1
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Pixsy demand email
« on: June 30, 2018, 11:46:19 AM »
Thanks for all that you do Matthew!
Congratulations on having your case resolved. My comments inline.It's quite possible that Pixsy is playing some sort of "long game" here and will come back at me with this claim again or even a new claim. However, I'm hopeful this is the end.
That is paranoid thinking. There is no advantage for them to lie to you in this manner. If it is dropped and they told you, be happy and move on. It is almost as if you are asking for the to revive whatever case they had against you.
My case would be an example that shows you're better off responding to the claim and acting in good faith. No matter who you are dealing with, don't let the threats of a bad actor control the actions you need to take when a claim of copyright infringement is made against you.
I generally tell people to respond and make strong arguments if there are facts that help your position. People who want to stay silent generally let the other side assume the worst. I have found that most victims have a very difficult time understanding this basic concept. They can't understand the concept of discussion, debate, and standing by your position to defuse the situation vs. trying to beg and "convince" the other side to drop the case. Most of the time, people don't announce they will drop the case. They just quietly go away. Nearly everyone wants the matter to be black and white which is almost never the case and leads to people foolishly settling when sometimes they don't need to.
The only actions I took were those required by law when a DMCA takedown notice is given. I wrote no more than a total of 10 sentences stretched across three emails. I made no mention in my emails of the claims I knew were false nor of the "solutions" Pixsy was offering because it's all irrelevant in a formal takedown process. My replies were a reflection that I "educated myself", knew the copyright holder's responsibilities, and knew my responsibilities. I think the rep from Pixsy knew (because I knew) the right thing to do legally and for their client was to move on and be satisfied that I promptly removed the image the user had uploaded to the website.
I would agree with your statement. Getting smart and giving informed responses go a long way to defusing any potential claims. They may never publicly admit it. But having a good informed, educated, and firm response often goes a long way to "lessening" any claim and impetus to pursue certain parties.
I have seen so many people do absolutely dumb things like copy template letters from the Internet and send them in. It does nothing except show the sender of that letter how lazy and uninformed they are. They think the recipients of the letter will sudden by stopped in their tracks by a widespread template latter.