Catalyst Complaint Cover Page

399939

Complaint
Number 399939 Date 12/22/2011 Status Assignee Actual Savings Amount Disputed Estimated Savings Closed Norby, Patricia L $0.00 $875.00 $0.00

Location Vancouver - Consumer Protection Division NAICS 541920-Photographic Services

Complainant
Name Anna Sherris Global Health Care Services 2460 Lemoine Ave Fl 5 Fort Lee, NJ 07024 Phone Day (800) 505-5966 Phone Evening Email

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 404 316 Practice Collection Practices Billing Issues

Activities
Date Added 12/28/2011 12/28/2011 1/18/2012 1/18/2012 Activity Type Form Letter to Complainant Email to Respondent Email from Respondent Email from Respondent Activity C First Letter to Consumer R First Letter to Respondent To: cynthia.sharp@gettyimages.com

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From: Copyright Compliance [mailto:Copyright.Compliance@gettyimages.com] Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 12:24 PM To: ATG MI Vancouver CRC Subject: RE: 399939 : 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

January 17, 2012 Via e-mail to VanCRC@atg.wa.gov Patricia L. Norby Complaint Analyst Attorney General of Washington Consumer Protection Division 1220 Main Street, Suite 549 Vancouver, WA 98660 (360) 759-2152 Re: Anna Sherris Your File Number: 399939 Our Case Number: 983157 Dear Ms. Norby: We are in receipt of the complaint filed by Anna Sherris that you forwarded to us on December 28, 2011. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Ms. Sherriss 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 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 customers are not permitted to use imagery
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without agreeing to 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 companies that have used Getty Images imagery without paying a license fee, much akin to pirating music. One such company that recently was identified as having used unlicensed imagery from our collections is Ms. Sherriss company, Global Healthcare Services, Inc. (Global Healthcare). On June 24 2010, and again on August 27, we sent Global Healthcare a letter with notification that we had found unauthorized use of one of our images on its website, www.globalhealthcareinc.com. The image is part of Getty Images Rights-Managed The Image Bank collection, #10167049 (the Image), and can be found on our web site at http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/10167049/TheImageBank. We informed Global Healthcare that use of the Image without a license constitutes copyright infringement, and that Global Healthcare 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 $875.00, 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 Global Healthcare website. The amount invoiced is in line with what typically would be charged for a license of the Image under these circumstances. Ms. Sherris states that she has removed the Image from the Global Healthcare website. While we appreciate the removal, the Image is protected by copyright, and was previously displayed on that website. Copyright law holds responsible anyone who publicly displays an image without authorization of the copyright holder. The use of the Image without a license constitutes copyright infringement, for which we are entitled to seek damages. At this time, Ms. Sherris has not raised any valid defenses. We would prefer to resolve this matter amicably, but in the event that Global Healthcare remains unwilling to pay for the Image unlawfully used on its website, we will continue to pursue this matter as copyright infringement. 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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