I recently joined the hundreds of thousands of small businesses and individuals that have received a very nasty settlement letter from the giant image company, Getty Images. If you’ve not received one yet, count yourself very lucky and I hope you never have to deal with the stress it causes.
My story is similar to so many others – a few years ago I created a website where I could post all of the articles I write that don’t belong in the “author” or “home business” category. I bought a template package from what I believed was a reputable company. The package included literally thousands of images, ready to go header graphics, etc. Fast forward two years and I get the 6-page nasty note from the corporate giant, Getty, informing me that on one of the pages, one of the headers included a partial image (mind you, it was barely visible and was one of 7 images in the header graphic) that they claimed to hold the copyright to. For a mere $1,000 dollars I could settle the amount that I owed them for using this image without their permission.
So I went onto their website and looked – the image sells for $17 on there. So where does the other $983 come in? Well, that’s evidently the costs associated with them having to hire companies that do nothing but search the web for images used without permission and now I was liable for part of their costs. Plus penalties and interest and damages and … you get the idea.
I tried to do the right and reasonable thing – I instantly removed the image from the website. I emailed Getty with an apology and a description of the circumstances and asked if we could work out a deal. Their response was the same as the first – it was my fault for not checking that every image that came with the package was not copyrighted by someone else. I responded that I had received thousands of images and that the image they were referring to was a miniscule part of a larger image – how on earth would I have known that belonged to somebody else? And I received the same answer again. And again. Long story short, I paid them – vowing never again to use them or any of their affiliate companies. I instantly closed out my account with Getty Images, along with my accounts at iStockPhoto and JupiterImages.
So why am I writing this blog post? As a warning to every small/home business owner out there and to every virtual assistant who does graphical work for any of their clients – just be aware that this type of thing happens fairly often and that it’s very expensive to deal with. And if it’s your client’s website, they will be receiving the nasty letter because it’s on their website. That’s an easy way to lose a good client. So be sure that you have the appropriate license for any images you use on your (or your client’s) websites!
On a personal note – I’m an author and I understand and support copyright protection. I do not, however, agree with Getty’s procedures, heavy handedness, scare tactics, and refusal to work with small companies / individuals on settling the issue in an amicable manner.
For more information about the Getty letters, here are some links:
http://extortionletterinfo.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Images
Until next time . . .
Write On!
Paige
http://www.paigejackson.com/business
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