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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: settlement demand letter from Getty Image. What to do?

« on: November 05, 2010, 01:55:00 AM »

I have been in the Design Business for over 22 years and doing web design for about 15 years.

Since my first client received one of these extortion letters, I have refused to take on any more web-related work as a result (already turned down 3 new website builds this month and warned the potential clients about this latest scam). Until last month, I have been spending several thousand dollars per year on stock photo license agreements - that will be ZERO in the future. I have NEVER used GETTY but once many years ago for a single image, but they keep harassing one of my clients and we have even proven to them that what they are claiming is a Getty Image is absolutely (and obviously) not even one of their images. So apparently they are threatening lawsuits against anyone you even has an image displayed that is even similar-looking to one they offer - even you you took the photo yourself. If I have to shut down the business due to the unwillingness of the Stock Photo Industry to police itself - so be it. I never thought that my clients might be put in a position of having to sue me when I did everything right and legal. I simply don't have the desire to and health to fight these crooks. This practice is nothing but a job and economy "killer" - the only winner is Getty, until they drain the trough.

I have bundled up all my research on this and forwarded it to one of my contacts at Fox News in hopes that they will look into the matter further and expose this practice. Once enough of these letters go out and the word gets around NOBODY will be putting ANY images on the Internet. Even if you can prove you have a license or took the photo yourself - I refuse to spend what little spare time I have proving to Getty that I did not breach their claims.

I have NEVER used a stock image for any of my clients that I did not purchase rights to, but if all my clients are going to start getting these threat letters, I will have to spend ALL MY TIME just looking  up proof of purchase. Between Getty and the Government, the paperwork could put ANY design firm out of business. Even if everything is done correctly (as I did), it still will not stop Getty from threatening lawsuits to EVERY person that has any photos displayed on their website (even if the web site owner took them themselves apparently).

I can only imagine what it is going to be like when couple hundred of my web site clients receive these threat letters! They are all going to look to me and either I have to show proof of every single image Getty decides to challenge or rish a lawsuit from all my clients independently.

Responding to these letters is a waste of time - we just did that last week and the Getty idiots came right back with a response that we were using one of their images - we are not and never have! We even sent them photographic proof the the image is different - they are still pursuing my client.

Until these practices are exposed on nationwide television, this will continue. Once it is exposed, the law will need to be revised otherwise NOBODY will ever put ANY photo on a website again and EVERYBODY loses in the end! What a thing to be pulling in this spiraling economy... maybe that is part of their plan to trash another industry?

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: settlement demand letter from Getty Image. What to do?

« on: October 26, 2010, 11:54:19 PM »

One of my clients got one of these Getty Extortion Letters today. It was for an image I had purchased a license for from iStockPhoto (another Getty holding) a year ago for use in a montage inside a low-res web header in an HTML Email. They were demanding $1250 for this very common image. Just one small problem... the Getty Image they were accusing my client of stealing was not even the same image or image number they were accusing them to ripping off!

Needless to say, as mad as my client was at me over this issue, it may very well cost me a client that has been spending tens of thousands of dollars a year with me to design all their materials. If that happens, I guess I have the basis for a "LEGITIMATE" lawsuit against Getty and I can show REAL DAMAGES!!! This also cost me 6 hours today trying to dig up proof that I had a license for the image - who is going to pay me for all this time whenever they get their hands on a postage stamp! All this paperwork could put any designer out of business - even if they never used Getty or their images for anything!

I am also a photographer and I sell my images to clients that think they have value, but I have never personally agreed with the fact that any photograph constitutes intellectual property in any manner. Of course, my "feelings" are irrelevant - the law however convoluted, is the law (until they change it when it is suits them), but any child can snap a photo of anything and call it "art" or "priceless". Ultimately, it is virtually impossible for any photographer to PROVE that he even took a photo - simply cannot be done. And it is not like an oil painting or even an illustration that usually has only one buyer - it is a "technology" - especially since Digital Cameras are in every "phone"! I am all for Photographers getting paid for their efforts (that is why I have ALWAYS paid for stock photos I did not take myself), however, in the case of companies like Getty, they are just vultures that use Photographers and their client base for their own financial gain. Why, if they pay a photographer maybe 5 bucks for an image which they in turn try to sell usage rights on the Internet for maybe 20 bucks suddenly worth $1250 in damages? I wonder how much of this collected money is actually being shared back with the photographers in question? That would be a nice investigation for Fox News!

Waiting to respond to all these letters is another ploy in itself - these companies need to be drug into court with a real class action suit and get their clocks cleaned. Innocent people should not have to spend all their time and money to defend themselves against these predators. Why aren't the other stock photo suppliers not up in arms? This can ultimately kill the design industry completely in the U.S. and the only people left able to use photos safely on the Internet will be those countries that don't uphold such laws. A simple Cease and Desist is enough of a threat, until someone is PROVEN to actually be breaching the law on purpose or stealing and reselling images for their own gain.