Demand for Payment

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ranger_dispatch

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We just received a letter in the mail from a company called Gettyimages, demanding a payment of about $4700.

We have a website which was built for us by a third party, and according to gettyimages, the images on the website belong to them, and we must pay them license fees to use those images.

Anyone else experience this? If we got it, they are probably surfing other websites to go after more companies?

Any suggestions, what we should do?
 
The first call I would make is to the company that built your website. If they have used unauthorized images, then it would be their responsibility to deal with the consequences.
 
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Unless you own the images on your website, i.e. photos of taken by you of your own vehicles, buildings, etc., you must either buy them or have permission of the original owner to use them. The creator of your website should have known this. Our web designer had to do this when we created our site. Certainly this should be presented to the company you contracted with to start your site. Let's hope they accept their responsibility for this.
 
Getty Images

Getty Images uses a firm called PicScout to scan the web for unauthorized and unlicensed usages of its protected images. Websites that are found to be in violation are sent financial settlements that retroactively licensed the image. Getty are notorious for sending letters for final demands due to copyright infringement. However, the settlements also demand damages, which are said to have been incurred against the copyright holder. Settlement demands are typically more than $1,000 per photograph, and are based upon Getty's highest possible price for unlimited-use rights-managed photos. Getty seldom takes individuals to court. For this reason, the letter has become widely referred to by recipients as the "Getty Extortion Letter". Getty is currently being investigated by government officials.

Thousands of these letters have been sent out, yet as of October 2005, Getty had not taken any of these potential cases to court. In 2008, Getty Images lost a lawsuit in Germany. Getty claimed unauthorized usage, but the defendant could prove authorized usage as he had bought a retroactive license directly from the photographer.
 
Just a quick look at your website shows a truck that's clearly not yours with your logo pasted on it.

I'm not sure why your webmaster would do that Danny. You've got some pretty nice equipment you ought to show it off.

There is controversy over image rights and who owns them when they're posted on the net.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys. And yes, I sure will take it up with the company that built our website.
 
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