HELP ME PLEASE (Getty Images)

torturerforfun

Hi, I dont know if this is the correct place to put this but i need some advice as soon as possible please.

Approx two years ago I instructed a small company to make web site for my wires dog boarding business, this they did and we were very happy with the results i.e the look of the site etc, anyway everything has been going fine and it is ranking well in google etc…. then boom today we have got through the post a demand from Getty images it is concerning a picture that in on our site, apparently it is their copyrighted image and we shouldn't have it on our site and they are demanding £1500 + vat for it being there!

This has completely shocked us as for one we didn't know anything about that sort of thing, two the guys who made the site put the images on it and we certainly can't afford to pay the money they are saying we owe them.

Could somebody please help with some advise as to weather or not this is correct and how we can go about resolving the issue?

Be great to hear from anyone in the know.

Nick

Justicia

torturerforfun wrote: »

two the guys who made the site put the images on it

^ My first port of enquiry, personally.

chalkie99

Here are a couple of links for your bedtime reading.

The first is from UK Business Forums and you can also do a search there using the term "Getty" which will provide more reading.

The second link is a site which specialises in letters like this and is the UK section of it.

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/getty-images-demanding-%C2%A32-500-for-a-partial-image-and-rss-feed.309118/

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/uk-getty-images-letter-forum/

Have a long read through before you take any action.

torturerforfun

Thank you so much for your replies, before going to the guys who made it I wanted to get some info first so they didn't just palm me off!

Thx for the links, I'm following them now 👍

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

As a commercial enterprise, do you allow dogs to board for nothing?

As a commercial photographer, why do you steal images?

Takeaway_Addict

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth wrote: »

As a commercial enterprise, do you allow dogs to board for nothing?

As a commercial photographer, why do you steal images?

Where does the OP say they are a commercial photographer?

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

torturerforfun wrote: »

Approx two years ago I instructed a small company to make web site for my wires dog boarding business

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Where does the OP say they are a commercial photographer?

I did not say they were. They are a commercial enterprise. They stole from a artist/photographer.

The analogy being, do they allow dogs to board for free?

Lomast

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth wrote: »

I did not say they were. They are a commercial enterprise. They stole from a artist/photographer.

They did'nt the web designer did

cte1111

It may be that the photo is not Getty Images anyhow. I've been involved in a couple of incidents like this with them. In the first case, it was for a client when I was working for a book-keeping company. They paid up, as they presumed that they had inadvertently used a copyrighted image.

In the second case, it was the website of a local club / business that I'm on the management committee. It turned out that the image was nothing to do with Getty Images. They sweep the internet and don't seem to care whether they are right or not. Most people just pay up I guess.

torturerforfun

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth wrote: »

As a commercial enterprise, do you allow dogs to board for nothing?

As a commercial photographer, why do you steal images?

I dont understand what the point in your comments are?

torturerforfun

I have actually found some very useful information thanks to Chalkie99 which i'm still reading through, hopefully find someway of resolving this issue!