Messages

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Just ignore them

« on: February 02, 2014, 03:44:24 PM »

I've been taking the same approach as Kyle so far, keeping an eye on this forum while completely ignoring Getty and McCormack.  This is over 2 images that were part of Net Objects Fusion, and were heavily modified by someone involved in designing the software.  As an aside, I'm still waiting, (after many months and emails), from their parent company, Web.com, for a definitive answer on if they have legal rights to the images in the first place. 

Anyway, the last letter I received was from McCormack in early October of last year, demanding I send in payment by October 21, 2013.  Since over three months have passed, I have no idea if they've given up.  Nevertheless, I won't let my guard down, and will post here if I hear anything else from these scumbags.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: How many corporations get these?

« on: October 09, 2013, 04:32:12 PM »

My own business is even smaller as in me, myself and I.  Plus it only runs part time, as in when I have a contract, which can sometimes be months apart.  I thought it amusing Getty addressed their letters to my "Legal Department".  McCormack's was "To Whom It May Concern".  Since I'm neither an attorney or concerned, I haven't replied to anything yet.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: October 08, 2013, 02:14:51 PM »

I just received the first McCormack letter, (and felt like I had to wash my hands after just touching it), wanting payment now for $3402.66.  Getty originally wanted $2543.88 for only two images, which, as I have pointed out before were combined into one and substantially modified by someone else before they were included in Net Fusion Objects.  I forwarded the latest letter to the legal department of Web.com as well as support for Net Fusion Objects.  What is annoying is I have not received any response from NFO since July, and still not a peep out of web.com.  I'll keep after both since there have been issues with this exact same image before and one would think by now there has been some type of resolution.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Just received my third letter from Getty

« on: July 17, 2013, 06:39:50 PM »

They may go broke on postage at this rate.  It's almost a repeat of the second letter, wherein they escalate the threat to going to their legal department.  I'll forward it to web.com as advised by NetObjects.  I haven't heard back from Web.com after I sent them a copy of the last Getty letter, so I'll press them a bit for information.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: July 08, 2013, 08:28:16 PM »

A couple things.  First the changes to the images Getty is claiming were done by whomever sold the modified image to NetObjects through web.com. I will let web.com's legal department figure that out since they are the ones who included the modified image with their software in the first place.  Hopefully they are as fed up with Getty as everyone else.

Second issue is I just received the second letter from Getty.  That was a little surprising considering I was under the impression they usually wait several months or longer after sending out the first.  I will forward it to web.com as they asked and take it from there.  Oscar, I will contact you directly if Getty doesn't give up.  My sincere thanks to everyone here for your excellent advice and efforts to fight these scumbags.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: July 05, 2013, 08:34:15 PM »

Here's an update.  I finally heard back from Net Objects.  They had referred the matter to web.com, who owned the Net Objects at the time the version of NetObjects Fusion I use came out.  They said,

"Your request has been forwarded to web.com and is being handled by their support staff.
In case you receive any further notifications from the image company, please direct these directly to web.com : imageclaim@web.com, attn: Legal Department"

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: June 12, 2013, 04:05:09 PM »

I'm still waiting on NetObjects to get back to me with their opinion on ownership and legal use of the image in question.  I have not heard anything else from Getty, (and hope I didn't just jinx myself and there will be a letter waiting for me when I get home from work).  I also want to hold off contacting Getty until I get an answer from NetObjects.  I want to have some definitive answers in hand first.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: June 07, 2013, 12:37:39 PM »

I sent everything NetObjects requested to them, along with the link Lettered provided to help refresh any memories.  Interesting this came up three years ago over the same image, so of course how the NetObjects legal department responds may be significant. 

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: June 05, 2013, 04:56:24 PM »

Thanks for the information and link Lettered.  The person who started the thread in the Net Objects forum used the exact same image that I used.  The response I received from Net Objects was also almost the same as what he received.  My question now is how to best proceed.  Do I go ahead and send Net Objects the information they request?  I assume they know about this forum, but do I mention I am a participant or not say anything?  I have not heard anything else from Getty, but am keeping Oscar as an option since I really do not want to deal with them myself.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: June 05, 2013, 02:08:51 PM »

An update.  I received an answer from NetObjects and they are requesting a copy of the Getty letter as well as some other information about the copy of their software I used.  I have a feeling this is far from the first time they have run into this situation.  As I stated in an earlier post, I am not positive the image in question came from their software or was downloaded from their website. But it is logical NetObjects wants to be certain since they stated they make sure all images they make available to their customers are legal.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: May 30, 2013, 07:15:29 PM »

Good information, DavidVGoliath.  Looks like I really need to find out who all the players are and hope this doesn't get any more complicated.  That may be the proverbial needle in a haystack, but it's worth a try.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: May 30, 2013, 05:16:55 PM »

I'll concede that there is the potential for a 'fair use' argument that the amount of alteration that you made to the original work resulted in a transformative work but, from your own admission that you merely substituted greyscale for colour and blended the edges of the photographs, I'd be of the opinion that such minimal alterations do not qualify as sufficiently transformative.

I should have clarified I was NOT the one who made the alterations.  The changes were already in the image I used in my website.  This would be clear if the images in question could be displayed here, so bear with me if my explanations need clarification.  So a question now is who did use the originals as part of the transformed image and did that person have permission?  And then who is the owner of the transformed image?     

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: May 30, 2013, 02:41:06 PM »

Robert, I'll send you the links in a PM.  Since I removed the offending graphic from my website, the only way you could see it is if I include the .gif file.  I went over everything from my installation of Net Fusion Objects and I could not find the file in question. Granted it has been close to 5 years since I did anything with the graphics for this site, so I am not sure if this file was part of a download I got from Net Fusion Objects as a promotion when I purchased the software or not. My website was created on a computer i no longer own, and it is possible that I did not transfer all the graphics files to my present computer.  However, I will still contact customer support and see if this is a file actually owned by Net Fusion.

The EULA does clearly state that purchasers of the Net Fusion license have full rights to use any images included with the program.  I'll keep looking since these images are scattered throughout the software and may even be hiding in other files on my computer.

Also, the image I used is a collage of four images.  Getty is claiming ownership of only two.  The two they are claiming were significantly altered, (i.e., gray scale instead of full color, faded edges to blend in with the other images in the collage instead of being sharply defined as in the original, and much lower resolution).

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: May 29, 2013, 04:20:46 PM »

Thanks again for more good information.  This may be a long shot but I will see if NetObjects can or will provide anything on what licensing, (if any), they have or had regarding the two images in question.

Something else I noticed is that the images were changed, (and possibly significantly to my untrained eye), in the template provided by NetObjects Fusion as compared to what Getty has on their website.  Please forgive me if this is a really naive question considering this whole matter is about copyrights, but is it permissible here to upload the template and Getty versions so others can judge for themselves? 

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty letter about image included with commercial web design software

« on: May 29, 2013, 10:58:24 AM »

Thank you all for the replies and information. I do have the original disks and will check for the EULA.  Would it be advisable to ask Getty for copyright proof of the images in question? I want to see legal documentation, especially verifiable dates that they owned the images before they were included in my website.  It would not surprise me if their spider bot is designed to find any images they own regardless of the date they were acquired.