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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Does Getty Actually Sue Anyone?

« on: November 24, 2014, 06:53:09 PM »

Hi Greg, I've read a ton of the posts already and based on my first response letter based on a letter I found here. But my ultimate conclusion is that if you send a letter with anything other than a filled-out payment form and a check, they don't address one single thing you've said in any follow-up letters, and simply send out another letter a few months later, each one being a little more threatening than the next. Hasn't that been your experience, Greg?

Oh, well, I've had worse things happen to me.

Cheers, Robert
 

Getty rarely sues for a single image.  They did sue 4 or 5 small businesses over a single image and these were settled out of court.  It is the opinion of many here, myself included that these were hand picked "slam dunk" cases they knew they would win either way and were done so they could say that they do indeed sue over single images. 

It was designed to make people stop and question whether or not they want to pay just as you are doing.  With out knowing the detail of your situation all I can says it in general they odds are very low and based on the number of letters believed to have been sent out verses the number of single file suits the number is so close to zero it is almost indistinguishable.  Could they do it...yes.  We would need to know the detail about your case before giving any more of an opinion than that.

Read the forums and get educated, most questions have been answered, provide more info and we can point you in the right direction.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Does Getty Actually Sue Anyone?

« on: November 24, 2014, 06:43:26 PM »

I don't know if it works to reply or not. But I certainly don't want to add fuel to the fire by saying something that will accelerate my case. We all know what we'd like to say!

Cheers, RM

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Does Getty Actually Sue Anyone?

« on: November 23, 2014, 07:35:42 PM »

I got 23 Getty letters, the first one on Dec 10 2013, which I answered and then another follow-up one a few months later which I answered and then on November 10 a letter from Timothy McCormack threatening to sue.

It's pretty clear to see their strategy: Send threatening letters, don't reply to letters you send back, never accept anything less that the original amount and then up the ante. Obviously this works to extract a lot of money because of the fear of being sued.

The question is, does Getty actually sue anyone, especially for 1 or 2 images? I read somewhere that they sued a few people for one image, but haven't heard the outcome. However the cost of suing, traveling to my town, paying for airfair and hotel rooms for a $961 judgement would be insane as an ongoing practice, especially if they could sue people who had used dozens of images. And, I doubt they would win anyway or would be awarded a very small judgment. 

Given all of that, I'm not too worried they would ever sue. So my plan is to get back to them one more time and say thanks, but no thanks, I won't be paying you anything.

What do you think?

Thanks, RM