Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Cabinet Bouchara/Vanessa Bouchara/Getty Emails Apologies to ELI & Matthew Chan

« on: January 11, 2017, 01:57:08 PM »

Here is the email I received:

from:   Vanessa BOUCHARA - Cabinet Bouchara - Avocats <[email protected]>
to:   "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
cc:   cba <[email protected]>
date:   Wed, Jan 11, 2017 at 8:09 AM
subject:   Getty Images / Ryanhealy.com
mailed-by:   cabinetbouchara.com
encryption:   Standard (TLS) Learn more

Dear Sirs/Madam,
 
Whilst operating as Getty Images’ French legal advisor, we sent you a formal letter dated December 20th 2016, asking you to cease and desist perceived libelous activity on your site.
 
Please disregard our previous letter, it was sent in error and accept our sincerest apologies.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Vanessa Bouchara
 
CABINET BOUCHARA – Avocats
Spécialiste en Droit de la Propriété Intellectuelle
17, rue du Colisée - 75008 Paris
Tel : +33 (0)1 42 25 42 30 - Fax : +33 (0)1 42 25 42 31
Email : [email protected]
Website : www.cabinetbouchara.com

2

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Cabinet Bouchara Avocats/Vanessa Bouchara / Getty Images Censorship-Gag Letters

« on: January 11, 2017, 01:55:52 PM »

I'm honored to be included on this list, Matthew. And thank you for your kind words. :-)

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: A New Getty Problem - Cease & Desist Letter from France

« on: January 11, 2017, 01:52:26 PM »

Today I received an email from Vanessa -- the French lawyer -- saying that the letter I received Dec. 28, 2016 was a "mistake." I sincerely doubt it was a mistake. I assume they are now claiming it was a mistake in order to save face and avoid further embarrassment. Here is the exact copy of the email I received:

Dear Sirs/Madam,
 
Whilst operating as Getty Images’ French legal advisor, we sent you a formal letter dated December 20th 2016, asking you to cease and desist perceived libelous activity on your site.
 
Please disregard our previous letter, it was sent in error and accept our sincerest apologies.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Vanessa Bouchara
 
CABINET BOUCHARA – Avocats
Spécialiste en Droit de la Propriété Intellectuelle
17, rue du Colisée - 75008 Paris
Tel : +33 (0)1 42 25 42 30 - Fax : +33 (0)1 42 25 42 31
Email : [email protected]
Website : www.cabinetbouchara.com

4

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: A New Getty Problem - Cease & Desist Letter from France

« on: January 02, 2017, 07:25:48 PM »

So... a few updates.

1. I have republished all three of the articles I wrote about Getty.

2. I have scheduled a 30-minute consultation with my attorney Wednesday morning.

3. Dr. Neal Krawetz and I both received French Cease and Desist letters almost the same day. Both letters use large portions of the same exact verbiage. You can read his very thorough and well-written response here:

http://www.hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?url=archives/747-Cease-and-Desist-from-Getty-Images-in-France.html

5

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: A New Getty Problem - Cease & Desist Letter from France

« on: December 29, 2016, 10:40:56 AM »

Thank you for the feedback, Greg and Robert. I'll keep you posted.

6

Getty Images Letter Forum / A New Getty Problem - Cease & Desist Letter from France

« on: December 28, 2016, 06:23:30 PM »

Today I received a Cease & Desist letter from a law firm that appears to be based in Paris, France. They have "demanded" that I remove all of my writings about Getty Images from my website at ryanhealy.com. For now, I have unpublished these articles since they set a deadline of Dec. 28, 2016 to remove the content from my site. I only just got the letter TODAY (Dec. 28, 2016), so that does not give me any time to research this matter or see what rights I may have in this matter.

You can download the letter and read it for yourself here: http://www.ryanhealy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/getty-cease-and-desist.pdf

The funny part about all this is they are citing French law to intimidate me. But I live in the U.S. so I'm not sure how or why they think French law governs what I post on my blog.

All the posts in question were published in late 2012 and early 2013, and my professional business (writing sales copy) has nothing to do with copyright law or copyright issues. I only wrote my blog posts as a way to warn other people of the pitfalls of using digital images, especially those licensed by Getty.

So I don't really care whether or not my posts about Getty stay online. But as a matter of principle I would like to keep my posts online if possible. At the same time, I do not have the time, energy, or desire to engage this particular law firm in a legal fight.

Thoughts? Opinions? Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you.

7

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Guest Post on Wordstream

« on: October 24, 2012, 11:16:49 AM »

You're welcome, Oscar.

Also... thanks again for commenting on my blog. Really appreciate that you took time to do that. :-)

8

Getty Images Letter Forum / Guest Post on Wordstream

« on: October 22, 2012, 11:48:52 AM »

I wrote a follow-up guest post for publication on Wordstream to continue what I started on my blog a couple weeks ago. Feel free to share it if you'd like:

Free Blog Photos? Not So Much: Getty Images Demands Big Money from Bloggers
http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/10/22/free-blog-photos-not-so-free

Thanks,
Ryan

9

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Jonathan Klein and Getty Images Know How to Treat Their Contributors – Not.

« on: October 21, 2012, 01:33:56 PM »

Great article, Greg. I'm looking forward to Part 3.

10

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Trollog Defined

« on: October 16, 2012, 12:16:21 PM »

Add as many as you like.

It's free!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/add.php

11

Getty Images Letter Forum / Trollog Defined

« on: October 16, 2012, 11:41:30 AM »

It's official.

"Trollog" is now part of Urban Dictionary -

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trollog

12

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I am getting slammed by photographers

« on: October 16, 2012, 09:58:39 AM »

Yes, BIG thanks to Oscar for commenting. I did not expect that at all, and was pleasantly surprised that he participated.

THANK YOU, Oscar. :-)

13

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I am getting slammed by photographers

« on: October 15, 2012, 04:17:04 PM »

Good suggestion, Stinger.

By the way, thanks for the comment on my blog. It went to spam for some reason, but I just published it.

14

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I am getting slammed by photographers

« on: October 15, 2012, 02:04:12 PM »

That is a crazy story, Robert. I can't believe they'd go after a customer/contributor for that type of accidental violation.

But it confirms my suspicion that Getty will come after you if you accidentally let the license on a RM image expire.

15

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I am getting slammed by photographers

« on: October 15, 2012, 12:17:53 PM »

stinger - Thanks for the offer to help. I appreciate that.

Also, I've just published a 2,200+ word follow-up post called:

"Attack of the Trollogs! Plus More Thoughts about Getty Extortion Letters"

If you are interested, you can read it here:
http://www.ryanhealy.com/attack-of-the-trollogs/

Ryan