I removed the image that same day (I acutally pulled the entire website down because I had planned to redo the entire site this weekend anyways).
It is not a commercial site; it's just a "for fun hobby" site (in other words I'm not selling anything).

I do have bank records that show I paid for the template back in 2010, as well as an invoice from the company I purchased the template from.  Sadly, it's just a generic invoice; Website Template is what it shows that I purchased.

I went to: http://www.copyright.gov/records/ and did a search for the individual that they claim is the copyright owner of the image; that person has never registered anything (at least not in the United States).

My next step is to write back to getty requesting proof that they indeed own the copyright to the image (which I suspect they don't from all the reading I've done on this site), or at the very least that they can prove that they have a legal claim to the image.  I've found the person who's name is listed as having credit for the image, but there is nothing on his website to indicate that this image is indeed his.

I'll take any advice on the subject, but would like to ask this; is it wiser to send an email or a snail mail to getty?