Getty Images Extortion Letter - Copyright Trolls

If you are reading this, you are just one of the thousands (if not millions) of
individuals or oners of small !usinesses ho have !een re"eiving extortion letter
for using an image o# internet hi"h a "ompany "alled Getty Images "laims is
theirs$ They are misusing (and misinterpreting) the "opyright la to ma%e large
amounts of money (in millions of &ollars), !y employing greedy attorneys and
legally a!usive "olle"tion ta"ti"s i$e$ letters, phone "alls, et"$ ' little sear"h over
internet ill reveal thousands of other lin%s hi"h are "omplaining a!out su"h
extortion pra"ti"es of "ompanies li%e Getty Images$ It is surprising that neither the
Government, nor (ederal Trade Commission ((TC) has ta%en serious note of it to
stop it$ There is a pending legislation in the Congress against su"h "opyright trolls
and you are highly en"ouraged to spea% to your lo"al Congressman to pass it as
soon as possi!le$
Getty Images is an 'meri"an Company (part of a Carlyl Group !ased in )eattle,
*ashington) operated !y +ar% Getty and ,onathan -leinand$ It ons hundreds of
e!sites and operates ith di#erent names online i$e$ 'llsport, *ord .ie, Liaison
'gen"y, /esma%ers, 0nline 1)', 2ulton 3ress Li!rary, 3i"ture 3ost, 2ulton
&euts"h, 2ulton Getty, -eystone Colle"tion, Eye*ire, Energy (ilm Li!rary, 'r"hive
3hotos of /e 4or%, Image 5an%, 2ulton 'r"hive, 'r"hive 3hotos, 3i"torial 3arade,
(rederi"% Leis )to"% 3hotos, image$net, +edia.ast, *ireImage, (ilm+agi", Contour
3hotos, +aster &elegates, Isifa Image )ervi"e, Laura 6on"hi, ,upitermedia,
,upiterimages, sto"%$x"hng, )to"%7pert, 6edferns +usi" 3i"ture Li!rary, 3hoto&is",
Tony )tone Images, 2ellman 8 (riedman (28(), (li"%r or i)to"%photo$ They
deli!erately populate the internet ith their images, enti"ing people to get them o#
their e!sites for (6EE !y using %eyords i$e$ 6oyalty (ree Images, (ree photos,
Li"ense free photos, et"$ 'nd then they use a softare tool to spider all over
internet, sear"hing for their images, ta%ing s"reenshots and sending them over to
their attorneys ho in turn "om!ine all of that as 9E.I&E/CE9 to s"are and hound
naive individuals and small !usiness oners$
The !est rule of thum! is to IG/06E su"h a non-sense$ If you ill spea% to an
attorney, that:s ho they ma%e money and they ill ant you to ta%e it seriously$ /o
"ourt of la ill punish you for doing an inno"ent mista%e and removing;repla"ing
the image immediately$ If you are really that mu"h interested in giving Getty Images
some hard time via 9out-of-"ourt9 settlement hi"h they are desperately see%ing
(sin"e they live o# su"h a"tivities), here are some of the <uestions that you:d ant
to as% Getty Images or their attorneys$ In response they ill either deny your
re<uest for further information (hi"h is a "lear proof they "an:t ta%e you to the
"ourt) or ill o#er you a more negotiated settlement$ In either "ase, you "an simply
issue a 9CE')E '/& &E)I)T9 re<uest from "onta"ting you any further$ If they don:t
stop hounding you, then you "an start "olle"ting all of the relevant eviden"e of their
illegal pra"ti"es and ta%e them to the lo"al "ivil "ourt (using the legal aid help from
lo"al !ars)$ Irrespe"tive of hat other attorneys tell you or hatever you hear from
internet forums, IG/06I/G is the !est, easiest and the most e#e"tive rule in
addition to tal%ing to your lo"al Congressman a!out it$ )o, here are the <uestions
you need to as% Getty Images henever you de"ide to respond (provided you really
have to get it out of your system)=
>$ 2o did you "ome to %no a!out my e!site using your images spe"ially things
li%e=
a) The time and date you found out
!) The pro"edure you used to identify your images on my e!site
") The legal authority you used to tra"% and ta%e a snapshot of my e!site
ithout my prior permission$
?$ The onership of the images in"luding !ut not limited to=
a) /ame, 'ddress and other "onta"t information of the photographer ho
originally sold it to you or has some sort of "ontra"t ith you (the "opy of the
"ontra"t)$ Chain of title of the image$
!) 4our images hosting servers, data "enter and I3 addresses host the servers
here those images reside
") *hat sort of image "opyright is displayed on your images hi"h identify it
as your on@
d) The registration and "ertiA"ation of these images ith 1) Government
3atent or Trademar% oB"e or any other Government data!ase
e) )ales data of the oners and pur"hasers of these images along ith their
I3 'ddresses and e!site addresses, oners and their "onta"t information$
C$ *hat is the average pri"e of these images to host for an hour, a day, a month or
indeAnitely@ 'nd ho did you "al"ulate the pri"e of D?,EEE in my parti"ular "ase@
'nd sin"e I never pur"hased any image from you or have any intention of ever
doing so, ho did you presume that I:d pay you '/4 pri"e or "ost you ill as%@ If
you have any fair mar%et value of images statisti"s or "omparison ith other
images providers, %indly present it along ith your "laim$ (urther, on hat !asis ill
you "ontinue to raise the pri"e next month or next year if I de"ide to not to give you
a single dime@
F$ 'nd Anally, instead of sending me a simple and a respe"tful 9"ease and desist9
re<uest, ho "ome you sent su"h presumptive demand letters that it as all an
intentional damage "aused to you@ If the images are hosted on any!ody:s e!site
