Getty Overpaid Photographers, Taking Money Back

On A Photo Editor, Rob Haggart has posted an amazing letter apparently from Getty Images to a contributing photographer. The letters says that because of an error in computing royalties, Getty will be deducting 20% from the contributor's monthly royalties (beginning January 2009) until the amount of the overpayment is corrected.

A short follow-up letter (correcting a mistake in the first letter) makes it clear that the letter went to multiple photographers, and adds: "Granted this was not easy news to give and likewise for you to receive. It is our hope that 20% is fair and won’t be felt negatively in your monthly earnings."

We're going to poke around today and hope to learn more about this. Will Getty confirm the letter is real? How many photographers got it? (The letter mentions MediaVast, which would include Getty's WireImage division.) How long has Getty been "overpaying" this group of photographers? (Getty acquired MediaVast in April 2007.) How much money does Getty think it needs to recoup from a typical photographer? (It must be substantially more than 20% of a typical monthly payment.)

This is the second day in a row Haggart has posted a letter from Getty Images related to a royalty rate correction. Yesterday, he posted a letter about a typo in a creative stills contract (apparently unrelated to the MediaVast problem). The letter has Getty paying a 50% royalty rate for rights-managed editorial creative stills licensed in a home territory.

This story is getting lots of attention and we are posting updates below. Tips: dlang@pdnonline.com.

UPDATE, 2:37 p.m.: We spoke to a photographer with knowledge of the Getty situation who says the letter is authentic and appears to have gone out to all MediaVast contributors. [Note: Getty says it only went to 5% of MediaVast contributors.] "Some contribute very little, some quite a bit," the photographer told us, and so the amounts Getty is taking back are likely to vary. The photographer mentioned one contributor whose overpayment balance is $12,000.

UPDATE 2, 3:15 p.m.: We just spoke to a second photographer in regard to the other Getty rate correction (the one about rights-managed editorial creative stills). This photographer, who signed a Getty contract in June 2008, says the "typo" wasn't corrected until recently, more than six months later. The photographer is skeptical that a royalty rate mistake could have gone uncorrected so long: "That's the most important part of the contract... It's not a misspelled word." [Note: Getty says the error was only online for three days.] The correction involves a specific kind of image (RM editorial stills) in a generic contract that covers many Getty contributors; the photographer we spoke to does not upload this kind of image to Getty.

UPDATE 3, 3:30 p.m.: Gawker got the letter too.

UPDATE 4: 4:21 p.m.: We just got an e-mail from Molly McWhinnie at Getty Images with some new information. A few important points:

- The MediaVast e-mail only went to 5% of MediaVast contributors.

- The other correction, to the contract that appeared on the Getty Images contributor portal, fixes an error that was only online for three days – not several months as some photographers speculated.

Regarding the MediaVast correction, McWhinnie adds:

"Recently, several MediaVast contributors pointed out to us that they were being overpaid, so we conducted an internal audit and found that we had input the wrong royalty rates for one group of contracts when they were transferred to Getty Images. To correct the situation, we developed an overpayment recoupment schedule to have as little negative impact on the contributors as possible. It is important to note that MediaVast and Getty Images editorial contributors receive the same royalty splits for in/out of home territory. Any MediaVast contributor with a question or concern about these matters should be in touch with Marguerite Ruscito, Contributor Relations Manager/Editorial, who works closely with MediaVast contributors everyday. She can be reached at marguerite.ruscito@gettyimages.com or by phone at 646.613.4101."

Comments

[Curious]

I'm very curious to know who on earth the 'several contributors' are who so kindly pointed out that they'd been overpaid. What is the psychological profile of a person who does that?

[Anonymouse]

honesty?

[shrink]

re: psychological profile
a few words come to mind. honest. professional. dignified. respected. ethical.

[Alleh Lindquist Portland Photographer]

I wonder if we will ever get good news from or about Getty.