Catalyst Complaint Cover Page

403937

Complaint
Number 403937 Date 2/29/2012 Status Assignee Actual Savings Amount Disputed Estimated Savings Closed Holbrook, Ruth E $0.00 $1,225.00 $0.00

Location Bellingham - Consumer Protection Division NAICS 541920-Photographic Services

Complainant
Name First Choice Mobile Home Sales c/o Jamie Vander Haar 6538 Division Ave S Grand Rapids, MI 49548 Phone Day (616) 532-6665 Phone Evening Email (616) 532-6665 jvhaar2@gmail.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 019 Practice Inadequate Disclosure

Activities
Date Added 3/3/2012 3/3/2012 3/21/2012 3/21/2012 Activity Type Email to Respondent Email to Complainant Email from Respondent FAX from Respondent 03-21-2012 from gettyimages. duplicate of email Activity R First Letter to Respondent To: copyright.compliance@gettyimages.com C First Letter to Consumer To: jvhaar2@gmail.com

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Catalyst Report
Complaint Description
Description We have received demands for payment from Getty Images 601 North 34th St Seattle, WA 98103 for copyright claim on a photo that was part of a software package used in the past on our company website. We no longer use the software or the photo. We have supplied Getty Images with the copyright information from the software. We have asked Getty Images for proof of their Copyright of the photo but they have yet to provide any proof of copyright. We have checked with the US Copyright Office and found NO Record of a copyright on the photo. The last we heard from Getty Images was in April, 2011, when we stated in writing to them that we needed to see verifiable proof of their copyright of the photo in question. Now many months later, we received a notice from Timothy B. McCormack 617 Lee St Seattle, WA 98109 . Again we have replied to Mr. McCormack with a copy of the last letter that we sent to Getty Images. Since there is still no record of copyright of this photo on record and they have failed to provide any proof of copyright ownership, we are requesting that Getty Images and their Attorney(s) cease and desist from these demands for payment, which seem to be nothing more than an extortion scam. Expected resolution details: Cease and Desist from sending demands for money and trying to extort money from us.

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AdaS

3/21/2012

From: Copyright Compliance [mailto:Copyright.Compliance@gettyimages.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 5:27 PM To: ATG MI Bellingham CRC Subject: RE: 403937 : A notice from the Washington State Attorney General'sOffice ( Our # 1043480)

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

March 20, 2012 Via e-mail to BelCRC@atg.wa.gov and Fax to (360) 738-6190 Ruth E. Holbrook Program Specialist 3 Attorney General of Washington Consumer Protection Division 103 East Holly Street, Suite 308 Bellingham, WA 98225-4310 Tel: (360) 738-6188

Re: First Choice Mobile Home Sales Your File Number: 403937 Our Case Number: 1043480 Dear Ms. Holbrook: We are in receipt of the complaint filed by First Choice Mobile Home Sales that you forwarded to us on March 3, 2012. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Mr. Vander Haars 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,
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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 First Choice Mobile Home Sales (First Choice). On February 10, 2011, and again on April 15, 2011, we sent First Choice a letter with notification that we had found unauthorized use of one of our images on its website, www.firstchoice ofwestmi.com. The image is part of Getty Images Rights-Managed The Image Bank collection, #EC4103-002 (the Image), and can be found on our web site at http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/EC4103-002. We informed First Choice 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 First Choice 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 doubt Mr. Vander Haars statement that First Choice acquired the Image as part of a software package. Mr. Vander Haar further claims he provided copies of the copyright from this software package; however, the copyright notice he references governs distribution of a computer program code and Getty Images has not issued any licenses to any third party which would allow for commercial web redistribution of the Image. As the end user of Getty Images imagery, First Choice is ultimately responsible for ensuring that it has obtained appropriate rights to use the imagery. As a result, First Choices use of the Image without a license constitutes copyright infringement, for which we are entitled to seek damages. Mr. Vander Haar further states that the Image has been removed from the First Choice 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 authorization of the copyright holder. Mr. Vander Haar also states that Getty Images has not provided proof of copyright, but Mr. Vander Haar appears to confuse copyright registration and copyright ownership. As of 1978, when US copyright law was substantially revised, copyright exists the moment a work, including a photograph, is created. Registration is optional and is not a requirement of copyright ownership. Consequently, copyright registrations are not required of us to pursue infringements on behalf of our contributors. While it would be necessary to provide these registrations once we have actually filed suit or to claim statutory damages, this is our attempt to
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settle any infringement without further action. At this time, Mr. Vander Haar has not raised any valid defenses. We would prefer to resolve this matter amicably, but in the event that First Choice remains unwilling to pay for the Image unlawfully used on its website, we reserve the right to continue to pursue this matter as copyright infringement. 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 This message may contain privileged or confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute, or copy this email or any attachments hereto. Please notify the sender immediately by email if you have received this email by mistake and delete this email and any attachments from your system without copying or disclosing the contents. Email transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of email transmission. If verification is required, please request a hard-copy version. Getty Images, Inc., 605 Fifth Ave. S., Ste. 400, Seattle, WA 98104, USA, www.gettyimages.com

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