as (6EE and you are una!le to se"ure your on images via some sort of atermar%
or se"urity measures, ho "ome you fault the end users online ho inno"ently
donloaded online from e!sites ho might !e the a"tual "ulprits after hom you
should pursue@
If they don:t stop hounding you (hi"h they /E.E6 ever ill), here:s hat you need
to rite to them and post it via "ertiAed mail (%eep a "opy of postage "ertiA"ate
handy for use in "ourt)=
To Whom It May Concern,
'""ording to Title >G, HIE>, of the 1nited )tates Copyright 0B"e, "on"erning the
prose"ution of alleged damages from "opyright infringement in se"tion (!) deAned
!elo, I (e) reje"t your "laim for damages$
H IE>$ Infringement of "opyright
(!) The legal or !eneA"ial oner of an ex"lusive right under a "opyright is entitled,
su!je"t to the re<uirements of se"tion F>>, to institute an a"tion for any
infringement of that parti"ular right "ommitted hile he or she is the oner of it$
The "ourt may re<uire su"h oner to serve ritten noti"e of the a"tion ith a "opy
of the "omplaint upon any person shon, !y the re"ords of the Copyright 0B"e or
otherise, to have or "laim an interest in the "opyright, and shall re<uire that su"h
noti"e !e served upon any person hose interest is li%ely to !e a#e"ted !y a
de"ision in the "ase$ The "ourt may re<uire the joinder, and shall permit the
intervention, of any person having or "laiming an interest in the "opyright$
Getty Images has, to date, failed to produ"e an oB"ial notariJed "opy of the alleged
Copyright CertiA"ate issued !y the 1nited )tates Copyright 0B"e, *ashington &$C$
for the image(s) appearing in your !la"% and hite photo"opy hi"h you have
produ"ed as so-"alled Keviden"eL of "opyright onership$ ' sear"h of the 1nited
)tates Copyright &epartment 3u!li" &ata!ase shos no re"ord that ether Getty
Images or its agent(s), representative(s) or "lient(s) hold a valid Copyright for said
photo"opied image(s)$ Therefore, in a""ordan"e ith Title >G, HIE>(!), you have no
legal !asis to Ale suit or see% legitimate damages for "opyright infringement$
4ou are here!y instru"ted to CE')E '/& &E)I)T 'LL 2'6'))+E/T !y your agent(s)
and;or your representatives via ritten "orresponden"e, E-mail, and;or attempted
telephone "onta"t$ )hould you "ontinue to pursue any further attempts at extortion
for payment of funds !y misrepresenting yourself as a li"ensed attorney, or !y using
the term K"opyrightL hen in fa"t, you nor your agent(s) hold any valid "opyright
"ertiA"ate issued !y the 1nited )tates Copyright 0B"e, e shall refer this matter to
the -ing County 3rose"uting 'ttorneyMs 0B"e dire"ting a formal Complaint to the
attention of &istri"t 'ttorney &an )atter!erg$ )hould you "ontinue to misrepresent
that you have Aled a Complaint in )eattle )uperior Court !y using terms su"h as,
!ut not limited to, KGetty Images v$ ,ohn &oeL or refer to your extortion attempt
using the term KCase /oNL "ontaining a A"tional Court &o"%et num!er, e ill Ale a
formal Complaint ith the 0B"e of &is"iplinary Counsel of the *ashington )tate 5ar
'sso"iation$ )hould you "ontinue to attempt to "onta"t me (us) for the express
purpose of A"titious de!t "olle"tion, I (e) ill immediately Ale a Complaint ith the
(TC for violations of the (air &e!t Colle"tion '"t$
Govern yourself a""ordingly,
&ateN OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 6espondantN ('dd Getty Images 'ddress)
4ou ill !e surprised to %no that there are many layers and a large num!er of
legal assistants ho are on the payroll of Getty Images, a"tively parti"ipating in the
"omments se"tions of Internet (orums or &is"ussion groups on the same topi"$
1nfortunately, there are those !la"% sheep amongst the "ommunity of the attorneys
ho have started online help programs for su"h vi"tims to ma%e money o# of these
extortion letter !y "oming o# as if helping the vi"tims$ Instead of helping them for
free, they are "harging them another D?EE to DIEE for merely riting a letter to the
Getty Images$ This is a "lear ar !eteen the poer of money .s$ the poer of
people$ Let:s sho them ho is the innerP
To avoid using any su"h "opyright trolls: e!sites, here are sour"es for (6EE
images$ 3ls$ "he"% ea"h image:s li"ense for a spe"ial ord li%e 9CCE9 or Creative
Commons E hi"h pretty mu"h means no rights reserved$ 0n Google Images sear"h
, set '&.'/CE& )E'6C2 for (6EE (06 C0++E6CI'L 1)E$ 0ther sites of free images
in"lude pixa!ay$"om, freepixels$"om (!e "areful of the sponsored images on top of
the sear"h results from shuttersto"%), imageafter$"om (do not remove their
"opyright noti"e in the image hi"h is too tiny for anyone to noti"e) and
image!ase$net$
If you need any further (and (6EE) assistan"e, please "onta"t your Congressman,
lo"al legal aid or "ham!er of "ommer"e representatives for further assistan"e$
1nless you ill register your "omplaint ith a Government-authoriJed
representative (as mentioned a!ove), the "opyright trolls su"h as Getty Images ill
"ontinue to not only hound you !ut many thousands of others and living o# their
a!use of the "opyright la$
'nd lastly, please don:t let these trolls stop you from doing hat you love doing i$e$
innovating, "reating and su""eeding$ Even though there are si"% minds i$e$ Getty
Images, there is more good in this orld than Evil$ 'nd alays remem!er, the
strength of evil lies into s"aring you from a hoax$
)alamP (pea"e)