WA State AG Complaint - 10

Published on June 2016 | Categories: Types, Business/Law | Downloads: 41 | Comments: 0 | Views: 249
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These are the current complaints against Getty Images that are on file with the Washington State Attorney General office. These are complaints about Getty’s Settlement Demand letters sent out over alleged copyright infringement and are done in such a way that many call it “Legalized Extortion” as Getty refuses to provide any proof whatsoever of their claim, give unrealistic and artificial deadlines for payment, make veiled threats of an eminent impending lawsuit all of which are designed to instill fear and panic making the letter recipient pay before they can do any research and find out what is going on.

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Catalyst Complaint Cover Page
405031

Complaint
Number 405031 Date 3/15/2012 Status Assignee Actual Savings Amount Disputed Estimated Savings Closed Gibbons, Janet P $0.00 $1,820.00 $0.00

Location Vancouver - Consumer Protection Division NAICS 541920-Photographic Services

Complainant
Name Worldly Wisdom Ventures Joshua Kaufman 123 N College Ave Ste 200 Fort Collins, CO 80524 Phone Day (970) 484-1151 Phone Evening Email

Respondent(s)
Name Getty Images 605 5th Ave S Ste 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Contact Phone (206) 925-6753 Toll Free Email copyright.complian [email protected] m

Referral(s)
Name Contact Phone Contact Phone Email

Practice(s)
Code 023 404 316 641 Practice Scare Tactics Collection Practices Billing Issues Failed communication attempts

Activities
Date Added 3/19/2012 3/19/2012 Activity Type Form Letter to Complainant Email to Respondent Activity C First Letter to Consumer R First Letter to Respondent To: [email protected]

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RK-00186 PRR-2012-00283

JackN

3/30/2012

From: Copyright Compliance [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 6:16 PM To: ATG MI Vancouver CRC Subject: To Ms. Janet P. Gibbons RE: 405031 : A notice from the WashingtonState Attorney General's Office (1054189) ®

605 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 400, Seattle, Washington 98104 Tel 206 925 5000 Fax 206 925 5001 www.gettyimages.com

March 29, 2012 Via e-mail to [email protected] and Fax to (360) 759-2159 Janet P. Gibbons Complaint Analyst Attorney General of Washington Consumer Protection Division 1220 Main Street, Suite 549 Vancouver, WA 98660 Tel: (360) 759-2152

Re: Worldly Wisdom Ventures Your File Number: 405031 Our Case Number: 1054189 Dear Ms. Gibbons: We are in receipt of the complaint filed by Worldly Wisdom Ventures that you forwarded to us on March 19, 2012. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Mr. Kaufman’s concerns.
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RK-00192 PRR-2012-00283

By way of introduction, Getty Images is the leading creator and distributor of still and moving images. More than 4,000 images per day are licensed on our website, www.gettyimages.com, which features wholly-owned content (i.e., images to which we own the copyright), as well as exclusively licensed content (i.e., third-party contributor images which are licensed exclusively through us). Customers such as graphic designers, advertising agencies, and publishers license our imagery for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to print advertising, billboards, newspaper and magazine articles, brochures and websites. Our license information is clearly available from each page of our website, and we do not permit the use of our imagery without a license. Notwithstanding the license requirement, like other digital media companies, Getty Images does fall victim to individuals pirating its intellectual property. To combat this, Getty Images uses both employees and digital image recognition software to locate entities that have used Getty Images’ imagery without paying a license fee. One such entity recently identified as having used unlicensed imagery from our collections is Mr. Kaufman’s business, Worldly Wisdom Ventures (“Worldly Wisdom”). On March 24, 2011, and again on May 27, 2011, we sent Worldly Wisdom a letter with notification that we had found unauthorized use of one of our images on its website, www.personalmba.com. The image is part of Getty Images’ Rights-Managed “Stone” collection, #794013-001 (the “Image”), and can be found on our web site at http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/794013-001. We informed Worldly Wisdom that use of the Image without a license constitutes copyright infringement, and that it must either (i) provide evidence that a license was issued, or (ii) pay a fee for use of the Image. In this instance, the fee was $1,225.00, and we provided an invoice in that amount, which featured a thumbnail of the Image and its image number, along with a “screenshot” of the Image on the Worldly Wisdom website. The amount invoiced is in line with what typically would be charged for a license of the Image under these circumstances. We do not contest Mr. Kaufman’s claims that Worldly Wisdom did not knowingly infringe our copyright or receive any financial benefit attributable to the infringement. However, copyright infringement is a strict liability tort. Mr. Kaufman’s arguments go to damages, not to the fact of infringement. At this time, Getty Images seeks only actual damages, so Mr. Kaufman’s mental state and attributable profits are not at issue. Mr. Kaufman further argues that he is protected from liability by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), but the DMCA’s § 512(c) “safe harbor” provision does not apply to him. A service provider storing material at a user’s direction is protected from liability only if it published on its web site the name and contact information of the agent it has designated to receive notices of claimed infringement, and also provided this information to the Register of Copyrights. We were unable to locate this information either on Mr. Kaufman’s website or in the Copyright Office’s Directory of Service Provider Agents for Notification of Claims of Infringement. Mr. Kaufman further states that the Image has been removed from his website. While we appreciate the removal, the Image is protected by copyright, and was previously displayed on that website. Copyright law holds responsible anyone who publicly displays an image without
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RK-00193 PRR-2012-00283

authorization of the copyright holder. As the end user of Getty Images’ imagery, Mr. Kaufman is ultimately responsible for ensuring that he has obtained appropriate rights to use the imagery. As a result, his use of the Image on his website without a license constitutes copyright infringement, for which we are entitled to seek damages. Getty Images has acted appropriately and in good faith in pursuing the unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Should you require any additional information about this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us. Regards, Getty Images – Copyright Compliance

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RK-00194 PRR-2012-00283

RK-00201 PRR-2012-00283

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RK-00203 PRR-2012-00283

RK-00204 PRR-2012-00283

RK-00205 PRR-2012-00283

RK-00224 PRR-2012-00283

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