Getty letter to me but image was apparently served in another party's ad unit

[pleniv]

I haven't see this one reported here and would be interested in other's takes on it.

I got a letter w/screenshot from Getty Images today, along with a bill for 780.00.  Problem is, I never used the image before. 

My site generates content dynamically based on what query is put in the search box.  I have almost no images on the site, and the few that are there are public domain.  But, based on a user's query two things happen:

1) we return results which, I suppose, could have images (I have never seen images returned in search however)
2) ads are served from Google Adsense.

All I can think of is that the image GI included in their screenshot was actually used in an advertisement (by someone else) who wanted to reach my audience.

I wrote Getty Images and denied their demand and disputed their claim.  I showed them an example of how an image can appear in a search (such as Google image search) as a search result, and not as 'online promotional and/or editorial' use, which they claim.

Anyone have this experience?  Outcomes?

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

I've seen a couple of posts, that had ads being served from elsewhere, and don't believe they have a case, if this is the case, it's just like linking to an image on another site, it would not constitute infringement...he's a snippet from another post..

Definition of "copy"
 
Several important rights exist under the United States copyright law only for “copies” of works — material objects in which the work is embodied.[13] Section 106(1) prohibits the reproduction only of copies of works, and section 106(3) prohibits the distribution only of copies of works.[14] Thus, as the Ninth Circuit held in Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., a link (even a deep link or inline link) to an image does not involve reproduction of a copy of the image by the person on whose web page the link appears.[15] An instruction to a browser to jump to an URL is not a reproduction or distribution of a copy of what is at the referenced URL.[16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_States

I think that this means that actual copying and distribution of content are infringements.  But, content that is only linked to on the Web is not considered an actual copy, nor is it a form of distribution.

I would point this out to them, and see where it goes.. Me being me and so fed up with this whole situation would probably threaten to counter-sue them if they don't give you something in writing dropping the whole matter, but thats just me.

[pleniv]

That is helpful, thank you.

Yes, we will see where it goes.  I don't like being sent bills and have a comparatively short fuse on this.  If they start eating up my time I might just send them a few demands to pay, for my time...

I hate bullies.

[Oscar Michelen]

You should make sure to follow the steps required by the DMCA so that you can be protected from third party's posting copyrighted material on yoru site.  First thing to do is register a DMCA agent

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

You should make sure to follow the steps required by the DMCA so that you can be protected from third party's posting copyrighted material on yoru site.  First thing to do is register a DMCA agent

I'm not quite clear on this whole DMCA thing but I don't think this would appy. My understanding is you would be covered by DMCA if you had users that registered and gave them the ability to post....much like this forum. When ads are served dynamically, the source serving the ads is remote and they do not have access to upload, it's all done thru a script which is grabbing the content from a different source. In my thinking  ( and I may be incoorect) this would be the same as linking to an image on another site, technically your not "copying" it , just linking to it, therefore they would have no grounds whatsoever..

So if I wanted to advertise on this site, I could create a bunch of banners ads upload them to my server, then supply Matt with a script to drop in the page, this script would pull the ads as needed for particular pages, but not of them would reside on his hosting server...

[pleniv]

You should make sure to follow the steps required by the DMCA so that you can be protected from third party's posting copyrighted material on yoru site.  First thing to do is register a DMCA agent

This is great advice.  Thank  you.  It goes in the mail tomorrow.  For anyone who is interested in this, here's an article from Wired which talks about registering as a DMCA Agent, as well as a link to the form.  Thank you again.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/10/dmca-righthaven-loophole/

[lucia]

Has anyone heard from this guy? This looks like another hotlinking case of the sort Rothman is pursuing. The statute date of his first post was Oct 2011-- so still in statute of limitations.  (I'm hunting for cases that are 'hotlink'.)

[Oscar Michelen]

Good call Lucia hopefully the poster will see some activity on this thread.