Yet another MasterFile case

[HeartVsMF]

Hey Folks,

Baby steps here. From a brief scan of threads here, you all know how it is.

The basic scenario is that an image of a local business was found among those typical vast and generous web search results. No copyright info, used on multiple local sites. I have not yet asked said business how they feel about photos of their business offered for sale for profit by some questionable artists, but that's a separate story.

We are a local hospitality business, and offered links to local resources to potential guests as a goodwill favor, as apparently folks still have a hard time googling stuff. The business in question is one of local attractions, and the page they are listed on is a low-traffic, secondary page. The image was low-res, low-value placeholder, essentially.

So out of the blue we get this email from Masterfile, you probably all know JB at this point. Give us some money now (approx. $1,500 USD) since the ugly poor reso image you used belongs to us somehow, or give us more money later because we will sue you kinda deal.

I asked JB for more details, and got one of those lengthy copy-paste responses. The redeeming factor was that I got a week-long extension to pay their extortion ransom. I also emailed Oscar in the meantime, but haven't heard back. Just reached out to Matthew, we'll see what happens.

So this is a summary, really. Not needing any consolation, but a specific course of action including response letter examples would be a good start, if you feel like helping. I know there's info in the Help section, but I am overwhelmed.

Thank you,

Your friendly Vermont Innkeeper

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

HeartvsMF, Welcome to the forum.

As to your situation I will say that masterfile is not the same as Getty images are some of the other settlement demand letter businesses. They do tend to have their ducks in a row when it comes to their images and I do think reaching out to Matthew for a support call and Oscar is a wise first step. Continue reading the form and asking questions about anything you don't understand, the senior members here have a wealth of knowledge and while every situation is different and unique we may be able to offer some insights to your situation.