Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: PicRights.com

« on: January 31, 2019, 10:42:41 AM »

Hi Jafer,

You are on the right track with ignoring them.  Just hang in there once they realize you didn't fall for their discount offer, they will get pesky since you have had initial contact with some negotiating.  They have not shown proof they actually represent the artist or that it was not available before as a Royalty Free Image.  They have not proven you did anything wrong. 

As I stated in my last comment to you, mine began as a Royalty Free image and reverted to rights managed.  It also does not matter that I purchased it.  The license is gone after the Getty image takeover of iStock.  So without proof of my license then I am in same boat as anyone else that receives these extortion emails.  That is why I never respond but make sure I am not using an image they make claim to that is has become rights managed.  I have also learned a lesson in this and that is "to copy all of my old licenses" to prevent loss again.  Example, Fotolia was just purchased by Adobe and I will not continue with them as they are too expensive for imagery.  They have all of my licenses but disclaimer states, they won't promise to maintain them in the future.  So now I have copies of everything.

I recommend this to anyone that purchases images.  Never rely on the company to maintain your data of purchase.  Good Luck and hang tough!

2

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: PicRights.com

« on: January 23, 2019, 11:13:33 AM »

Jafer,

Why would you want to give away your money even if the address or letter is legit?  All of mine were legit contacts and I stayed dark.  The layout of the letter is the same standard tactic these agencies use.  Yours is not special.  They all demand payment, they all show the image to make their claim.  Remember this is a claim by someone, not a legal order or judgment against you. 

In regard to someone else designing your website, doesn't matter, you are the owner of the site which makes you responsible party.  Not to be disrespectful, but the tone of your letter has a great deal of worry emphasized.  Perhaps you are unable to withstand their aggressive tactics to scare you into paying when you aren't even sure if they actually represent the image holder. 

If you are uncomfortable or the events give you a gut ache, then by all means pay it.  Just remember when you do something like that, you play into the hands of these image trolls.  You are a number and it is a numbers game.  If you succumb, then you were part of the low hanging fruit for them to go after.  I just heard from my troll again today after her not sending anything for over 3 weeks.  To give you an example of how you are just a number not worth notating important facts, in her latest letter to me she states the image in question is still up, yet in her letter dated first week in January, she states the image is down, but I still owe the $300.00.  I am no one to them but an easy mark if I were to give in. 

Plus the kicker is I owned the image in question purchased through iStock, but they sold to Getty and my license for this image mysteriously disappeared along with a few others.  What you should realize is the images may have been Royalty Free or not, can't say, but as has happened with me what was once a Royalty Free image became magically a Rights Managed image returned to the private party that may or may not have had a beef with Getty taking over iStock and decided to remove the licensing they had with them.  Who knows, but I won't be a pawn in their extortion game.

As in the past with these trolls, the letters get further apart as this one did and they will continue to do so, I am confident.  The dollar amount they are seeking is less than it would be to hire a legal rep, travel to my jurisdiction and file a lawsuit.  It is about weighing likelihoods with critical thinking.  Do your research as you have been doing and then decide what you can handle and cannot handle.  If you lose sleep over this stuff, then pay.  If you can gut it out and await the next troll letter and simply store copies without responding, then do that.  It is really about you and only you can decide what makes you sleep at night.

did some editing with time frames, not to mislead, but to not place exact dates due to this site is known to be monitored by these image trolls.

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: PicRights.com

« on: January 22, 2019, 03:50:53 PM »

Jafer

I'm still a newbie on here also, but not new to the extortion game having dealt with several myself.  You asked if you should ignore them? My answer is yes in my opinion since it worked well for me in all my circumstances.  And trust me they got pretty aggressive, including phone calls and snail mail. I ignored all of it.  Removed the images and went dark. 

The only problem that you may have is you didn't actually ignore them since you stated you contacted picrights from the first contact.  That is not truly going dark.  Now they know you have received their demand and know you are concerned no matter how you slice it.  You gave them the bait to continue to pursue you and they more than likely will.  Will it go anywhere if you stay dark from here on out?  Probably not, but the key to going dark is to never respond. 

Remove the offending image and ignore all else.  That is my best advice having dealt with similar over the past few years.  All went past the SOL and am currently waiting out another, but they have already gone over 3 weeks since the last weekly emails I was getting for a month before the holidays.  I actually held the license on mine but iStock either lost the license or deleted it once the company sold to Getty.  Not all is what it seems in all cases.  Ultimately, you'll need to decide if you have the guts to go silent and ride out the harassment. 

