Invalidate response

[annalise]

Sent a certified letter to the trolls, received an email response at an address not related in anyway to contacts for my domain or website.

Do I ignore email, reply with response that they have reached wrong email or send another certified letter stating why haven't they responded?

[lucia]

If that email was not on the letter and not related to your domain name, I would not respond to it.  Out of curiosity, did the response in the email mention your letter?

[annalise]

No, I did not include any email address in the letter. The email mentioned the letter I sent. Also noticed, as in most letters posted in this forum, it doesn't refer to the company that owns the domain, it refers to me personally.  The email is associated with another blog domain I own-but not connected to the site in question.  Maybe I should mark it as spam. hmmm. It is unsolicited email right?

Would you respond with another snail certified letter?  Is it time to lay down the law as they say in this business?

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

If you sent a certified letter and it did not come back to you, then it got delivered...why do you insist on going back and forth with them?

[annalise]

Not really a back and forth. Just sent one response to them certified.

Are you suggesting to ignore them completely?

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Not really a back and forth. Just sent one response to them certified.

Are you suggesting to ignore them completely?

Nope not at all, I'm suggesting that you replied the ball is now in their court, is all. Ultimately it's your decision on how you want to proceed.

[annalise]

You would recommend not acknowledging the email and waiting for mailed response?

The alleged infringement is for one photo appearing in two different places.

[lucia]

If you went to the trouble sending a certified letter I suggest sitting tight and waiting for a response by snail letter.  Of course, you can read the email-- but the fact is you sent them a certified letter. They should communicate at the address you gave them by the mode you gave them.

Don't communicate in two modes. Stick with certified letters or email, not both.

[Matthew Chan]

There is a such thing as too much follow-up.  It shows your desperation and need for approval from them if you contact them again after you submitted your reply.  Certified Mail is more than enough. Just wait.

Side note:  I absolutely oppose emails in these matters.  Using email is the lazy way.  It may be easy for you but you also make it easy for them to contact you ANYTIME, FOR FREE.  If someone wants to come after me legally, I insist everything be on hard copy and they need to spend the postage and envelope to mail it.

You act firm and professional, you will get treated as such.  You want to be lazy and take shortcuts, then be prepared to be treated accordingly.

[lucia]

Matt--
I'm going for lazy and short-cuts. The message I think I'm communicating is: I don't want to pay for paper and postage on such a stupid matter.  Turns out they send letters and emails either way!

I did respond to their 2nd letter by email.    I got a prompt response telling me that the 2nd letter was sent in error.

[Matthew Chan]

Everyone gets to choose how they want to handle their situation. 

However, I don't think that is entirely true unless an opening is given to send email. 

Emails has its pros and cons. Snail mail has its expense and inconvenience but if you ask any lawyer, if you are trying to establish gravitas, snail mail using Certified Mail is the way to go. Alternatively, send a Fedex or UPS letter is powerful also.

I keep trying to tell people in these cases to stop focusing so much on "outlawyering", "convincing", or asking for approval. But no matter how many times I say it, so many become sheep and "follow the rules" anyhow.

I am telling everyone that symbolically, there is nothing more powerful than using snail mail using Certified Mail to deliver a message. It is so powerful a symbol that I have had recipients over the years refuse to accept my Certified Mails out of fear. They simply didn't want to accept service and read the contents of MY letters.  Refusal of service worked in my favor because it was reputationally damaging to the other side when it came out.

Yes, Certified Mail can get expensive but my intent is not to get into a debate indefinitely. It has strong symbolic value to deliver a strong message directed at some conclusion. That is my advice.

I have a long track record of successfully winning (or at least partially so in those I didn't) the disputes both in writing and in person on all kinds of matters (traffic, credit disputes, customer satisfaction, etc.) When I play, I play to win. There are some "shortcuts" that simply undermine what you are trying to do. I continue to say that emails undermine that effort in having gravitas in your communication.

People may think they are saving time and money on one hand but they lose something else in another. If people must, I would send a FAX over email anytime. FAXes have higher symbolic value than emails. In fact, emails are among the lowest.

The best analogy I can give is that if you received a hand-written letter from anyone, how would you react? The handwritten letter is so rare today, it is practically extinct or certainly an anomaly.

Turns out they send letters and emails either way!

[lucia]

The best analogy I can give is that if you received a hand-written letter from anyone, how would you react? The handwritten letter is so rare today, it is practically extinct or certainly an anomaly.

Honestly? I'm usually annoyed by hand-written letters. There are two people I know who like to send them and I don't like receiving them. I prefer email or phone calls.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

The best analogy I can give is that if you received a hand-written letter from anyone, how would you react? The handwritten letter is so rare today, it is practically extinct or certainly an anomaly.

Honestly? I'm usually annoyed by hand-written letters. There are two people I know who like to send them and I don't like receiving them. I prefer email or phone calls.

This is Matts point exactly!

[lucia]

buddhapi--

The difficulty is that if I send letters to Getty, I'll get letters from Getty. I don't like that mode of communication.  Since I don't like snail mail, I would prefer to use the mode of communication I like.

With regard to the two people who send me letters: One is my mom. The other is a good friend since high school. I reply by email. 

[Matthew Chan]

If you want to continue "enjoying and liking" your communication experience with Getty Images or anyone else on legal matters, have at it.

However, I am stunned at your response. Does it really need to be said that aggressively defending and fighting back is not meant to be a comfortable, cruise-ship experience?

In what I wrote, did you somehow get the impression that my advice was meant for YOUR, MINE, or ANYONE ELSE's personal comfort or preferred mode of communication?

Does anyone really think I enjoyed the entire experience of what I did to successfully fight back? Does anyone really think I enjoy typing up my hard-copy letters on a laser printer, running down to the U.S. Post Office, manually fill out a Certified Mail form, and paying $6 to mail it out? Seriously?

Do you think lawyers who want to seriously communicate a strong message is thinking about their personal comfort in sending their messages? I promise you that if someone decides to hire Oscar or any decent lawyer to represent a client's interests, they are not sitting back and thinking how easy the communication might be if that lawyer could only send an email on behalf of their clients instead of an envelope and postage. They aim to get the message across effectively and that almost always means snail-mail, not because lawyers are incapable or unwilling to use email.

Do you realize that MY goal in my advice to others is NOT to encourage a easy leisurely, ongoing debate with the stock photo companies? That MY goal to others is to decisively put a stop to it quickly, once and for all.

But for those of you who are much too bothered with postage, paper, and getting out of your chair although they persistently threaten the crap out of you, be my guest. But then people shouldn't complain that the emails from Getty (or whoever) continue on without stopping.

The difficulty is that if I send letters to Getty, I'll get letters from Getty. I don't like that mode of communication.  Since I don't like snail mail, I would prefer to use the mode of communication I like.