Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Pixsy Letter Questions

« on: October 28, 2018, 05:01:28 PM »

You're right, and unfortunately that's not really feasible in this day and age, which is why copyright law needs to be modernized. That's beyond the scope of this conversation, though.

These photos were definitely uploaded to Flickr by the original photographer at least, so there's less ambiguity in that aspect.

Hopefully I can resolve this amicably.

2

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Pixsy Letter Questions

« on: October 26, 2018, 09:59:22 AM »

This is, unfortunately, dragging on.

I have reason to believe that the photos were originally published under Creative Commons on Flickr. The album was deleted, and I see that the original author shared it all over the place as well on various forums, etc.

I've asked for proof of the original license, and they've offered me a reduced rate.

I'm being polite and completely civil, and they're not answering any of my perfectly reasonable questions. I said that wanting proof is more than reasonable. Anyone can upload photos to Flickr under Creative Commons, delete the photos, and then go after people that used them.

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Pixsy Letter Questions

« on: October 17, 2018, 08:05:47 PM »

To add a few important details here...

I found the photos on Flickr in 2010/2011, and am almost positive they were creative commons. When I was contacted by Pixsy, I investigated and saw that the entire gallery had been deleted on Flickr and moved to a new website, that of the photographer. On his new website, right below these photos, he wrote that he had to climb over a wall on the property and get past alarm systems.

My reply to Pixsy was that before we have a conversation, I would like them to verify that he was given permission to take and license these photos.

4

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Pixsy Letter Questions

« on: October 14, 2018, 01:51:08 PM »

Looks like the images were taken on private property without permission. Inside buildings, not visible from a public space. The photographer publicly wrote that they had to sneak past alarms and climb a wall.

5

Getty Images Letter Forum / Pixsy Letter Questions

« on: October 12, 2018, 01:15:27 PM »

Hello,

I received a letter from Pixsy requesting $1,000 for the use of a few images from a photographer. The images were published on one of my blog posts in 2011 with a prominent link to the photographer's site. They were used in good faith, as I believed they were free for use.

I deleted the images immediately, and emailed the photographer simply to confirm that the email I received from Pixsy was genuine.

So my questions are...

1) What are my options to either reduce the fee, or eliminate it entirely?
2) How can I protect myself going forward? I've written 7,500 blog posts, and though I'm diligent with only using creative commons images, sometimes something will inevitable slip through.

Pixsy listed a US mailing address for me, which is simply a forwarding address. I'm located in Canada, and the photographer is based out of Italy.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.