Best luck

4

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: ImageRights

« on: January 10, 2019, 10:35:37 AM »

This was the test post some may have seen but it is actually mine and the help has been great to get this posted.  Hope this helps others.

 I have monitored this site for years and this is the first time posting my experience.  I learned much and did not play the extortion game.  Waited out 3 separate image accusations within the same month from Getty, Picscout and License Compliance Services, all the same, and they went away after many unanswered emails, mailed hard copies and phone calls going unreturned.  I went dark and remained dark, so I am not easily frazzled especially when I always play by the rules.  The images in question were under old web designer whom let me know about these scams, and I simply could not get to removing fast enough since my site is huge in content and I was working on it daily, plus the time frame to find the right replacement images for my content.  Long story short, have had a business site for over 12 years and changed web site platform and designer 6 years ago.  Once I switched, I proceeded to repurchase and license all new images from iStock and Fotolia since I was leaving my old web designer using transferable licenses to create and develop my site.  When I wanted something special for blog or content, I purchased my images myself.

A new issue has arisen of an Image I purchased through iStock before Getty purchased them.  I have owned the image in question for 6 years.  Image Rights Int'l flagged it and their emails have been going to a spam folder as I designated all types of these contacts as spam.  I did not open the email and copied the link in the preview window and put it into search engine to see the image in question which has been declared a Rights Managed image now from an international photographer from a Scandinavian country on his own website.  I immediately went to iStock to pull the original license and low and behold they have no files for any purchases before 2015 and a portion of 2014 which are not even when I made the purchase. It was much earlier so their records are all messed up.  All my invoices are gone and only a few select images I purchased are visible to reproduce for proof. 

Now I don't feel comfortable using any of those images before the date of ownership change.  They have left a disclaimer stating for invoices or images before the said dates to contact them for assistance.  I did, and they only recovered 16 out of 21 images after I sent them all the unedited images I bought.  I have taken screenshots of those licenses.  Based on their bad record keeping, I removed the image and repurchased at 123rf dot com a similar image, basically appearing almost exact but slightly different. But new image is up and has been since first contact.

Of course,  now Adobe purchased Fotolia and all my licenses have been moved to Adobe with yet another disclaimer of no guarantee to continue to support my Fotolia licenses. WTH! I’m gathering by such a disclaimer that unless I become a paid subscriber, perhaps they will dispose of me in the future. I have safeguarded my purchases through taking screen shots of every image I own and purchased through Fotolia.  Anyone that tries to tell you this is about supporting photographers’ rights is not understanding the larger game here.  I abhor people that rip-off artists, but I am not nor never have been one. Trust me I feel the pain caused by thieves since my content has been stolen more than several times over the years.  I respect artists and creator rights.  But this low hanging fruit, extortion thing is out of hand.

I play by the rules and this person with Image Rights, once a week for 3 weeks now, keeps sending me the fated emails which in and of themselves do not bother me and I continue to ignore.   In the emails she continues to insist the image has not been removed when in fact it has and under new license with 123rf.  She escalated the 4th email and I am not fazed by her threats but angrier that she continues to accuse me of not removing it.  I am not a mind reader so don’t know her game plan and I realize it is not my job to educate the scammers.

UPDATE: after the holidays, I guess she decided to check my site and now sees the new image is up and her escalated threat has been reduced to the niceties of her original email of please pay $300.00 for the license. What is comical however, is with each email she sends she only refers to the most recent dated contact, instead of the original date of contact.  I am keeping copies of everything since it appears to be a ploy of going beyond the SOL with ongoing harassing emails. Since iStock/ Getty essentially have assisted in sabotaging my efforts to comply with old license proof, it makes one ponder, are images disappearing deliberately off of Royalty free sites to rights managed to screw people for free money?

 Hope this info I have shared helps someone else that might be under the impression they owe any monies at all or maybe, just maybe you are being scammed.  Any feedback as to this scenario is welcome as well.  I appreciate you all!"

UPDATE 1/22/19  Keeping you posted in regard to worrying about imagerights.  It is now over 3 weeks since her last email requesting I pay the $300.00.  So this thing may be over already with them.  Yep I may get another but the initial aggressive contacts have stopped, at least for now.  Keep you posted as time passes.