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Author Topic: Other companies selling the same picture that Getty wants me to pay £900 for!?!  (Read 6191 times)

Per Hoglund

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Hi everyone!
I have small scale business teaching Yoga and found a simple picture of a cat to illustrate balance.
As far as I understood it was not copyright:ed but Getty now wants +£900 for it..

I have found at least one other seller on the net offering the picture for £81 for 1 year (DK images)
So it seems to me that Getty does not have EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS to the picture but I am not sure what this means for me?
Am I in a better position to negotiate??
Are they in fact breaching any laws by chasing me?

Very grateful for any advice.
Thanks

Couch_Potato

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I find the best way to deal with Getty is to stop thinking of their letter is as a legal problem. It isn't at this stage. It's a demand for money.

What would you do if somebody walked up to you on the street and asked for money? Assuming you didn't tell them to get stuffed, you'd at least want proof you owed them the money besides a letter stating you do and justification for the amount they are seeking. Start there.

That's assuming you even want to bother responding to them. Some advise that you do, some advise that you don't. It's up to you how you handle it.

Beanpole

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Hi Per

As Couch Potato says, you need proof that Getty is the exclusive licensee of that image. If DK really does have a licence, Getty obviously doesn't have the exclusive. (In fact, maybe Getty has no licence at all.)

If Getty isn't the exclusive licensee, they can't pursue you for copyright infringement, so you owe them nothing - no negotiation needed.

If you could trace the photographer, maybe you could innocently ask whether the image was licenced to both companies. If it was, I think that's game over for Getty. (That may be risky, because you may have infringed the photographer's copyright.)

But if DK is selling the same image, that must put you in a good position by itself. If Getty still wanted to pursue you, they'd really have to pursue DK too.

Per Hoglund

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I actually called the other company (DK images) and was told that Getty does have permission to display and sell some of the images from their collection...
So, it seems that the best way for me now is to ask for a proof of exclusive license and take it from there.

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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They won't supply proof, and even if they did, that doesn't mean you did not purchase the image from the other site..contrary to what getty will tell you, it is up to them, and them only to prove you are guilty, it's not up to you to show them proof of anything.... They always say it's "your responsability to show proof of purchase" clearly this is not the case, but just the opposite. They prey on peoples ignorance of law, in the hopes that most will just cut a check....
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
Robert Krausankas

I have a few friends around here..

Per Hoglund

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Hi Robert and thanks for your reply,
I am not quite sure I follow you though..
So you are saying "innocent until proven guilty"..? 
And that according to UK law relating to copyright infringement Getty has to come up with the proof..? I reckon they have some kind of watermark system..
I will begin with asking them for these things.

Overall I am not at all endorsing copyright infringement and I don't think anyone on this forum is either. We have all just made unintended mistakes, acting in good faith, either personally or via an web designer. Most of us are also really small businesses and/or private individuals.

I'll be in touch and appreciate your comments and thoughts!

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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exactly what I meant, innocent until proven guilty! If I send you an invoice for services are you just going to pay me? are you going to pay me when I say, "well I performed the services, it's up to you to show differently" are you going to pay me?? doubtful, same thing with Getty.. They may have the image "watermarked" but this alone doesn't prove anything, except that it's watermarked. we already know that that image is available elsewhere, so the watermark means nada..

I agree no one on this forum condones copyright infringement, the vast majority of us ( me included) are content creators and artists, we get it....I personally fel that in some maybe even most cases Getty does deserve to collect for the infringements, but they certainly don't deserve upwards of 1000.00 for images that they clearly sell on their site and nearly identical images are available on other stock site for a few bucks. They do not have the right to make up the rules and or numbers as they go along... Perhaps if they had a clue and requested numbers that were reasonable and "fit the crime: as it were, they would be more successful... What most of this boils down to is not even a money issue, it's a moral issue, but Getty has none of those and are only trying to enhance their bottom line..
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
Robert Krausankas

I have a few friends around here..

 

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