What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MD. hi all I posted a website from a free template. 4 months later I received a bill from Getty images claiming unauthorized use without a license for the image. When I called them they said to bad a copyright is issues as soon as a photo is taken. I removed the image and now have a collection agency wanting the 1,200.00 for the image use.
If you used a photo that they own the rights to without permission, you are infringing on their copyright, and they have a right to enforce their copyright.
I logged on to their site and a license for the image for 6 months is only 400.00. My dispute is that there is nothing on the image or in the properties of the image to indicate it is copyrighted.
That might be a good point to start negotiations. However, don't be surprised if they refuse to settle for the license fee alone -- if the only punishment for infringement is that you simply pay the license fee, then there is no incentive to ever pay a license fee, you would just infringe, and only pay the license fee if caught. Expect that they will want more than just the license fee for the unauthorized use.
There is no real way to search the image for copyright and they have no proof that it is not out there somewhere on the web (sold by the photographer) to someone else who has it available as royalty free.
You are right that it is not really possible to tell if something is copyrighted or not -- but that's just the way it is right now. It's best to just assume that everything is copyrighted, and that you don't have the right to use anything unless you have explicit, written permission.
You are within your rights to ask them for proof or evidence that they own the rights to the picture. It's unlikely that someone else would be making the image available royalty-free, because they would have had to purchase the rights to do that from the original rights holder, and that would be more expensive for them, just to give something away for free -- doesn't make any sense.
I don't know where the template maker got the image and am not sure if they have a right to charge me or if there is just a computer generated money making machine that mails everyone with a Getty image on their site. should i pay them or get a lawyer?
Like I said, you can ask for evidence that they own the image, or have the right to enforce the rights on the image, before you pay anything. For this amount of money, it is likely not worth getting a lawyer, but you can try and negotiate a lower settlement amount -- just don't expect that it will be zero, and it will probably be higher than the license fees.
EDIT: And if you do end up negotiating a settlement, or you simply decide to pay their demands, make sure that you obtain a release of liability for the use of the picture to date, or a license to use the picture.