Defending with the letter

[headhunter9]

Hello. We are considering the letter program but still not clear what outcome the letter will ultimatley accomplish even after reading the forums and watching the videos. I had some contact with Oscar but don't want to keep badgering him. I understand it redirects contact from the accused firm to Oscars team. Beyond that, in a standard case of innocent infringement for one photo, what is the ultimate goal of the letter program? To:

1. Get the case dropped completley?
2. Negotiation of a fair settlement?
3. Other?

I would like to hear anyone's experience of how thier case ended after using the letter program.


As a side note, I searched the forums and didn't see discussion about the 6 strikes proposal. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-27/should-you-fear-the-six-strikes-anti-piracy-rule

I know this mostly applies to P2P file sharing but does anyone see something like this applying to photo infringment? Some kind of fair warning practice that would get unwilling, accidential infringement cases dropped initially with a warning only?

Thanks

[Beanpole]

I haven't used the letter program, but I've read here that the aim is to get the case dropped. The way it seems to work is that once Getty knows you have representation, they know they can't scare you into paying because they can't contact you directly. They either have to take it to court or drop it, and they choose the obvious option.

BTW, until Getty proves it has any right to demand your money, a "fair settlement" is zero.

[lucia]

I wrote a general discussion of how the letter program works here:
http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/information-to-send-or-not-to-send/msg13883/#msg13883

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

The letter program works very well, ever case is slightly different and you would need to discuss with Oscar what your goals are if Getty should decide to reply after receiving his letter.  He has handled about 850 or so of these and knows what he is doing.

[headhunter9]

Pretty much what I was looking for. Thanks everyone.

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

You are very welcome and please keep us posted as to what you decide to do and the results.

Pretty much what I was looking for. Thanks everyone.

[Oscar Michelen]

You asked:
1. Get the case dropped completely? - eventually the case dies by virtue of the statue of limitations
2. Negotiation of a fair settlement? - we used to but Getty will not come down to what we believe is a fair settlement, so no we just state our legal positions and ask them to tell us if we are wrong, they usually don't reply.
3. Other? Yes, once they get a letter from a lawyer, they cannot contact you directly and they usually move onto the fish that just cut them a check. Getty sends out thousands of letter each week and our letter program (while highly effective) has represented far less than 1% of letter recipients, so we are just a little gnat buzzing in their giant ear.