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UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Help! Debt collection letter arrived
« on: October 24, 2012, 05:36:47 AM »
I responded to their email as follows:
Thank you for your response.
I am afraid however, that I take issue with several of your points;
1. You claim you are requesting settlement for an alleged copyright infringement. Atradius is neither a copyright holder or exclusive licensee and as such, unless you provide me with documentary evidence that you have been assigned the right to pursue this claim by the copyright holder (in this case the photographer, not Getty Images), then I do not consider you to have any right to pursue this matter.
2. You consistently fail to provide any proof that Getty Images is in fact the exclusive licensee of the image in question. I do not accept your, or your client's word as sufficient evidence, nor do I accept your claim that it is protected by client confidentiality and that I am not entitled to see it. Put simply, it is for your client to demonstrate fully their right to make this claim and failure to do so leaves them with no claim at all.
3. You claim that the settlement demand for the alleged infringement is "roughly based on the image size and use", and "the settlement amount also accounts for the losses incurred as a result of the unauthorised use." Firstly, again, in your failure to provide documentary evidence that your client is the exclusive licensee you have not proven unauthorised use, and, secondly I do not accept 'roughly' calculated figures. I must insist that you provide a full breakdown of the calculated costs, neither Atradius or Getty Images are Judge and Jury and cannot simply pluck figures out of the air, they must be fully substantiated.
I look forward to your response and viewing the documentary evidence I have reasonably requested and have every right to see before I am to believe there is any merit to this claim.
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I got the following reply this morning:
As you have failed to deal with this matter in the correct manner and persist in wasting time asking for information which is irrelevant, we are not willing to discuss the matter with you any further.
As you know it is the end user who is liable for the imagery on their site. The end users claim will be against you as the web designer and we will advise them to seek legal advice on how to deal with you.
The fact remains that you did not obtain a licence to use the image.
Please do not contact us again unless you have the correct licensing information for the image. Any further communication that does not include relevant licensing information will be ignored.
Thank you for your response.
I am afraid however, that I take issue with several of your points;
1. You claim you are requesting settlement for an alleged copyright infringement. Atradius is neither a copyright holder or exclusive licensee and as such, unless you provide me with documentary evidence that you have been assigned the right to pursue this claim by the copyright holder (in this case the photographer, not Getty Images), then I do not consider you to have any right to pursue this matter.
2. You consistently fail to provide any proof that Getty Images is in fact the exclusive licensee of the image in question. I do not accept your, or your client's word as sufficient evidence, nor do I accept your claim that it is protected by client confidentiality and that I am not entitled to see it. Put simply, it is for your client to demonstrate fully their right to make this claim and failure to do so leaves them with no claim at all.
3. You claim that the settlement demand for the alleged infringement is "roughly based on the image size and use", and "the settlement amount also accounts for the losses incurred as a result of the unauthorised use." Firstly, again, in your failure to provide documentary evidence that your client is the exclusive licensee you have not proven unauthorised use, and, secondly I do not accept 'roughly' calculated figures. I must insist that you provide a full breakdown of the calculated costs, neither Atradius or Getty Images are Judge and Jury and cannot simply pluck figures out of the air, they must be fully substantiated.
I look forward to your response and viewing the documentary evidence I have reasonably requested and have every right to see before I am to believe there is any merit to this claim.
-----
I got the following reply this morning:
As you have failed to deal with this matter in the correct manner and persist in wasting time asking for information which is irrelevant, we are not willing to discuss the matter with you any further.
As you know it is the end user who is liable for the imagery on their site. The end users claim will be against you as the web designer and we will advise them to seek legal advice on how to deal with you.
The fact remains that you did not obtain a licence to use the image.
Please do not contact us again unless you have the correct licensing information for the image. Any further communication that does not include relevant licensing information will be ignored.