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UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Is your Getty letter legal?
« on: June 01, 2013, 08:13:38 PM »
After removing any image(s) referred to in your Getty letter, but BEFORE you consider replying, check whether your Getty letter complies with UK law.
Sections 82 to 84 of the Companies Act 2006 require all business correspondence (every letter, email or fax) and business websites to include the following:
- registered company name (eg. "Getty Images (UK) Limited")
- registered company address (a real address with a door you could knock on, not a PO box)
- registered company number and country of registration (eg. "Registered in England no. 03728660")
The Getty website doesn't include this information, and nor do the demand letters received by myself and some others (likely all others) on this forum.
Perhaps the company sending these letters has a reason for wanting to hide its identity, perhaps it's not aware of this (very basic) piece of legislation, or perhaps it doesn't give two hoots about breaking the law as long as its gets your money. Whatever the reason, any letters or emails from Getty that omit any of the details above are in breach of the law.
You can report them to your local Trading Standards office and to Companies House: these two organisations are supposed to enforce the Companies Act. Include a copy of the letter you received and point out the breach of the Companies Act. Point out also that this unidentified company is making allegations and threats against you and demanding money; this is not just harmless spam.
In case you need it, Companies House address is:
Companies House, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, Westminster, London, SW1P 2HT
Next, does your demand include a charge for VAT? If so, is a VAT registration number shown on the letter? And is the applicable VAT rate shown (eg. "VAT @ 20%")? And is VAT being charged at UK standard rate of 20%? (If they don't quote the VAT rate, you'll have to do the arithmetic yourself.)
The letters seem to charge VAT at 23% (with no VAT number or VAT rate quoted), and that's the Irish rate. Was your letter sent by an Irish company? Well, of course, you can't tell because the company doesn't identify itself, but it probably looks like it came from a UK company. But maybe the company is registered for VAT in Ireland? Again, who can tell without a VAT reg number. Maybe it's not registered for VAT anywere at all and they just fancy an extra 23%.
If your letters are in breach of UK law as described above, do you really feel like sending these clowns a big cheque with a 23% tip added? I didn't -- I reported them to Companies House and Trading Standards. I've written to various other government depts too, such as HMRC, but CH and TS are the ones that matter most, and they seem to be taking it seriously. The more complaints they get (and the more samples of illegal letters proving that this is an ongoing breach) the better.
Sections 82 to 84 of the Companies Act 2006 require all business correspondence (every letter, email or fax) and business websites to include the following:
- registered company name (eg. "Getty Images (UK) Limited")
- registered company address (a real address with a door you could knock on, not a PO box)
- registered company number and country of registration (eg. "Registered in England no. 03728660")
The Getty website doesn't include this information, and nor do the demand letters received by myself and some others (likely all others) on this forum.
Perhaps the company sending these letters has a reason for wanting to hide its identity, perhaps it's not aware of this (very basic) piece of legislation, or perhaps it doesn't give two hoots about breaking the law as long as its gets your money. Whatever the reason, any letters or emails from Getty that omit any of the details above are in breach of the law.
You can report them to your local Trading Standards office and to Companies House: these two organisations are supposed to enforce the Companies Act. Include a copy of the letter you received and point out the breach of the Companies Act. Point out also that this unidentified company is making allegations and threats against you and demanding money; this is not just harmless spam.
In case you need it, Companies House address is:
Companies House, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, Westminster, London, SW1P 2HT
Next, does your demand include a charge for VAT? If so, is a VAT registration number shown on the letter? And is the applicable VAT rate shown (eg. "VAT @ 20%")? And is VAT being charged at UK standard rate of 20%? (If they don't quote the VAT rate, you'll have to do the arithmetic yourself.)
The letters seem to charge VAT at 23% (with no VAT number or VAT rate quoted), and that's the Irish rate. Was your letter sent by an Irish company? Well, of course, you can't tell because the company doesn't identify itself, but it probably looks like it came from a UK company. But maybe the company is registered for VAT in Ireland? Again, who can tell without a VAT reg number. Maybe it's not registered for VAT anywere at all and they just fancy an extra 23%.
If your letters are in breach of UK law as described above, do you really feel like sending these clowns a big cheque with a 23% tip added? I didn't -- I reported them to Companies House and Trading Standards. I've written to various other government depts too, such as HMRC, but CH and TS are the ones that matter most, and they seem to be taking it seriously. The more complaints they get (and the more samples of illegal letters proving that this is an ongoing breach) the better.