Boycott Getty Images!

Getty is trying to screw me and my client too - too f'ed up - that cheap little image was available regular way and now they have changed the terms under which is is available and claiming that is a violation and worth almost a thousand!

Are there cases where Getty has brought people to court? I haven't seen any.

Thanks for this opportunity for social justice and valuing humanity! Peace and Blessings to victims of Getty Images. Getty Images will stop soon. Too much negative energy going their way.

We were never even asked to pay a fee when we downloaded the small image that we used. Still cannot understand what we did that was wrong. This is totally a disgrace.

If they were truly a reputable company don't you think they would have watermarks and copyrights on their photos. It seems they are out to make a quick buck and scare the average person.

So..what do we do with the second letter? First letter from Getty was for 875...now Mccormick is demanding 1400. Do we just ignore the letter or file a complaint?

Getty Images is practicing a modern day form of piracy - demanding payment, often on a spurious basis, for alleged use of copyright images, without any potential for redress or explanation of circumstances. If you try to call them to discuss, their staff literally hangs up on you! Their only message is pay up or we'll see you in court. It is just like highway robbery in the bad old days.

We have received a demand for payment letter with 2 weeks to pay it or supposedly it will be sent to collections. What do I do? Do they actually send it to collections??

Getty images. They are arbitrarily assigning a large amount due in their demand letters regardless of the situation. It's pure extortion and threats. I'll never use Getty images for any project I work on and will pass the word along to all in my industry.

Getty is hurting small businesses in particular by luring them into using unmarked photos by posting them on the internet with no instructions as to use. Yes, ignorance of the law is no excuse, but no small business can afford full time attorneys to advise their every move and that is what it is coming to.Getty is using the complexity of copy-write law to get a steady income flow.

I am the recipient of one of these “Settlement Demand Letter” in regards to a an allegation of copyright infringement of an image allegedly belonging to Getty Images. After some research it appears that this “Settlement Demand” approach has, by demonstration of its actions in pursuing alleged breaches of copyright, gone beyond the reasonable expectations to protect their intellectual property and this business approach would potentially be considered a profit center and significant revenue generator forming a part of their core business. In sending out these “Settlement Demand Letters” they also include the full content of the web pages alleging to have breached the copyright. These pages typically contain copyright material belonging to the website owner and therefor Getty Images, by taking copies of said images for commercial gain are in breach of the very law they are using in their campaign. In some cases, at best, if it could be proven that the image originated from the copyrighted work they allege, it would constitute Fair Use as incorporated from common law under the US Copyright Act of 1976. For Canadians they also quote the Canadian Copyright Act which has an equivalent fair dealing clause providing a user’s right to accommodate freedom of expression, guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I think it is time that the victims and potential victims of this campaign unite to form a class action suit against Getty Images to recover the damages both punitive and actual for this questionable business practice that breaches the very law it abuses.

Thank you for your great work on behalf of all of us!

This business practice is a matter of ethics, I believe that anyone who fights this claim in court would probably walk away cheaper than what they request in their demand letters. They want $875 from me for a link we had in a blog post, the link took the reader to the page where their image was. I am going to fight them to the end regardless of the cost.

Getty is RIDICULOUS! Threatening me with a $875.00 bill! I didn't even know this was an illegal use of their photo on my blog. No option to just take their stupid photo off the site, just a threat. I can't afford this!

Getty images deliberately floods the internet with they're images, hoping that someone uses one. Now the trap is set for a small business to get an extortion letter. Easy money, brilliant and legal.

They never give you a chance to take the picture down first. The first letter was a money demand letter. My web site guy is the one who built it into the site.I bought the site and everything on it in good faith. This is just like having a home builder build you a house and you being arrested the next day for lumber theft he stole from ABC Lumber Company. They don't even care about the company that actually used the picture, just the innocent web site owner. Greedy, immoral thugs!

They accusing me to own illegally two of their pictures I don't have them in my website, It's a external link from another website (a banner made by a well known gallery on the internet. They are really abusive! Unacceptable!

My client is being harrased for an image they actually purchased.

Their bullying has to stop - it is a revenue stream based on frightening people into paying. Just wrong.

These guys should be ashamed of themselves and so should the Getty's Extortionist at their best!!!