Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Beat the Getty Images Extortion Letter: Special Report!

« on: January 20, 2012, 05:10:14 PM »

Count me in!  I'll buy a copy for me and a couple of my friends (nope... I won't make unauthorized copies... I'll buy them all).

2

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: A letter to my Congressman and my two Senators

« on: January 04, 2012, 03:12:38 PM »

Received a response from Senator Jon Kyle.  While he did not completely blow me off, his response was not encouraging.  He did suggest I contact my State Attorney General if I felt Getty was "indeed preying on unsuspecting users of copyrighted material" who is responsible for investigating cases of misrepresentation and deceptive practices.

Here's the link to his letter:  http://www.box.com/s/q7jl1jvrvc3zlry84e4b

Any thoughts on his suggestion?

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: A letter to my Congressman and my two Senators

« on: November 18, 2011, 10:38:42 PM »

Today I received a response to my letter from Senator John McCain.  Here is the text of the letter:

October 19, 2011 (Note today is November 18)

Dear James,

Thank you for sharing your views with me.  I am pleased that you too the time to write.

Your concerns, opinions an views are important to me and help me do a better job in the United States Senate.  Your input on this matter is of much value to me.

Again, thank you for your recent correspondence.

Sincerely,

John McCain
United States Senator

Obviously my letter fell on deaf ears.  If I receive a reply from my two congressmen I will post it here as well.

4

Getty Images Letter Forum / Courts Call Out Copyright Trolls' Coercive Business Model, Threaten Sanctions

« on: October 28, 2011, 12:59:44 PM »

Found this on the EFF.org site:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/courts-call-out-copyright-trolls-coercive-business

5

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: URGENT!! White House petition to stop abuse of the DMCA and Getty type penalties

« on: October 23, 2011, 04:00:36 PM »

Amen!

6

Getty Images Letter Forum / Interesting FAQ about Getty's contributor agreement

« on: October 17, 2011, 11:23:58 AM »

Found this interesting... FAQ about Getty's agreement with photographers/artist, etc.

https://contribute.gettyimages.com/producer/help/agreement

7

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Make Your Voice Heard!

« on: October 13, 2011, 12:32:27 PM »

What about utilizing change.org to initiate a petition to stop Getty's practice and amend the copyright law to recognize unintentional infringement?  Just a thought, but Change.org has a huge base and if people realized that they could get a similar letter because the posted an image on their family web site, personal blog, etc, it may encourage some action.

Think Matthew or Oscar would help with the wording?

8

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty Images gets a taste of its own medicine

« on: October 13, 2011, 12:27:46 PM »

Any chance the judge handling this case would accept a letter detailing Getty's ongoing extortion program so he could consider their actions when assessing penalties, etc against them?  Might shine some light on this whole Getty Extortion Letter scheme.

9

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Has anyone thought of publishing a list of those who support Getty?

« on: October 05, 2011, 10:48:17 AM »

P.S.

I think we should also include where the image was obtained from if possible (e.g. RF website, India design firm, template company, and include their specific company names).

In addition I'd add any letters I wrote to my congressman and a copy of their responses. 

10

Getty Images Letter Forum / Has anyone thought of publishing a list of those who support Getty?

« on: October 05, 2011, 10:44:45 AM »

I've done web work for a long time and have learned that the web can be a powerful force when properly leveraged.

I'd like to solicit your input about an idea I'm kicking around:

I'm thinking of building a web site that would summarize the GI Extortion letter, then including a list of all the photographers and companies who Getty claims to be representing when sending out their letter.  This would bring some attention to those who, whether intentionally or unintentionally, are supporting Getty's extortion practices by licensing their rights to Getty.  Enough bad press around the artist and the whole Getty scam may cause some to cancel their contracts with Getty in an effort to distance themselves from this fiasco.  Adding companies who purchase from Getty (e.g. CBS News, The New York Times, Chase Bank, etc) may also encourage them to discontinue using Getty.  This could really hurt them financially if they loose enough big accounts.

Might be a long shot, but with proper Google placement, a descriptive title (e.g. GettyExtortion.com or gettysucks.com), a good summary description (e.g. These artist and companies support Getty in their extortion efforts) and accurate content, it may become a quite large thorn in Getty's side.

How much info would you be willing to include?  Your real name, the image in question, the artist who holds the rights, the actual licensing cost, and the amount Getty wants to charge? 

Just putting this out there for you thoughts and input.

Thanks and good luck!

 

11

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another infringer and action I took with Getty

« on: October 05, 2011, 10:29:30 AM »

Please let us know what your friend learned from the copyright attorney.  :-)

12

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I-Stock Photo

« on: September 29, 2011, 03:25:19 PM »

On a somewhat similar note, I use iStock from time to time, and I purchase "pay as you go credits" that allow me to download an image and pay for it with credits.  Problem is I never get a receipt for a specific image, just a receipt for the purchased credits.  What's to prevent Getty, who owns iStock, from demanding payment if I fail to produce a receipt for an image I purchased via pay as you go credits?

13

Getty Images Letter Forum / Has anyone ever tried to negotiate with the artist directly?

« on: September 29, 2011, 02:53:43 PM »

Just curious.. has anyone ever tried to negotiate with the Photographer/Artist who actually owns the copyright to the image?  Just thought that if they only get a percentage of the amount Getty collects, they may be inclined to take a direct settlement for more than Getty would give them but less that what Getty is demanding?

14

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: URGENT!! White House petition to stop abuse of the DMCA and Getty type penalties

« on: September 29, 2011, 12:55:42 PM »

Hi Bekka,

I was able to copy and past the link without problem.  However I see you have started a similar, and better worded, petition so I'd direct users to your petition instead of mine.

Bob

15

Getty Images Letter Forum / Would this judgement against Righthaven have implications against Getty?

« on: September 29, 2011, 09:18:23 AM »

Please see this article from September 27, 2011: http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/sep/27/judge-righthaven-lacked-standing-abused-copyright-/ 

The highlights that caught my eye are:

Righthaven LLC of Las Vegas lacked standing to file copyright infringement lawsuits in Colorado under its lawsuit contract with the Denver Post and abused the Copyright Act in doing so, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Senior U.S. District Judge John L. Kane in Denver granted summary judgment for Righthaven lawsuit defendant Leland Wolf and the It Makes Sense Blog against Righthaven.

"In light of the need to discourage the abuse of the statutory remedies for copyright infringement, I exercise my discretion under the Copyright Act and order that Righthaven shall reimburse Mr. Wolf's full costs in defending this action, including reasonable attorney's fees," Kane's order said.

In total, Righthaven had filed 57 lawsuits over Denver Post material in Colorado since Jan. 20. These suits alleged websites, message board posters and bloggers had used a Post TSA pat-down photo without permission -- even though the photo had gone viral on the Internet, was distributed to news outlets by The Associated Press and many defendants said they had no idea it came from Denver or the Denver Post and was subject to copyright protection.

In addition, Four federal judges in Las Vegas have dismissed seven Righthaven lawsuits because, under precedent in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals including Nevada, copyright infringement plaintiffs must have actual ownership of the material they sue over, not just the bare right to sue. 

Kane found language in the agreement about a "purported assignment of 'rights requisite'" is "meaningless."


Would the same logic apply to Getty?