Getty Images Copyright Infringement Notice from SiteBuilder Image

[swopedesign]

One of my hosting customers' customers has received a copyright infringement notice from Getty Images regarding an image we believe is available as part of the template system in SiteBuilder 4.5. This customer has already migrated to Web Presence Builder, but he is VERY concerned that the Parallels sitebuilder and web presence builder software use improperly licensed images and therefore puts EVERYONE in large financial danger for improperly licensed images used in these packages. I am likewise concerned since U.S. copyright laws make the site owner responsible, regardless who or how the image(s) were placed on the site.

I hope Parallels responds to this thread promptly and thoroughly. Getty Images reports that Parallels has a license for the image in question but the license is not extended to the users of their sitebuilder applications.

 

[Anton Bobykin]

I think this problem of old SiteBuilder 4.5 and this is not related to Web Presence Builder 10.x or 11.x, where all the images are properly licensed, but still in order to be sure I sent you the message asking for the claim details and I will help you with this.

If anyone else is experiencing the same sort of issues, please contact me and I will help you. Thanks.

 

[swopedesign]

Getty Images Long Known for Scare Tactics

Parallels has contacted me off-forum. Before that, my research indicates that Getty Images uses strong arm scare tactics to try to extort money from web site owners who may have inadvertently violated Getty's copyrights by using an image on their web site. A search on Google reveals many web sites that report these incidents. Unfortunately, Getty Images does not appear to send out cease & desist letters; instead they send a letter demanding compensation for copyright infringement and damages (although no damages have yet been determined by a court). This is a similar tactic that other unethical businesses use to scare web site owners to pay for services they never ordered or received. For example, a "yellow pages" web site sends only an overdue notice to a web site owner for a listing on their yellow pages web site (which no one has ever heard of, much less uses) demanding hundreds of dollars ($680 in my specific case) for advertising that was never ordered or approved, citing previous requests for payment that were never sent. That company just hopes recipients pay the bill because some businesses do not communicate well between employees and a bill is just likely to be paid more than it is likely to be questioned. The Getty Images letter smacks eerily similar because they also cite cease & desist letters that were never received. At any rate, Parallels is working with my specific customer about this issue, and I appreciate their prompt response to the issue. Now if only Parallels responded as swiftly to support issues and improvements to Web Presence Builder...

 

[krt463]

Hello, I too am experiencing this issue. I've had a ticket open with Parallels since October, 2012 and tried to follow-up in November only to find out the ticket was closed with no action being taken or notice. I opened another ticket just the last Monday and when I called in on Wednesday, it was closed again. We even put getty images and parallels together in the original ticket, but Getty never heard back from Parallels.

This was with an earlier version of siteBuilder and we also have discontinued the use of the application and customers are on Web Presence Builder. I would like to know how I can make progress to resolve this issue.

 

[krt463]

Still no word from Parallels on this. After creating 5 tickets they magically "close" without any correspondence and Level 1 support cannot see the other tickets. Level 2 support is answered by someone I previously spoke to in Level 1 the day before, it's a circus out there. I was told they have escalated but have little proof they have done anything as Parallels is simply ignoring my requests. Getty turned the case over to their lawyers, McCormack Intellectual Property LawFirm and the cost/fee has gone up.

Does anyone have other resources to help push this along?

 

[krt463]

Still silence from Parallels regarding this. I have several tickets into them and no-one has contacted our company.

Any ideas how to make progress with this and Parallels?

I have everything documented from the ticket numbers to the notice Parallels sent indicating they are aware of unlicensed images being used in our verion (that we were using at the time).

 

[krt463]

Follow-up on this. This was resolved after reaching out to a Parallels connection I had on Linked in. Desperate, I sent him an email and asked if he could think of a way to make progress. Within two hours, I had a new ticket and a phone call from Parallels. The issue was closed within a couple weeks of that day and Getty is off our backs.