Thank you Mr. Chan and Mr. Michelen for putting together this site. I for one am glad I found it. As soon as funds are available, I will be contributing to keep it up and running. I cannot imagine how many people are being extorted given the lack of knowledge most of us have regarding copyright infringement. "I wish I would have known then..."
Like so many others here with Getty, I received a letter from Cephas Picture Library of the UK demanding about $9000 for use of pictures on a personal site. I had a student help build a website using a template we purchased (he received an A in his web design class for his effort) for my wife and I regarding our interest in wine. We found pictures of wine grapes on a college student's site and unfortunately used them on ours. I cannot find the site we discovered the pictures leading me to believe the student is facing the same problem as we are.
As soon as I received the extortion letter, I took the entire site off line and sent a letter apologizing for the use and went as far as offering them $200 for the time the pictures were on the site with the understanding that we would not use them again. The site will not return until this matter is settled, if then. They persisted with more threatening letters and refused to even discuss a smaller settlement. The site, while nice looking, was probably viewed by a few dozen people if I include friends and family.
I simply do not know where to go from here given that I do not have the income to pay such extortion nor the inclination to let them get away with it. Driving a fire truck for a living keeps a roof over my family but does not leave enough for this sort of thing. I would appreciate any ideas you have on how to proceed. I have emailed Mr Michelen and will be patient awaiting a response. I understand the value of what you are doing for so many.
On a side note:
It seems to me that legislation could be introduced to limit the damages to individuals who unknowingly and without intent violate copyright laws provided they remove the images once notified. Legal or not, extortion is extortion and the suffering imposed on those of us caught in this scheme is significant. I have certainly lost a few nights sleep over this. I am not sure if this is a possibility not being a legal expert but if it is, I do know a few members of Congress I could likely talk into introducing such a bill once the situation was explained to them.
Topic: Clone Letter FROM the UK (Read 15802 times)