Where this affair gets especially awkward is the manner in which Highsmith discovered that her images were being used without her knowledge. Specifically, she was sent a letter charging her for copyright infringement by Getty Images over posting one of her own photographs to her own website. According to the lawsuit document, the company was, “fraudulently holding themselves out as the exclusive copyright owner” of Highsmith’s images. If this is so, it is one of the most cringeworthy moments in copyright history and likely happened when a Getty employee acted on an automated flag of the picture.