The bottom line is that everyone should be purchasing images and not plucking them off the internet through Google images or any other search engines image browser. By doing this, you don’t know if there is a copyright on the photo and thereby, risk a copyright infringement. Now, true people who utilize offshore companies to put together websites may be subject to the developers there who steal images and don’t have valid licenses for them. But think about it, you get what you pay for in this world and usually people who use offshore companies are looking for cheap websites and anyone who uses them from the United States should be cautious of their practices.

Business owners should be prudent in their choices of whomever they hire to design a site. Yes, they may not be aware of any copyright image laws but they should also be making sure the person they hire can do the job and is well versed on good internet practices. Would you hire an attorney and not ask questions about their education, expertise or access their knowledge? No. It should be the same when hiring a web professional. I can’t stress this enough as I’ve had many a client come to my office after being burned and ripped off from so called web developers.

Stock companies do have a TERMS OF USE on their comp images. It is there for people to read and if people take images off their site without reading that, you can’t blame the stock companies for not informing them. Perhaps Getty needs to take a more proactive roll in letting people know about copyrights on their images via a video or something. Taking images off the internet is a very common thing that almost everyone takes part in. I agree that someone needs to police this and let the public know that its NOT okay to take images off the internet.

The reason I have read this today is because a new client of mine who I am designing and building a website for to replace the existing site has just received the very same disgusting letter from Getty images.

This particular client runs a home business web portal, and like most individuals are unaware of the laws, but to ask £1200 for a very small image that has only been on the site for a few weeks is disgusting. Cannot stand bully’s and Getty images are certainly that!

I have run advertising and marketing agencies for over 15 years and had a few run ins with Getty’s in my time, where they have threatened to sue on a few occasions. On all occasions I have told them where to get off, and that is because they had no case whatsoever. One particularly disgusting episode was the following

My agency produced some design for a Hospice’s fundraising leaflet. We purchased the front cover image front Getty’s at about £250 for single use. This was back in 2002. The following year we had to produce another leaflet for the same fundraising activity, and Getty’s database obviously picked up on this, and we got a call from one of their sales staff, did we want to purchase the image again. I said no we have shot our own for this years leaflet. The sales guy then started getting nasty saying that we cannot do this and under copywrite laws we cannot copy one of their images. I said we haven’t, we have shot a completely different image. He demanded that we send through the image to make sure. and In no uncertain terms I told him where to go. I am sorry to say in anger, I told him that I would re arrange certain parts of his anatonomy.

But we never heard another word from them. The actions of this company are disgusting and they should be investigated for this.

However, my advice to all website owners who need good images are to either subscribe to shutterstock, thinkstockphoto, istock or other cheap to use libraries. Istock is good because you pay as you go by purchasing credits, and the others a fairly small monthly subscriptions if you need to download images regularly. The unfortunate part of using these is most of them are owned by Getty images. They have the monopoly in the stock image library world and that is why they practice these bullying tactics.

You are absolutely right, that they should firstly ask for you to remove the image, or pay a reasonable fee for it. This would then protect their reputation, educate the small website owner not to pursue unlicensed images from google, and of course Getty’s make a small sum to ad to the millions they earn each year. Whoever adopted their current policy within Getty’s needs their ass kicked. Bad PR and not good for business. They should be educating people, not crucifying them!

However, I do find it somewhat interesting that your posting here is coming on the same day the Incredible Discoveries contacted me about trying to post Robert Danoff’s alleged written retraction.

Are you the President, CEO, or owner of the company? What is your full name?

I’m not related to “INCREDIBLE DISCOVERIES” in any way shape or form other than being in a DRTV campaign designed by ID to promote my product “*****”. When I first came in contact with them, they also ask me for $75.000 dollars for the “Test Campaign”, But I did not have the money for that! They kept calling me and at the end of the day I was offered a contract to launch my product! They do believe in certain markets and Stomacin-U is doing great thanks to their vision in regards to my product! The professionals working on my commercial helped me in ways that I never considered possible! So my experience was very positive with them!

The arrogant head of ID probably thinks he’ll just shut down as Incredible Discoveries and open up under another name. After all, that’s what he did with Site2Shop, Buyers Shopping Club, National Shopping Club, Great Buys, Hispanic Direct, etc. etc. He’s got plenty of lawyers and plenty of lackeys to do this, and it appears the two groups are interchangeable.

However, it’s more than just the credibility of the company name or “Incredible Discoveries” that is now under a magnifying glass – it’s the dubious non-existent credibility of the man himself, based upon nothing more than his dealings with others. This man’s unwarranted ego is causing his name to be made MUD in the industry on an ever-increasing basis each day.

True to form of those who ARE credible, the “predictions” as to the outcome of these individuals are coming to pass. Once they opted NOT to put forth the type of compensatory settlement agreement to make necessary restitution to Danoff for the egregious wrongs they’ve done to him by setting him up, the die was cast.

Let’s be clear here Matthew. Danoff is the VICTIM, and the manufacturers who’ve lost $75,000 and/or have had to file bankruptcy after losing their homes because of INCREDIBLE DISCOVERIES, they’re the VICTIMS.

As a direct result of these contrived cases by INCREDIBLE DISCOVERIES against Danoff, he lost a job he had for two years, and now his wife’s Lupus is deemed to be a “pre-existing” medical condition. As a result, she must now leave the country to have needed surgeries related to her condition, as the cost is now prohibitive here. That is wrong on more levels than there are levels, and these people WILL be held to account.

