Solved Both Of My Getty Images Cases Myself

[wela]

I first want to say thank you to this forum as it has been a huge help.

Back in 2003, I purchased a template from a company on the Internet. http://www.templatemonster.com. I had thise template modified by my designer and then later I used it over the the years on many websites.

Fast forward 8 years til April, 2011. I received my first of two getty demand letters.  I first logged into all of my 15-20 hosting servers and removed this template as well as all of the images associated with this template. (you are probably wondering why it was on so many servers? I was using it as a placeholder page for my company).

I then picked up the phone, called getty, talked to a guy there, pleaded my case, told him where I got the template, I had my designer on the phone, etc (he didn't care at all, so it was a complete waste of time). He offered me a reduced amount from $1175 to $975 I believe so I took it and sent the check the following day. I thought I would never hear from them again..

WRONG!

Last month I received another demand letter this time for $875. Yes, it's for the same image that I just paid $975 for, but for a different domain!

This time I started really searching the Internet. I was in a huge panic as probably most of you are right now, worried about being sued, spending a bunch of money, etc. I have never received a letter like this from a large company so I did not know what was going to happen..

I then came across this great website and Matt!!

I proceeded to "search for ways out of this mess."

So, what I tried to do is go on gettys website and contact their live chat, and told them I wanted to purchase a back dated license. She asked me if I had an open case with them.. which I thought was REALLLL interesting. I first denied it.. and then I told her I did and that I would still would like to purchase the license. Well even though their website appears like it will let you purchase a back dated license it will not.. One thing that the lady did give was the
name of manager of the CHICAGO office and then from there the CHICAGO manager put me into contact of the Copyright Compliance in SEATTLE. Yes there are two different offices that handle this stuff according to the lady so I will list the SEATTLE as that is where my claim was being delt with. Dave was a really nice guy to talk to. I talked to him, he actually put a 30 day hold on this last case since I told him I needed time to do some research and go over my options.

Well while I was searching, I found a link about Template Monster and Getty Images. This was a huge sign of relief.

http://blog.templatemonster.com/2007/09/19/template-monster-signs-a-new-agreement/

I sent Template Monster an email, and by morning I had a reply..

I didn't have a receipt any longer as I purchase this template back in 2003.. but they were even able to look it up by my company name.

The following day, they emailed me this..

"I requested the case closure from Gettyimages. Please note that it can take up to month to close the case. I will contact you once I receive a confirmation.
To speed up the closure process you may want to contact GettyImages from your end and tell them that this is a Templatemonster related case and provide them with the following information:
Order ID: 5T468p7WRF246*******
Order date: 01.13.03"

I then emailed David Wojtczak back and told him of my findings about his company and Getty.. and that I expected a full and prompt refund of my first $975.00 and he wrote me back this.

"Thanks for your email.  While the uses in question are still unauthorized, I will have someone on my team submit a refund request for the prior $975.00 payment.  Both cases will then be closed in our system.  Please note that since there are no valid licenses for this image, any use moving forward would still require appropriate licensing from Getty Images. Can you confirm the address that you would like the refund sent to? Best Regards, Dave"

My case will only apply if you purchased a template from TM..


My suggestion, if you did want to email getty, do not email the call center people.. they are just a waste of time, email someone that can do something.

Dave Wojtczak
Manager, Copyright Compliance
Getty Images  [email protected] Getty Images Headquarters
601 North 34th Street
Seattle, WA 98103 USA
Phone: 1.206.925.6796
Fax: 1.206.925.5001

and

Steve Chizmar
Copyright Officer
www.templatemonster.com
[email protected]


I hope this might shed some light on what you can do for yourself.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Thats cool that they gave you a refund, I was told by Getty that if the template I purchased was from TemplateMonster, they would just need the order number / invoice number and they would close the case. Getty had sued them earlier and there was a settlement, so TM I think bound by law to step up to the plate for any templates purchased using questionable images.

[Matthew Chan]

Wela,

You are right about not dealing with the line employees.  It didn't take me long after I got my letter to figure that they had very little power to do much except sing the corporate song. I later found out they hired wanna-be law students for this hourly job.

I took the time time to research the person I was dealing with and when I saw her credentials, I knew I was dealing with a light-weight who had little real-life experience. In fact, I even came across a goofy-looking photo of her at a football game holding up some banner like a fan-freak. I only bring that up because it definitely took away from her credibility.

Sort of like reading "attorney" Brandon Sand's sad-looking LinkedIn resume.

Skipping the chain of command is definitely the way to go to get some better and smarter results.  However, with Getty, it is getting more difficult to deal with anyone except the lower levels directly because there are layers of protection for them. In fact, outside law firms have taken on more responsibilities for collections and negotiations.

Good job Wela and thanks for your story.  That is what happens when you have some education, knowledge, and a spine on your side.  Spines are in relatively short supply.

Matthew

[Oscar Michelen]

We have long reported about the Template Monster settlement and I am glad that Getty is issuing refunds to folks in situations like yours. Good job and thanks for keeping us posted.