RM Getty Images in wordpress theme I bought. Help!

[Teresa]

Hi,
My name is teresa and I had a little bit different problem here. I’m a web designer and I’m working on a website right now. I bought a wordpress theme on themeforest for this project and I wasn’t aware that the images that came in the demo site were RM Getty. I know them because I’ve been working on advertising for a long time. I rarely look for pictures in their site, since they are so expensive and my very small clients can’t afford a $500 picture. Even though I‘m still working on the site I had it live because it easier to show my client the process. Yes I know, I won’t have a site in development live ever again. I don’t use theme images for final sites, but it is nice to have something to hold the place until client sends the real one. I only kept one in about us page for layout purposes. The picture was of some vegetables with no persons in it. I didn’t think this was going to be an issue since I bought the theme and I was going to replace the picture anyways. Long story short my client got the “getty letter”. That was fast! My first instinct was to contact getty and tell them about how is not my client fault and it is my responsibility, and I didn’t meant to use a picture from them. I wouldn’t knowingly use any of their pictures. I would have found a very similar for $10 in Royalty Free sites. I’m confused and don’t know what to do. I feel very bad for my client and also is not good for business when things like this happen. What do you think I should do?

[clist]

If I were in your shoes I would contact the developer of the theme (and possibly themeforest) first to get to the bottom of this.

I think when most people purchase a WP theme from themeforest they expect that the included images are ok to use and if they are not then the theme developer will most likely include generic placeholder images in place of those images in the download. --> I've purchased several themes from them and I have found this to be a common practice.

It sounds to me like the developer messed up - I'd start there.

Good luck.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Most Theme Forest authors, have some sort of disclaimer in terms of the demo content..check the license.Theme Forest will likely not help you in this matter..according to their terms:

Intellectual Property

32. What we own: We own all the Envato content that we have put on Envato Market (unless otherwise stated and excluding content owned by others). This includes the design, compilation, and look and feel of the Envato Market sites, and copyright, trademarks, designs and other intellectual property on Envato Market. We own all the trademarks, logos, service marks and trade names on Envato Market (unless otherwise stated and excluding these things owned by others). You will not copy, distribute, modify or make derivative works of any of our Envato Content or use any of our intellectual property in any way not expressly stated in these terms.

33. What we don’t own: We do not own the items on Envato Market; our authors do. So we cannot take responsibility for the quality, safety or legality of the items. We do not promise that the items or any member content, code, data or materials available on or via the Envato Market do not infringe the intellectual property rights of a third party. (Each author provides promises to you directly when you purchase their item – see section 21 - Promises authors make.)

[Matthew Chan]

I agree with clist here. The developer needs to be notified of this situation and they need to look into it so they can provide you an explanation.

As Robert pointed out, don't get the true developer confused with the reseller of the theme. Two different parties. Having said that, if there is something bad going on with the developer, you should get your money back from the reseller.

If I were in your shoes I would contact the developer of the theme (and possibly themeforest) first to get to the bottom of this.

I think when most people purchase a WP theme from themeforest they expect that the included images are ok to use and if they are not then the theme developer will most likely include generic placeholder images in place of those images in the download. --> I've purchased several themes from them and I have found this to be a common practice.

It sounds to me like the developer messed up - I'd start there.

Good luck.

[Teresa]

Thank you so much for your previous comments.

I have contacted the developer, as some of you suggested and they were very vague and not helpful at all. It seems they are in a foreign country, so it is hard to get in touch with them. I hit a dead-end there.

The letter my client got, didn’t come with a price for the picture in question. It says to prove they have an active license and if not to remove picture and contact them within 14 fays.  That time has passed and we haven’t answered hopping they would send another letter with a price. Which I think I’m going to pay since I would like this problem solved for my client. Should I contact getty back explaining the situation and asking to set a price for the picture? Or should we wait and see what they do next? Will not answering on the period time they said will have consequences, or is this just a form of intimidation they use? I don’t want to do anything until I’m comfortable with a path to follow. 

Thank you again.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Most of the developers that sell on ThemeForest are from other countries and really don't give a rats ass about copyright law in the U.S. I'd like to see the documentation that came with the theme if possible, you can email it to me at admin at copyright-trolls.com, there is usually some language included in regards to the images contained in the "dummy content" provided.

Contacting Getty at this point and requesting a price is not a good idea, and explaining the "situation" won't do any good and it will likely hurt you in the long run. The 14 day time limit is there to intimidate you.. get more educated first by reading threads in this forum.