Price of Photo and Demand Amount $186 different. Just pay or fight?

[Darrell]

The demand letter for a photo I had on my blog asks for $520.  I didn't know this was a copyrighted photo when I put it on my post.  I don't sell anything on the blog.  I went to the getty website and figured out the price is $334 if I had to buy it from them today.

Is this worth fighting?  Will it matter if I can find similar photos cheaper from other companies?

I would HATE to pay this but I don't have a lot of free time to work on this either.

Thank you for this opportunity to reach out for help!

[stinger]

Darrell, only you can decide if it is worth fighting.  The statute of limitations is 3 years from the day they discover the infraction.  Our past experience indicates they will make more than one run at you.  You can:

• ignore it for 3 years and hope they let it slide
• make them a counter offer being careful not to admit guilt
• choose to fight it.

Whatever you do, you should take the infringing photo (and any other potentially infringing photos) down immediately in any case.  There is lots of information on this site about your options.  My suggestion is to do nothing rashly.  Get educated, make up your mind on what you want to do, and do it.

[Darrell]

Thanks Stinger,

When I look at other similar photos from other companies the cost is around $20.  So there is a big price difference, but does it matter if their price is set.  I could argue that Getty's price is too high but that is different than arguing that their demand is much higher than then THEIR price.  Does it matter that most similar photos are much cheaper than getty's price?

The photo had been up for about for a year and a half.

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Stinger is spot on, also make sure if you do decide to counter-offer or communicate with them you do it through postal mail and not e-mail.  Also make sure you have educated yourself before you communicate with them if you decide to go that route.

[stinger]

There are some on this board who would argue that Getty makes photos readily available to be used, without proper controls in place to warn people that the images are subject to copyright.  Then when a photo has been spread around enough times, they move it to their Rights Managed collection and charge an inordinately high price, not caring that no one will license it.  They make anywhere from 10 to 100x as much on their trolling activities.

Experience tells us that they will not give you the sales history for the photo in question to help negotiate a settlement.  They will claim to only make that available in court - though they rarely sue over something so small.

[Darrell]

Thank you Greg.  Could you recommend a place on this forum for me to start.  I have been reading a lot but not sure I am getting the things I need for where I'm at now.

Stinger that makes perfect sense.  I couldn't figure out why their photo cost hundreds of times more.

When I counter offer does saying it was a honest mistake count as admitting guilt? 

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

don't say it "was an honest mistake" that admits guilt.. as for the price of the image, if you can find comparable images and see that getty has inflated prices, IF it were to go to court, a judge would most likely look at this and what others sites charge, and would take that into consideration.. chances are good a judge would not award the amount getty wants.

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Also I would recommend that any offer (without admitting guilt) of any kind be contingent on Getty providing proof of:

1) They image is properly registered.
2) They have the exclusive rights to the image.
3) They provide a signed agreement showing the owner of the work has given Getty the right to collect monies on behalf of the artist.
4) Show sales for the last 24 months on the image justifying the amount they are requesting

As far as starting threads it all depends on what you want to do, if you want to fight it yourself (my personal choice) I will direct you to a thread outlining what I did to get Getty to leave me alone. I got them to stop bothering me within 3 months of my first letter and I have never heard from them again.

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/an-experiment-against-getty/

[Darrell]

SUPER helpful.  Thank you Thank you.  I'm actually looking forward to this little game thanks to you guys. 

[Darrell]

Mailed the letter last week.  Today I get an EMAIL in response.  LOL! What a joke.  They want me to pay $520 for the one image but will not provide the evidence that I asked for.  If this were my business I would send these communications certified mail.

How can they expect anyone to take them seriously.  This looks and feels like a scam.   

[stinger]

If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck . . .

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck . . .

It's a pig!, and even a pig with make-up is still a pig...Getty Images, their lawyers and outside counsel Timothy B. McCormack are all disgusting pigs!

[Matthew Chan]

Sometimes the best way to "fight" is to simply go dark.  This is the advice I give to certain people in certain situations. It doesn't fit all situations but if the circumstances are correct and ideal, it is the best course of action.