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Author Topic: Reporter to do story about HAN / Vincent K Tylor (link to emails from Vincent)  (Read 6018 times)

Dee

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I have loaded email messages between Vincent and myself so you can review. The link and points are below.

Also, I was contacted by a reporter who is working on a story about this in Hawaii so it looks like its going to get some attention in the media.  If anyone can direct me to some good posts that sum up things, and have good facts and links for her that would be great.  There is so much here its hard to weed through.  OR if someone has a chain of events or summary type document that would be great.  Also if you have any suggestions or points you want her to cover, please post it here!

EMAILS from Vincent:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/82766750

Note in this chain, that he mentions several times that they have attempted to remove things, and that he was making changes to his own site to make it more safe.  It does not look like anything has changed since all this which was 8 months ago.  All the same sites are up and he has not changed his website.

Note he also admits giving his image and still providing images to a site that he knows distributes his images as wallpaper images. 

Note he mentions how much his stuff costs and that if my clients have rentals in Kailua that they can afford to PAY UP.

Note when I asked why they weren't going after the sites distributing both he and his lawyer told me there were too many and they were trying but not succeeding because they are all out of country.  A simple search revealed that is not true.  Here are the main Sites I found distributing the image and some in the US and have clear policies and guidelines.  I spoke to 2 of these websites who told me that they will remove any image that someone sends over a copyright complaint on.  They were also the ones who told me that many of the images they receive come from the photographers.

http://wallpaperslot.com/wallpaper15432.search.php (contains very large file sizes)
http://wallpapersweb.com/terms.php (this is one that claims its getting it from public use)
This one claims it gets it from the owner and strictly adheres to DMCA:  http://www.scenicreflections.com/index.php?view=DMCA_Notice
This one interestingly enough claims they hold the copyright for all content on the site and will give permission for commerical use:  http://www.desktopnexus.com/tos  /  http://www.desktopnexus.com/dmca

WONDERING, if it comes out that this group really did set all this up.  What happens to all the people who already were sued or paid?  Do they file a class action?  Counter sue?  Is it possible to get their money back or is the decision final?
« Last Edit: February 25, 2012, 05:17:01 AM by Matthew Chan »

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Oscar Michelen and I am more than willing to be a quoted sources on this subject.

I would focus on the following points:

Vincent K. Tylor does not work alone. He is in cahoots with Glen Carner of Hawaiian Art Network (HAN) and collection lawyers that work on a 50/50 or 60/40 split.

HAN and other stock photo companies brag about how their extortion letter program (they don't call it that of course) has helped their business tremendously.  What they don't tell you is they don't simply recover and collect actual damages like most businesses do.  They intentionally inflate it as high as their victims will bear up to $10,000 per image. We have proof of this in our HAN letter collection.

Also, why is it that Vincent Tylor's name keeps popping up repeatedly?  Is it because his Hawaiian photos are so superior to everyone else? Or is it because he has allowed them to be disseminated to all these free wallpaper sites and discovered how profitable it is for people to take the images and then hit them later on a technicality.

Why is it that if this was such a crisis to Vincent Tylor, why has he not issued any public statement about it?  How convenient of him to be silent about it.

Regarding his network of copyright lawyers, I venture to say that most are collection lawyers who happen to enjoy copyright infringement cases where they can enjoy a 50/50 or 60/40 split. This is why settlements have to go into the thousands of dollars to justify the payment splits.

These outrageous settlements are considered revenue and sales and it has been referred to as such by the various stock photo companies, not recovered costs. It is a profit center, not an entry to offset actual losses.

The stock photo companies are NOT thriving. Articles have discussed the troubles of the stock photo companies. Demand have dropped over the years and market values of images have dropped because it has become commoditized. There is simply a huge abundance of images available fighting for an audience resistant to paying a high cost for them. The photography industry is no longer as lucrative as it once was but almost no one wants to admit to this. They keep blaming piracy which is only one part of this.  All the media companies are suffering because of the Internet: newspaper, radio, tv, cable, music, stock photos, images, etc.

There is extreme avoidance of discussions of innocent infringement because no one wants to acknowledge the $200/infringement provision.  They keep wanting to publicize how if it goes to court, there could be award of $30,000/infringement and if willful $150,000/infringement.  The reality is there are nearly no copyright infringement final judgments that support this. The couple that are out there by RIAA have been drastically reduced although it is still being fought.

