Getty Images Is Sued For One Billion Dollars

Getty Images apparently tried to shake down photographer  Carol Highsmith for using one of her own photographs on her own website.

http://hyperallergic.com/314079/photographer-files-1-billion-suit-against-getty-for-licensing-her-public-domain-images/

Now she is suing them for a billion dollars (triple damages). This may be the tip of the iceberg! Something is very wrong with the DMCA and the morality of tech businesses that appropriate other people's works from the internet, and claim exclusive rights to those works.... and do not pay the creator, do not seek permission of the creator, and even seek to accuse the very creator of copyright infringement of their own works.

Getty Images was apparently sold a couple of years ago for over three billion dollars.

Here's an interesting discussion of what to do if Getty Images tries to demand a fee from you for images you are using.

http://artlawjournal.com/tips-responding-getty-images-demand-letter/

Maybe, if you get a letter from Getty, you should first check the Library of Congress, to see if the image in question is one of the tens of thousands that the public has the right to use without paying anyone.

All the best,
Rowena Cherry