LOSS OF WAGES + LOSS OF MEDICAL COVERAGE + MEDICAL EXPENSES + EXPENSES INCURRED RELATED TO FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS =__________

Instead of spinning their wheels frantically trying to prevent the truth from being disseminated electronically, these people need to generate their energy towards taking a good hard look at what they’ve done to Danoff, to the Padillas, to Abernathy, to Relan and to all the others who’ve yet to come forward. They will NEVER be able to stop the growing momentum now, other than to START MAKING THINGS RIGHT. Step ONE is to FILL IN THE BLANK.

Until there is indication by any VICTIMS that this has been done, the victim alliance WILL NOT STOP, until Alfieri will no longer be able to open up under ANY name. No “silent partnership,” no NOTHING.

Could this be the end of the line for “The Teflon Con” ?

Matthew,

I’m happy to inform you that a Florida court did NOT enjoin Robert Danoff from posting FACT about INCREDIBLE DISCOVERIES on the internet, or anywhere else for that matter. Accordingly, measures have been stepped UP to get the FACTS out about this disreputable bunch, to a wide radius of interested entities.

Despite this most recent and MAJOR legal setback, the CEO of INCREDIBLE still fancies himself to be a bit of a WISE GUY. His lawyer’s LACKEY quite foolishly “proposed” a settlement agreement to Danoff, basically amounting to an offer ANYONE could refuse. True to the form of his clients, this lowlife legal beagle lapdog for INCREDIBLE DISCOVERIES, tried using Danoff’s wife medical condition of Lupus, to try to jam him into agreeing to “settle” in the name of “resolution.” Instead, the wiseguy wannabe shown to be garmentless Emperor, had much more exposed than he ever counted on.

INCREDIBLE DISCOVERIES’ “settlement offer” consisted of Danoff paying not only ALL of ID’s legal fees (accrued the result of the frivolous lawsuits filed against him), but payment of the filing fees for dismissal as well! In return for ID’s “magnanamous” gesture of “temporarily suspending” litigation, the pompous proprietor of INCREDIBLE DISCOVERIES put together a “statement” that he actually expected Danoff to post on the internet. Amazingly enough, not only did this statement contain an apology BY Danoff (rather than an apology TO him), it had him taking credit for information he wasn’t even responsible for, expecting him to retract not only that FACTUAL INFORMATION, but other FACTUAL INFORMATION Danoff did provide about them. Completely absurd.

Anyone who worked for this King of Kons and his Kronies, would be amused by this LACKEY lawyer instructing Danoff to “immediately sign the agreement and fax it back.” Gee, that sounds just like part of the scam-o-script to manufacturers, whereby they were pressured to “hurry up” and get the signed vendor agreement faxed back, so that the “Executive Committee” meeting taking place “now” could approve them. Meanwhile, there is no more of an “Executive Committee” than their is a “Focus Group” or “Consumer Test Panel.” I sure hope companies aren’t still falling for THAT ONE…

Fortunately for Danoff, he’s got people in his corner who are consistently two steps ahead of the ID team. Unfortunately for the LACKEY (who was none to happy about being exposed and called out), he made the unwise choice to “inform” Danoff that “his client wasn’t afraid of him or any witness on his behalf.” Ouch ! That one definitely left a MARK, since this classic backfire maneuver caused INCREDIBLE DISCOVERIES to get SPANKED the next day, by way of FACTUAL INFORMATION DISSEMINATION on the WWW.

At this juncture, they’ve got the blueprint which SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED at the outset, to formulate a LEGITIMATE settlement offer. Too much to expect, perhaps, from people who are completely CLUELESS as to the meaning of LEGITIMACY. Let’s put it this way: Each day that goes by that said settlement offer does NOT come Danoff’s way, is a day that will be at least as bad, if not WORSE for ID than the day before. Cobra Collection Scam, here they come !!

This is a classic case of Good v. Evil. As is always the case with “good,” the truth and supporting facts are on our side. I most certainly am part of a team, albeit a team established late in the game from the perspective of manufacturers who have had little recourse after having been defrauded by the principals of “Incredible Discoveries.” For these people, it matters little what they call themselves today, or what they may have also been known by at the time THEY LOST MONEY. Better late than never, I’d like to think, as the momentum is building against these people.

I dragged myself into this simply because I knew too much. How fair would it have been for Incredible Discoveries to get away with having an employee LIE UNDER OATH, and wrongly accuse a man of doing something that was never done ? Bob Danoff never solicited ANYONE to go with him after leaving Incredible Discoveries. I was there and I saw what happened. It was the employee-turned-witness who pitched for a new job, and yet he testified a LIE. The other “witness” was a man with a long standing history of drug use, but I’m sure a Judge wasn’t told about that. This man lied because he could ill afford to lose his job too.

The facts are being presented daily, and to more and more people. The Florida Bar Association will soon be presented with a claim by counsel for Incredible Discoveries, that its’ principals never did business under another name. Along with that, they will be provided with public records for SunBiz that show that this same attorney acted as registered agent for the trade names she claims her clients never operated under. The question will then be posed as to possible bar sanctions.

The message here is clear. Bad can only push Good SO FAR, until Good pushes back. They know what needs to be done, and if they fail to comply, they risk going the same way that the Cobra Collection scam did. It’s as simple as that, Matthew. I’m both amazed and amused by the arrogance of these people, but their delay simply means that the meter is still running. How far THEY CHOOSE to allow it to run is entirely UP TO THEM. As for me, I’ll just keep providing the truth until said truth ends up doing them in. As you full well know Matthew, there are people out there who fight the good fight. “At the end of the day,” the losers and the liars LOSE.