QLD Copyright Infringement Notice from Getty Images - What to Do?

[VicB]

I had a website made for me about 2 years ago.

This week I received a letter from a law firm apparently representing Getty Images saying one of the images used on the site is from their collection, they hold a copyright and I violated it by using the image on my site.

They are asking me to pay $1,595 to settle.

I no longer have contact with the web designer to confirm licensing, so I need to deal with this myself.

I am happy to pay for the image but I feel the amount is extreme given most stock photos are only around $30-$50. Also, my use of the image in only about 1/5 of the original image and it is used as a background to another image (my product) so you can only see about 50% of that.

I went to the image to check out the licence cost and for some whack reason, this particular image is around that crazy price to licence (though a shorter 2-year license was only around $900).

So I am hoping to negotiate a lower settlement amount as that is just too much! I'd be happy to pay about $100 for it (which is much more than most stock images) but not sure how to negotiate that.

Has anyone experienced this before that can lend any help? Am I buggered??

 

[johna]

Getty Images are well known for these letters. Subsequently there are a lot of resources online to help you. Art Law Journal has two good pages on this: Tips for Responding to a Getty Images Extortion Letter - Art Law Journal and How to Respond to a Getty Images Extortion Letter - Art Law Journal. Then there's a whole website devoted to this: Extortion Letter Info (ExtortionLetterInfo: Fight Getty Images Settlement Demand Letters » Reporting on Getty Images Settlement Demand Letters) which has some good info and also a fairly low-cost service to assist you.

The answer seems to be not to accept that a fair amount for settlement is anything more than the usual price for the image. And also counter by asking them to prove that they have the rights to the image and provide previous sales information (proving that the price hasn't just been jacked up just for you) - basically making them work as hard as possible so they may take the easy way out and accept your offer (eventually).