I want to understand how this number was arrived at. It might genuinely be some minimum statutory damages times an approximate number of violations. I wouldn’t be that surprised if the law was fairly clear that she was entitled to sue for this amount.
2 Likes
According to the story @OapostropheBrien linked:
Photographer Carol M. Highsmith has sued Getty Images for copyright infringement, alleging “gross misuse” of 18,755 of her photographs of Americana.
[…]
Highsmith claims that Getty is liable for statutory damages up to $468,875, 000. But she is seeking $1 billion dollars because a previous copyright infringement judgement against Getty enables the court to triple the statutory damages in Highsmith’s case, according to her attorneys. (The previous case in question was Morel v. Getty, which ended in a $1 million judgment against Getty).
$468,875,000 is 18,755 * $25,000.
Where the $25,000-per-infringement number comes from, I haven’t the foggiest.
3 Likes
I recently came across Getty trying to charge for use of an Apollo 17 picture, which of course is from NASA and therefore in already in the public domain.
11 Likes
I honestly think the RIAA/MPAA got that written into law so they could sue people into bankruptcy for downloading a handful of songs.
(B) At any time before final judgment is entered, a complaining party may elect to recover an award of statutory damages for each violation of section 1202 in the sum of not less than $2,500 or more than $25,000.
and
§ 1202 . Integrity of copyright management information3
(a) False Copyright Management Information. — No person shall knowingly and with the intent to induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal infringement —
(1) provide copyright management information that is false, or
(2) distribute or import for distribution copyright management information that is false.
Pretty sure claiming copyright you don’t own is providing copyright management information that is false. The point of the statutory damages is that you don’t have to prove any actual damages. Of course apparently it’s a range, so the judge might say, “Come on with $1B, this ought to be $100M”
5 Likes
Hmm. Each photo that they’re claiming is a separate offense, so it could add up quickly. (They do that sort of BS for hacker convictions, so why not?)
I tried to check the Library of Congress link to see how many photos, but the government was down.
1 Like
In December, documentary photographer Carol Highsmith received a letter from Getty Images accusing her of copyright infringement for featuring one of her own photographs on her own website. It demanded payment of $120.
Yes, that would burn even without the donation to the Library of Congress part.
I wonder if they’ve slurped up everything in the Library of Congress and are claiming it all now?
3 Likes
If settlements are on the table. I think a comprehensive audit of the entire Getty Image Library would be a good starting point, and for Getty to reached to each (wronged) rights holder to make amends where possible.
4 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
