Email from License Compliance Services, Ltd

[geezer123]

I have this morning received an email from LCS purporting that I was using one image (press association) out of copyright. Requesting I pay £400 with a 20% discount which is in place for 10 days.

Is this par for the course? I thought these things were to be sent by letter. Anyway I have not responded and have no intention of doing so until I have read through this extremely valuable resource.

I have of course removed the image from my server. Prepared to accept it may have been used out of licence  but it was placed about 2 years ago by a web designer I engaged online through odesk and some chap in the far east did some web design for a price. Reading the UK citizens advice site it seems to suggest that only the person who placed it is liable?

Also done a tin eye reverse search on the image. And it is on the web with a copyright notice on it name of photographer/Press Association which was not on my version, clearly it was cropped out.
Does this make a difference at all?

Are we to views these as speculative invoices in much the same way as they try and charge you extra for overstaying parking  in McDonalds or Aldi car park?

Unless they actually have the name of the person who they should be directing the bill at there is little they can do?

I guess I should expect a letter in the next few weeks?

[codeman]

See my reply to others in your situation.
http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/uk-getty-images-letter-forum/feel-sick!-lovely-email-from-getty!-please-help/msg19552/#msg19552

[Elliott]

I got the same email last week over the use of a Press Association photo on a 6 year old blog post. The photo was taken from Google and was "labelled for reuse". When I checked the image it is showing on both the PA site and the Getty site as available for purchase. Would this mean they don't have exclusive copyright for it?

Yesterday I received a letter, posted from Jersey, from LCS with the same information in it as the email. If I do anything at all with it (apart from deleting the image which I have already done) I'm wondering if there is any mileage in purchasing the license for the photo. I think I read a post where someone else had done that and they subsequently backed off.
As has been said in a variety of posts the emails/letters are speculative and do appear to be no more than fishing expeditions.

The Citizen's Advice website suggests that if it did go to court they would be entitled to no more than profit lost in the absence of a license to use the photo. The example they gave was of someone downloading a pirated video for their own use, rather than to sell to others. If the individual had bought the dvd instead the profit would have been £4 from the sale of £12.99. Therefore the loss to the copyright owner was £4. This rule of thumb might not apply to the use of images, but does re-inforce the notion that it would be a loss making exercise for LCS to pursue action through the courts.

[geezer123]

Interesting...

If I may ask.
A. was the letter addressed to an individual or an entity?
b. was it sent registered.

I am interested in where they get their data from. Just checked my whois and it only has my Partnership trading name on it not my individual personal name.

Also reasonable to suggest that if a letter does not come addressed to an individual or is not sent registered then it is safe to ignore/bin it.....

[Elliott]

Hi the letter wasn't sent by registered mail and was only addressed to the business, which would suggest they are shooting in the dark.
They have managed to dig out 2 email addresses for the business, so it may that they have got that from the whois database as the second one isn't listed on the blog.

[geezer123]

Thanks for the prompt reply......

I shall be binning the letter then when mine arrives I expect next week sometime.....

Just found this on the PA T&C Page https://www.pressassociation.com/Images/Restrictions/TermsConditions/

They sell their own images...... I found the one I am alleged to have transgressed with on their site and it seems they have their own procedure regarding violations at section 5/5.1

My Opinion this calls into doubt the fact that Getty/LCS have exclusive rights on PA Images..

More I look at this the more it looks like a fishing expedition.....

Edit to add..
Now I have had time to search the Getty site where the image is not for sale at all (only on the PA site) it occurs to me this is some elaborate fraud by getty to extort so called damages to which they are not entitled..

Smacks of the traveller people ripping old age pensioners off with needless work on their roofs and garages.

[geezer123]

My letter from Jersey arrived this morning. Assume it was from these jokers as it was just addressed to the business and had a return postcode of JE1 1JP on the back....

Wonder if I should shred it or send it back unopened....  :-) I shan't be opening it either way...

I could drop in the Government propaganda leaflet delivered last week printed at taxpayers expense about voting to stay a member of the EU....  ;-)

Edit to add. The postcode revolves to this large residential house on Jersey. 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@49.2135912,-2.1894288,3a,75y,275.09h,76.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scmJYTHWurXCrneNGParz7A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Seems whomever is scamming these letters is making a good living at it... For our US Cousins Jersey is a UK Crown dependency off the coast of Northern France, much nearer France than the UK. Holds certain tax advantages in locating a business on the Island.