[jwbmw]

Be warned as stated earlier these guys will pursue the matter as the legal representatives of Getty and Corbis are on commission.

They are now chasing these things with renewed vigor as they won a test case against a removal company late last year. Up until this point the law was Grey on their right to claim fees retrospectively. So the advice in the forums to stay silent is no longer valid.

Your brother needs to get the photos off the web ASAP and as stated by Dave get in contact. Personally, if he is being chased as an individual rather than as a company tell them this and state that he has little income. This will possibly dissuade them from chasing him especially if you make a token offer of a payment like £50 as full and final settlement without prejudice.

We never heard from Getty again after my other half made such an offer (never paid it) but at least it is on the record.

But, at the end of the day if it is getting serious then he should see a copyright laywer for advice.

[JonD]

With regards to the sum demanded surely they’d have to demonstrate their loss, not just pluck an arbitrary figure from the air.

[jwbmw]

Originally Posted by JonD

With regards to the sum demanded surely they’d have to demonstrate their loss, not just pluck an arbitrary figure from the air.

Their loss is usually the licence fee which is what they normally try and charge in the first instance. But the dispute is that this was only lost if the guilty party got a financial benefit from the use of the photo in question.

[mowflow]

Originally Posted by jwbmw

Their loss is usually the licence fee which is what they normally try and charge in the first instance. But the dispute is that this was only lost if the guilty party got a financial benefit from the use of the photo in question.

Both Corbis and Getty along with every other major image library have separate slightly reduced license fees for not for profit organisations so I would imagine that best case scenario would be that they could claim this rather than a commercial license. Licensing fees are like bank charges, they vary from company to company and can be anywhere from £3 to £3000

In one of my first jobs after graduating I worked in the design department of a national arts organisation and registered charity. They made a habit of using unlicensed images and were often caught. It was my experience that Getty (and this was before Getty was owned by international super bastards Microsoft) and Corbis would always pursue the demand until some kind of payment was agreed.

Theft of intellectual property via the internet is a huge problem for these companies. If they just let it go all the time they probably wouldn't have a business for very long. It may be that only 20% of the cases ever get pursued to conclusion.