I am looking for some advice or if anyone has any experience with something like this. I have been developing websites for over 8 years and in that time I have put together a large stock pile of images and content that I can reuse on projects. Depending on if I personally develop something or if a contract design puts something together for me I have a large inventory of assets.
I recently put a website together for a client and an image was used that is from Getty Images. They came across the site and sent my client a notice that he does not have the rights to this image and that he owes $900.00. I immediately changed the graphic and then went through to see if I did buy this image and where the license was. I cannot come up with any documentation.
Even though we removed the image right away Getty images is still going after my client for the money. We have cooperated in every way except paying the amount of money they owe. Is there something I can do to get around this?
Certainly. Have your client contact an attorney. Getty has been a real horses-behinder in aggressively going after copyright infringers. If I were you, I would not only make sure you have kept documentation on the graphics that you have paid to use, I would double check those licenses before you use them to make sure they are not limited by time or other stipulations.
Thank you for the response. I do not have documentation for the image in question. It was removed right away. I am just blown away that they are asking for $900.00 for the image. What is their legal recourse exactly?
I don’t know for sure, but I know their are several threads about Getty in the Business and Legal forum. Try a search there and you’ll see all the horror stories!
Getty does have the right to chase you for payment.
But the payment has to be related to the actual loss they’ve suffered by your use of the photo.
I’ve no idea how much Getty charges for the use of a stock image on a website for a short period, but I assume it is much less than $900. If it is, you could try offering something close to the amount in question, on the basis of “full and final settlement”.
Anyone has the right to reasonably pursue another person for payment. People question whether Getty is really asking “reasonable” prices especially if grandma buys you a website for $125 only to find out that Getty believes its photo of a TV is worth $1,000 because it was taken by a professional.