Friday, April 1, 2011

Getty Images Copyright Letter C&D?

Getty Images Copyright Letter C&D?
I got a letter from Getty about 1 week ago asking for me to take down two images I had on my site or pay the owner $1500 for the both of them. I took down the image ... I had no idea because the site we designed by a firm in Argentina. Now they are asking for money for having the image on my site for three months. Now I am a US Citizen living in Mexico for the last 5 years and I make my money online then deposit it into my US Bank account and have no plans of every moving back to the states. My questions is what is the worst they can do to me?
Law & Ethics - 2 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Getty images has a division in Mexico, they will sue you in Mexico
2 :
Issue proceedings in a Court in Mexico and obtain judgement against you, or, more likely, in a Court in the USA, providing that Court permits service of proceedings outside its jurisdiction (which I assume all US jurisdictions have provision for). Then obtain judgement against you and get an order* against your US bank account** for the damages they are awarded. But would they bother? If they were prepared to allow unlimited use for $1500, what would they be asking for for three months use. If you don't want any hassle why not make an offer to settle for something like, say, $250? *Called a 'garnishee' order in UK, US may call it 'sequestration' ** If they are aware, or become aware, of this, of course!



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