The extortion letter scheme works because it takes advantage of people's inherent ignorance of the legal process and fear of the court system. There are ongoing lies, bluffs, and deception being told to lead victims to believe that lawsuits will occur when the fact is, it almost NEVER occurs.  It is based on ambiguity and implied threats.

Also, the reporter should know ELI was under attack and threats by multiple HAN lawyers to have content removed from the ELI website. Nearly all of them coincidentally were dealing with VKT's images.

VKT claims he isn't involved.  Well, he got involved when he signed his name to the recent lawsuits against 3 Hawaiian defendants.

There really are many talking points. The stock photo companies are not as honorable as they seem. And there are most certainly some dirty hands in the game.  This is why ELI continues to fight so hard to report despite the HAN lawyers attempts to suppress and hide it.
« Last Edit: February 25, 2012, 05:17:10 AM by Matthew Chan »
I'm a non-lawyer but not legally ignorant either. Under the 1st Amendment, I have the right to post facts & opinions using rhetorical hyperbole, colloquialisms, metaphors, parody, snark, or epithets. Under Section 230 of CDA, I'm only responsible for posts I write, not what others write.

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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    "**** I have the absolute best Intellectual Copyright attorney in Hawaii and over 12 attorneys inother states in the USA not including a team of attorneys in the U.K., Germany, France, Canada,Japan and Scandinavia.
These people know what they are doing."

The so-called "Team" with the exception of Steele, do indeed have stellar records..

  • Brandon Sand - admitted to the bar Dec. 1, 2010
  • Julie Stewart -  has an acting or music background and likes to use a picture of a famous rock star for her profile picture on facebook.. I guess it's okay for her to infringe....but I degress
  • Russell Aldrich - admitted to the Texas bar Nov. 4, 2011 ( not a typo!)
  • Peter T. Holt. - he doesn't like his name associated with the term "extortion" but he also likes to threaten jail time for copyright infringement..clearly experienced in this area of law, but I degress again...
[li]Gil Zvulony, possibly the brightest of the bunch, as he has not yet reared his head as of yet, but it is worth noting that he doesn't pussy foot around, he demands $5000.00 - $10,000 per image!
[/li][/list]

I would suspect that this "Team" is not hand picked by Vincent K Tylor, or Glen Carner the owner of Hawaiian Art Network, but rather picked from a list that Picscout has..

I also notice VK Tylor mention copyright Services International, this was also owned by Glen Carner, but appears to out of business at present...

And with that I leave you with this:



 
« Last Edit: February 25, 2012, 01:23:20 PM by buddhapi »
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
Robert Krausankas

I have a few friends around here..

SoylentGreen

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I don't how "bright" Zvulony is.
I went to his website several months ago, and it looked like some eastern-bloc link farm.
There was a button or something that said "ask Mr. Zvulony a question" or something.
But, when you clicked on it, it went to a page that says that "he doesn't give free advice", and a consultation was 90 dollars for 30 minutes.
If you clicked on the small print at the bottom of his site, it said something to the effect of, "See!!  People DO read copyright notices".
Not that he shouldn't get paid, it all just seemed to be unprofessional.  So, I never contacted him, or anyone for that matter.
Anyway, his marketing is better now, but I'm not convinced that he's much better than the others.
Just look at who he's representing:

http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=vincent+k+tylor&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1650&bih=914&tbm=isch&tbnid=tdHdqb-lJAjy1M:&imgrefurl=http://photo.net/photodb/photo%3Fphoto_id%3D4532366&docid=9waR6r94U4qLHM&imgurl=http://photo.net/general-comments/attachment/3752682/vt%2525201%252520copy.jpg&w=399&h=510&ei=EDFJT5vHOoL30gHHosmcDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=938&vpy=118&dur=5994&hovh=254&hovw=199&tx=126&ty=108&sig=110202453948314823167&page=1&tbnh=136&tbnw=106&start=0&ndsp=40&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0

S.G.

« Last Edit: February 26, 2012, 02:01:36 AM by SoylentGreen »

Extortion-Victim-No Longer

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The bottom line for VKT = the bottom line $$$$$...Innocents can cry themselves to sleep & pay up. He is fortified in justifying the collection of compensation regardless of the circumstances.
Kim

 

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