Catalyst Complaint Cover Page

408727

Complaint
Number 408727 Date 5/14/2012 Status Assignee Actual Savings Amount Disputed Estimated Savings Closed Williams, David $0.00 $1,225.00 $0.00

Location Bellingham - Consumer Protection Division NAICS 541920-Photographic Services

Complainant
Name Leslie Alan Johnston 12720 4th Ave W Ste #C Everett, WA 98204 Phone Day (425) 348-3557 Phone Evening Email enemytattoo@hotmail.com

Respondent(s)
Name Getty Images 605 5th Ave S Ste 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Contact Phone (206) 925-6753 Toll Free Email copyright.complian ce@gettyimages.co m

Referral(s)
Name Contact Phone Contact Phone Email

Practice(s)
Code 023 Practice Scare Tactics

Activities
Date Added 5/22/2012 5/22/2012 6/7/2012 6/8/2012 Activity Type Email to Respondent Email to Complainant Email to Respondent Email from Respondent Activity R First Letter to Respondent To: copyright.compliance@gettyimages.com C First Letter to Consumer To: enemytattoo@hotmail.com R Second Letter to Respondent To: copyright.compliance@gettyimages.com

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Catalyst Report
Complaint Description
Description Have just recieved my second "Settlement Demand Letter" from Getty images. The letter states that I have illegally used a copyright image that belongs to them and are demanding payment to the tune of $1225.00. I spoke with the person who designed our website who informed me that the image was legally purchased from a company called "Image Bank" in 2005 which has since been bought out twice and is now owned by Getty. After some extensive research on the internet, I have found this to be a rampant problem, there was no initial contact from them in regards to any kind resolution other than to pay them an exorbinate amount of money. If I thought for a minute that this was a legitimate issue, I would contact them and try to resolve this, however, I will not be bullied and extorted by a large corporartion simply because they can. Given the fact that this is a Seattle based company, and they are doing this all across our country and in several countries around the world, I would ask that you investigate the extortion being perpetrated by this company. Do a simple search of "Getty Settlement Demand Letter" and you'll see a lot of this stuff. Expected resolution details: Desist with their heavy handed extortion.

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AdaS

6/8/2012

From: Copyright Compliance [mailto:Copyright.Compliance@gettyimages.com] Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 8:25 PM To: ATG MI Bellingham CRC; Copyright Compliance Subject: RE: 408727 : A notice from the Washington State Attorney General'sOffice

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

June 6, 2012 Via e-mail to BelCRC@atg.wa.gov and Fax to (360) 738-6190 David Williams Complaint Analyst Attorney General of Washington Consumer Protection Division 103 East Holly Street, Suite 308 Bellingham, WA 98225-4310 Tel: (360) 738-6187

Re: Leslie Alan Johnston Your File Number: 408727 Our Case Number: 1171279 Dear Mr. Williams: We are in receipt of the complaint filed by Leslie Alan Johnston that you forwarded to us on May 22, 2012. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Mr. Johnstons concerns. 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
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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 Enemy Tattoo. On March 1, 2012, and again on May 11, we sent Enemy Tattoo a letter with notification that we had found unauthorized use of one of our images on its website, http://www.enemytattoo.net. The image is part of Getty Images Rights-Managed Stone collection, #10195000 (the Image), and can be found on our web site at http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/10195000. We informed Enemy Tattoo 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 $1225.00, 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 Enemy Tattoo website. The amount invoiced is in line with what typically would be charged for a license of the Image under these circumstances. Mr. Johnston states that his web designer claims he purchased the photo from The Image Bank in 2005 and that Getty Images now owns The Image Bank. Mr. Johnston is correct that Getty Images acquired The Image Bank. However, a search of The Image Bank records reveals no licenses for end-user Enemy Tattoo or Leslie Alan Johnston. Based on additional information provided to us by Mr. Johnston, we performed an additional license search for Mr. Johnstons web designer, Davanti Studios, Inc., or current owner Forbes Mercy, and found no licenses issued to either. As the end user of Getty Images imagery, Enemy Tattoo is ultimately responsible for ensuring that it has obtained appropriate rights to use the imagery, and Getty Images has not issued any licenses to any third party which would allow for commercial web redistribution of the Image. At this time, Mr. Johnston has not raised any valid defenses. Regardless, we plan to continue working with Enemy Tattoo to reach an amicable resolution to this matter. 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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