Does Getty Actually Sue Anyone?

[robmid]

I got 23 Getty letters, the first one on Dec 10 2013, which I answered and then another follow-up one a few months later which I answered and then on November 10 a letter from Timothy McCormack threatening to sue.

It's pretty clear to see their strategy: Send threatening letters, don't reply to letters you send back, never accept anything less that the original amount and then up the ante. Obviously this works to extract a lot of money because of the fear of being sued.

The question is, does Getty actually sue anyone, especially for 1 or 2 images? I read somewhere that they sued a few people for one image, but haven't heard the outcome. However the cost of suing, traveling to my town, paying for airfair and hotel rooms for a $961 judgement would be insane as an ongoing practice, especially if they could sue people who had used dozens of images. And, I doubt they would win anyway or would be awarded a very small judgment. 

Given all of that, I'm not too worried they would ever sue. So my plan is to get back to them one more time and say thanks, but no thanks, I won't be paying you anything.

What do you think?

Thanks, RM

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Getty rarely sues for a single image.  They did sue 4 or 5 small businesses over a single image and these were settled out of court.  It is the opinion of many here, myself included that these were hand picked "slam dunk" cases they knew they would win either way and were done so they could say that they do indeed sue over single images. 

It was designed to make people stop and question whether or not they want to pay just as you are doing.  With out knowing the detail of your situation all I can says it in general they odds are very low and based on the number of letters believed to have been sent out verses the number of single file suits the number is so close to zero it is almost indistinguishable.  Could they do it...yes.  We would need to know the detail about your case before giving any more of an opinion than that.

Read the forums and get educated, most questions have been answered, provide more info and we can point you in the right direction.

[stinger]

I am not sure they are worth writing back to.  As you said, they don't acknowledge your correspondence anyway.  Why should you acknowledge theirs?

[robmid]

I don't know if it works to reply or not. But I certainly don't want to add fuel to the fire by saying something that will accelerate my case. We all know what we'd like to say!

Cheers, RM

[robmid]

Hi Greg, I've read a ton of the posts already and based on my first response letter based on a letter I found here. But my ultimate conclusion is that if you send a letter with anything other than a filled-out payment form and a check, they don't address one single thing you've said in any follow-up letters, and simply send out another letter a few months later, each one being a little more threatening than the next. Hasn't that been your experience, Greg?

Oh, well, I've had worse things happen to me.

Cheers, Robert
 

Getty rarely sues for a single image.  They did sue 4 or 5 small businesses over a single image and these were settled out of court.  It is the opinion of many here, myself included that these were hand picked "slam dunk" cases they knew they would win either way and were done so they could say that they do indeed sue over single images. 

It was designed to make people stop and question whether or not they want to pay just as you are doing.  With out knowing the detail of your situation all I can says it in general they odds are very low and based on the number of letters believed to have been sent out verses the number of single file suits the number is so close to zero it is almost indistinguishable.  Could they do it...yes.  We would need to know the detail about your case before giving any more of an opinion than that.

Read the forums and get educated, most questions have been answered, provide more info and we can point you in the right direction.

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Hi Greg, I've read a ton of the posts already and based on my first response letter based on a letter I found here. But my ultimate conclusion is that if you send a letter with anything other than a filled-out payment form and a check, they don't address one single thing you've said in any follow-up letters, and simply send out another letter a few months later, each one being a little more threatening than the next. Hasn't that been your experience, Greg?

Oh, well, I've had worse things happen to me.

Cheers, Robert

Yes, you will be told that proof of claim will only be provided if they sue, now pay or we'll sue.  They will tell you it is up to you to prove your innocence even though if it goes to court they must prove their case not the other way around.  In general you are correct.

I responded because 1) I was as many here are a true innocent infringer, the image was claimed by someone else who offered it for free 2) While I knew copyright law and that it is a statutory offense I knew they were asking way more than a court would likely award and wanted to negotiate in good faith.  When I realized they didn't care about anything other than the money and refused to negotiate in good faith that is when my letters became more agressive finally letting them know if they didn't back off I would file MANY complaints against them with many agencies.  Their response was to send me an escalation to the legal dept letter so I filed my complaints as promised.  As Getty responded to each complaint I filed a follow letter addressing all of my complaints that were not responded to, glossed over or outright lied about.  I let Getty know if I heard from them again there were more ready to print, and if I heard from anyone in McCormack Legal's office without the accompanying proof I asked for I have letters ready to print filing complaints against McCormack including the 3 states Bar association he is licensed to practice in. 

My reasoning behind this if Getty were foolish enough to take me to court, I have hard copy proof (not emails) of me trying in good faith to negotiate, Getty's refusal to do so and a counter suit ready to go which would not be dropped and through discovery many questions about their operation would get answered. 

If I ignored there letters and however unlikely Getty sued me they would be able to show attempts to contact me and my refusal to respond which may not look good to the court.

The result was after I filed my complaints Getty disappeared and I have not heard from them in 2 1/2 years now.  I have outlined everything I did and copies of all letters from me and Getty along with complaints, replies and my responses can be found in the thread "An Experiment Against Getty"

You must decide what is right for you and your situation.