Getty using Swiss lawyer to pursue innocent infringement by mom & pop company

[Lavern]

Dear all - my tiny company based near Geneva in French-speaking Switzerland has just been served a summons to appear on 29 June 2017 in a German-speaking court in Zurich initiated by a Zurich-based lawyer representing Getty Images International in Dublin, Ireland over an alleged 5-year infringement of a thumbnail image asking for over 2160 Swiss francs. This infringement presumably reaches back to 2011. Yet in 2011, my family and I were based in Indonesia where I was working on a full-time contract and the website of my Geneva-based company was languishing. I first received a Getty settlement demand letter in Feb 2013 shortly after returning with my family. I got another letter a few months later and then did some Internet research and followed the advice to ignore it. On 22 Dec 2016, out of the blue, I got a letter in an envelope from Meili Pfortmüller in Zurich saying that I had 20 days to pay 2160 Swiss francs into the numbered bank account mentioned and the matter would be forgotten.I thought it was a Nigerian phishing scam and didn't pay any attention. Who would ever pay money into a bank account based on a letter like this? In January 2017, I got a repeat of the letter saying that had 10 days to pay or there would be legal action and that interest would be charged, legal fees, fees related to the courts that would result in a much higher compensation.

As all the research I've done suggested that it would not come to that, I ignored this.

I've contacted the court to ask if the proceedings could be moved to the district in which my company is registered so that at least I can bring across my understanding of the situation as my operating languages are English and French. Let's see if there is any response.

Has anyone on this forum heard about any similar situation in Switzerland, or will my case be the first? I am currently not planning to get legal counsel because this costs about 500 Swiss francs an hour and it is not affordable for my tiny operation which operates on a non-profit basis.

Presumably the outcome will be of interest, no matter what the outcome is.

Thanks for any feedback - JLM

[Matthew Chan]

This is primarily a website assisting U.S. and Canadian victims. We occasionally assist those in other English-speaking countries such as UK, Australia, and New Zealand. We don't hear much from people from non-English speaking countries.

Given that you say you have little money to hire anyone, it becomes a moot issue. You can try to use some of the advice on these forums to write a response or rebuttal.

But regardless of any legal proceedings or judgment, the general rule of thumb is that it is very hard to collect money from those that are unwilling or don't have it.  You can make a counter-offer to settle or you can simply stay quiet.

You should assume that most of these people rely on intimidation and the fact that most people are legally ignorant. And most Getty cases don't result in lawsuits. So you can take some comfort in that.

Good luck to you. Let us know if anything changes.