Getty Images photos, pictures, getty, images

 I absolutely cannot stand this company! Getty Images advertises their images online and there's several steps before seeing that there's a price for the photos. Additionally, they have sections: "rights-managed" (which to someone not in the photography business would only assume those are the copy righted ones) and then a "Royalty free" section. (which someone not in the photography business would probably assume these are free since the word FREE is in it. It's on the verge of false advertising, if you ask me.

My boyfriend used some of these photos off the internet and then received a letter stating they wanted some highly insane payment for the use and since the photos were copy-righted, they must be removed immediately. Which of course he did once he realized they werent FREE. Some odd months later, he received a letter from an attorney named McCormack demanding something around $3,000 in lue of being sued. This is like the second or third letter from the attorney now.

I did some research online about Getty images and the thousands of people complaining they were blind sighted by this company and their "scam" and their "scare tactic" letters. They automatically presume your guilt in these letters. What happened to innocent until proven guilty???  They automatically place the burden of proving your innocence on you....um, thats not how it works in America. They automatically claim "punative" damages....without providing proof of how you using their images has damaged them and how they came to the amount they're asking for.

I've read that they have a whole department of people who just sit there and track these photos. I would be willing to bet that they designed this website with the idea of this is how they were going to make their money. And I'd also be willing to bet that they scare enough people, that they make more money by doing these infringement letters, than they do by selling their own d**n photos. FAIL! What a joke they are. I hope someone takes them down and they belly flop in bankcuptcy from someone who they've given anxiety and stress to. Someone who can turn around and sue them for the headaches and stress and unnecessary guilt they placed on thousands of innocent people.