Getty Images Attorney General Complaint 10

7/31/2019 Getty Images Attorney General Complaint 10

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Status

Amount Disputed

Actual Savings

Estimated Savings

Activities

Location

NAICS

Complainant

Number

Date

Name Contact Phone Toll Free Email

Getty Images605 5th Ave S Ste 400Seattle, WA 98104

(206) 925-6753 [email protected]

405031

3/15/2012

Respondent(s)

Complaint

Vancouver - Consumer Protection Division

Date Added Activity Type Activity

3/19/2012 Form Letter to Complainant C First Letter to Consumer

3/19/2012 Email to Respondent R First Letter to Respondent To:[email protected]

541920-Photographic Services

Assignee Gibbons, Janet P

$0.00

$1,820.00

$0.00

Code Practice

023 Scare Tactics

404 Collection Practices

316 Billing Issues641 Failed communication attempts

Practice(s)

Closed

Referral(s) Name Contact Phone Contact Phone Email

405031

CatalystComplaint Cover Page

Name Phone Day Phone Evening Email

Worldly Wisdom VenturesJoshua Kaufman123 N College Ave Ste 200Fort Collins, CO 80524

(970) 484-1151

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From: Copyright Compliance [mailto:[email protected]]Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 6:16 PMTo: ATG MI Vancouver CRCSubject: To Ms. Janet P. Gibbons RE: 405031 : A notice from the WashingtonState AttorneyGeneral's Office (1054189)

605 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 400, Seattle, Washington 98104

Tel 206 925 5000 Fax 206 925 5001www.gettyimages.com

March 29, 2012

Via e-mail to [email protected] andFax to (360) 759-2159

Janet P. GibbonsComplaint AnalystAttorney General of WashingtonConsumer Protection Division1220 Main Street, Suite 549Vancouver, WA 98660Tel: (360) 759-2152

Re: Worldly Wisdom VenturesYour File Number: 405031Our Case Number: 1054189

Dear Ms. Gibbons:

We are in receipt of the complaint filed by Worldly Wisdom Ventures that you forwarded to uson March 19, 2012. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Mr. Kaufmans concerns.

JackN 3/30/2012

405031

RK-00192

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By way of introduction, Getty Images is the leading creator and distributor of still and movingimages. More than 4,000 images per day are licensed on our website, www.gettyimages.com,which features wholly-owned content (i.e., images to which we own the copyright), as well asexclusively licensed content (i.e., third-party contributor images which are licensed exclusivelythrough us). Customers such as graphic designers, advertising agencies, and publishers licenseour 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 clearlyavailable from each page of our website, and we do not permit the use of our imagery without alicense.

Notwithstanding the license requirement, like other digital media companies, Getty Images doesfall 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 GettyImages imagery without paying a license fee. One such entity recently identified as having used

unlicensed imagery from our collections is Mr. Kaufmans business, Worldly Wisdom Ventures(Worldly Wisdom).

On March 24, 2011, and again on May 27, 2011, we sent Worldly Wisdom a letter withnotification that we had found unauthorized use of one of our images on its website,www.personalmba.com. The image is part of Getty Images Rights-Managed Stonecollection, #794013-001 (the Image), and can be found on our web site athttp://www.gettyimages.com/detail/794013-001. We informed Worldly Wisdom that use of theImage without a license constitutes copyright infringement, and that it must either (i) provideevidence that a license was issued, or (ii) pay a fee for use of the Image. In this instance, the feewas $1,225.00, and we provided an invoice in that amount, which featured a thumbnail of theImage and its image number, along with a screenshot of the Image on the Worldly Wisdomwebsite. The amount invoiced is in line with what typically would be charged for a license of the Image under these circumstances.

We do not contest Mr. Kaufmans claims that Worldly Wisdom did not knowingly infringe our copyright or receive any financial benefit attributable to the infringement. However, copyrightinfringement is a strict liability tort. Mr. Kaufmans arguments go to damages, not to the fact of infringement. At this time, Getty Images seeks only actual damages, so Mr. Kaufmans mentalstate and attributable profits are not at issue.

Mr. Kaufman further argues that he is protected from liability by the Digital MillenniumCopyright Act (DMCA), but the DMCAs 512(c) safe harbor provision does not apply to

him. A service provider storing material at a users direction is protected from liability only if it published on its web site the name and contact information of the agent it has designated toreceive notices of claimed infringement, and also provided this information to the Register of Copyrights. We were unable to locate this information either on Mr. Kaufmans website or inthe Copyright Offices Directory of Service Provider Agents for Notification of Claims of Infringement.

Mr. Kaufman further states that the Image has been removed from his website. While weappreciate the removal, the Image is protected by copyright, and was previously displayed onthat website. Copyright law holds responsible anyone who publicly displays an image without

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authorization of the copyright holder. As the end user of Getty Images imagery, Mr. Kaufmanis ultimately responsible for ensuring that he has obtained appropriate rights to use the imagery.As a result, his use of the Image on his website without a license constitutes copyrightinfringement, for which we are entitled to seek damages.

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 donot hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

Getty Images Copyright Compliance

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RK-00194

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RK-00201

PRR-2012-00283


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RK-00202

PRR-2012-00283


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RK-00203

PRR-2012-00283


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RK-00204

PRR-2012-00283


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RK-00205

PRR-2012-00283


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RK-00224

PRR-2012-00283

Documents

Getty Images Attorney General Complaint 10