Catalyst Complaint Cover Page

407951

Complaint
Number 407951 Date 5/1/2012 Status Assignee Actual Savings Amount Disputed Estimated Savings Closed Holbrook, Ruth E $0.00 $1,038.53 $0.00

Location Bellingham - Consumer Protection Division NAICS 541920-Photographic Services

Complainant
Name Dipak Prasad Mainali 10890 E Dartmouth Ave #5 Denver, CO 80014 Phone Day (720) 885-8123 Phone Evening Email (720) 885-8123 dpmainali@yahoo.com

Respondent(s)
Name Getty Images 605 5th Ave S Ste 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Contact Phone (206) 925-6753 Toll Free Email copyright.complian ce@gettyimages.co m

Referral(s)
Name Contact Phone Contact Phone Email

Practice(s)
Code 019 300 Practice Inadequate Disclosure Excessive Price or Charge

Activities
Date Added 5/4/2012 5/4/2012 5/7/2012 5/14/2012 Activity Type Email to Respondent Email to Complainant Email from Complainant Email from Respondent Activity R First Letter to Respondent To: copyright.compliance@gettyimages.com C First Letter to Consumer To: dpmainali@yahoo.com

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Catalyst Report
Complaint Description
Description To Whom it may concern, Dear Sir/Madam. Colorado Attorney General's office advised me to report this problem to the Washington State Attorney General's office. In summer of 2011 a College student designed website for me, apparently he had used a 2x2inch size photo from internet. But few months later the picture was removed from my website. In February of 2012 I received a letter from Gettyimages saying unauthorized use of Getty Images' Photograph. The price of the photograph is $965 and Tax is $ 73.53. I called the customer service to dismiss the charge but it was refused, then I wrote an email to president of Gettyimmage explaining the situation and dismiss the charge, I did not get reply regarding the request. Few weeks ago again I got another letter saying I need to pay $1038.53 I wanted to see why they are asking this huge money so I typed the Eyebrow threading image in the internet to see if the price is mentioned for the picture, I located the photo in yahoo search, it say anything about the price, there is no sale advertising for the photo, there is no link in the photo that takes me to the gettyimmages website, there is no check out area to purchase the photo. I have not made any profit from this photo in any way or form, I have not sold this photo, and it was not used by me, the website was designed by a college Student and the photo was removed. I would like to request the Washington State Attorney General's office to dismiss the charge against me. Thank You So Much. Sincerely: Dipak Mainali Expected resolution details: Please dismiss this charges.

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AdaS

5/14/2012

From: Copyright Compliance [mailto:Copyright.Compliance@gettyimages.com] Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 11:51 AM To: ATG MI Bellingham CRC Subject: RE: 407951 : A notice from the Washington State Attorney General'sOffice

605 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 400, Seattle, Washington 98104 Tel 206 925 5000 Fax 206 925 5001 www.gettyimages.com

May 14, 2012 Via e-mail to BelCRC@atg.wa.gov and Fax to (360) 738-6190 Taylor N. Bolin Complaint Analyst Attorney General of Washington Consumer Protection Division 103 East Holly Street, Suite 308 Bellingham, WA 98225-4310 Tel: (360) 738-6187

Re: Dipak Prasad Mainali Your File Number: 407951 Our Case Number: 1160123 Dear Mr. Bolin: We are in receipt of the complaint filed by Dipak Prasad Mainali that you forwarded to us on May 4, 2012. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Mr. Mainalis concerns. By way of introduction, Getty Images is the leading creator and distributor of still and moving images. 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 as exclusively licensed content (i.e., third-party contributor images which are licensed exclusively
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through us). Customers such as graphic designers, advertising agencies, and publishers license our 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 clearly available from each page of our website, and we do not permit the use of our imagery without a license. Notwithstanding the license requirement, like other digital media companies, Getty Images does fall 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 Getty Images imagery without paying a license fee. One such entity recently identified as having used unlicensed imagery from our collections is Saheli Eyebrow Threading (Saheli). On February 2, 2012, and again on April 6, we sent Saheli a letter with notification that we had found unauthorized use of one of our images on its website, www.SaheliEyebrowThreading.com . The image is part of Getty Images Rights-Managed Stone collection, #200155205-001 (the Image), and can be found on our web site at http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/200155205-001 . We informed Saheli that use of the Image without a license constitutes copyright infringement, and that it must either (i) provide evidence that a license was issued, or (ii) pay a fee for use of the Image. In this instance, the fee was $1038.53, and we provided an invoice in that amount, which featured a thumbnail of the Image and its image number, along with a screenshot of the Image on the Saheli website. The amount invoiced is in line with what typically would be charged for a license of the Image under these circumstances. We do not doubt Mr. Mainalis statement that the Image was placed on the Saheli web site by his web designer. However, as the end user of Getty Images imagery, Saheli is ultimately responsible for ensuring that it has obtained appropriate rights to use the imagery, and Getty Images has not issued any licenses to any third party which would allow for commercial web redistribution of the Image. Mr. Mainali also claims that he was able to locate the photo in a Yahoo search. However, the ability to view content via Google, Yahoo or other internet searches does not mean that the image is not subject to copyright protection. Nor does it mean that permission to use content has been granted. An internet search merely provides responses to the query entered. Indeed, most search engines warn that the content displayed within the search results may be subject to copyright. The image is legitimately available only through Getty Images and as mentioned above, we have not issued any licenses which would allow for commercial web redistribution of the Image. We do not contest Mr. Mainalis claims that he did not receive any financial benefit attributable to the infringement. However, copyright infringement is based on strict liability. Mr. Mainalis argument goes to damages, not to the fact of infringement. At this time, Getty Images seeks only actual damages, so Mr. Mainalis attributable profits are not at issue. Mr. Mainali states that he has removed the image. While we appreciate the removal, the Image is protected by copyright, and was previously displayed on his website. Copyright law holds responsible anyone who publicly displays an image without authorization of the copyright
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holder. Mr. Mainalis use of the Image without a license constitutes copyright infringement, for which we are entitled to seek damages. At this time, Mr. Mainali has not raised any valid defenses. Regardless, we plan to continue working with Mr. Mainali to reach an amicable resolution to this matter. 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 do not hesitate to contact us. Regards, Getty Images Copyright Compliance

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