- Original Poster
- #1
Hi,
I know other people have posted in this forum about the getty image demand letters but I haven't been able to find the correct info for my situation.
I'm a web designer and designed a small website about 3 years ago for a local client. He told me he would take some relevant pics for his website and would forward them to me very soon. In the meantime I used an image from google images as a placeholder (I was just starting up and had never/have never needed to source images since as clients have always provided them. I had no idea the image was from getty).
The client above however never got in touch with me again (for about 2 years) and I also forgot about it. The image on his site was about the size of a postage stamp. Now a few months ago he got a letter from getty images re. copyright infringement - same standard letter demanding over £1000 for the image. He contacted me and finally provided me with his own images, which i placed on his site and removed the one in question. He further decided to ignore the letter they had sent and also the second letter they sent him about a month laster. I never gave him any advice on it, I just took down the image and replaced it with his own, as he requested.
Now he got a letter from a uk based solicitor about it, basically saying that he should pay up or go to court (the amount has been increased by £400 + VAT, presumably for the cost of the solicitors).
He now (not before) says he wants me to look into this and he will seek recovery from me.
My questions are: am I responsible for this or is he
If I am responsible, surely the £400 + VAT are due to his error in not dealing with it. The letter was after all addressed to him..
What is the best way for me to deal with this? He mentions something along the lines of perhaps making 'a without prejudice offer' - what is this?
How does getty calculate the cost? The demand letter offers no explanation.
And any other relevant advice, I'd be very grateful!
Thank you for your advice
I know other people have posted in this forum about the getty image demand letters but I haven't been able to find the correct info for my situation.
I'm a web designer and designed a small website about 3 years ago for a local client. He told me he would take some relevant pics for his website and would forward them to me very soon. In the meantime I used an image from google images as a placeholder (I was just starting up and had never/have never needed to source images since as clients have always provided them. I had no idea the image was from getty).
The client above however never got in touch with me again (for about 2 years) and I also forgot about it. The image on his site was about the size of a postage stamp. Now a few months ago he got a letter from getty images re. copyright infringement - same standard letter demanding over £1000 for the image. He contacted me and finally provided me with his own images, which i placed on his site and removed the one in question. He further decided to ignore the letter they had sent and also the second letter they sent him about a month laster. I never gave him any advice on it, I just took down the image and replaced it with his own, as he requested.
Now he got a letter from a uk based solicitor about it, basically saying that he should pay up or go to court (the amount has been increased by £400 + VAT, presumably for the cost of the solicitors).
He now (not before) says he wants me to look into this and he will seek recovery from me.
My questions are: am I responsible for this or is he
If I am responsible, surely the £400 + VAT are due to his error in not dealing with it. The letter was after all addressed to him..
What is the best way for me to deal with this? He mentions something along the lines of perhaps making 'a without prejudice offer' - what is this?
How does getty calculate the cost? The demand letter offers no explanation.
And any other relevant advice, I'd be very grateful!
Thank you for your advice
