Need help with Masterfile letter

[mnp2081]

First off, I want to thank the organizers of this site for providing a great service.

In mid May, I received a demand letter from Masterfile for a website that I started but never utilized.  For one image, they are asking for $2,790.  After coming up on this website, I decided to retain Oscar Michelin and Cuomo LLC.  I paid my fee to them on May 23, 2011.

Since then, I had to leave about 2 dozen voicemails and several emails for Oscar over a period of two and a half months.  I happened to get lucky one day and caught Oscar in the office, and he said he would be talking to NCS (the collection agency retained by Masterfile) and to follow up with him in a few days.  I'm still trying to follow up and have left emails and voicemails, but no response still.  It's been a month since he asked me to follow up with him, but no reply from Oscar or someone at Cuomo LLC yet.

I guess Oscar is really busy, but I'm disappointed that after retaining his services and making payment I cannot get a single phone or email reply. 

At any rate, it seems like I may have to go against Masterfile on my own.  Since I had retained Cuomo LLC, I have not made any communication with Masterfile or NCS.  I took down the image in question back in May, and I've received two notices from NCS in the meantime.  I just received the second notice last week (dated August 29, 2011).  My specific questions are:
1. Should I respond?
2. If I respond, do I respond to Masterfile or NCS?
3. In my response, what should I include and what would be a good offer to place?

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Respond by telling them, that you have retained counsel, and all communications must go thru them..Masterfile is a bit more complicated than GI and may take a little longer to get everything in order.

[mnp2081]

Should I reply to Masterfile, NCS or both?

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

I "think" and perhaps someone else will chime here, that if you contact NCS and inform them, they will in turn have to contact masterfile, and basically send it back to them. Remember this is a "claim" and not a "debt" Again I "think" NCS has no standing to collect on a claim. They do afterall have to abide by “fair debt collection practices statutes” lest you can contact the FTC.. Have a look at the following link, theres some good info here in regards to dealing with the collection agency..

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

Hope this helps!

[classaction01]

Sue Oscar for Malpractice. He likes to take money and never do the work! See my other post. Oscar does this to many people. If you can't do the work Oscar, don't advertise it and don't steal other people money. They have enough stress with Stock image companies. They don't need to be scammed by some slimy lawyer! Being busy is not an excuse for negligent representation and theft!

Another advice is not to worry. You will be just fine. Just as hundreds of others that did not pay. Regardless of what you do.

Write your own letters next time. Don't admit to anything. Offer $200 which you will never pay becasue they will never take it. To NCS say that you dispute the claim and will only talk to Masterfile. They can't ruin your credit record. Problem solved. Move on with your business and life. Statute of limitation is 3 years. Nothing will happen. Don't worry. Sleep well. Go to the gym.. workout.. eat vitamins.. travel.. enjoy life.. do your business, make money, be profitable...

[Matthew Chan]

There is one thing I have to say.....

You have some big kahunas to come to these forums and tell people to sue Oscar for malpractice?  And accusing him of taking people's money?  Are you freaking kidding me to do it here of all places? He and I are both friends and business partners. Do you think I would knowingly be associated with anyone who engages in fraud and scamming? Do you not think I would not get wind of this?

Are you such an idiot to not know you can't go making unsubstantiated claims without risk of some kind of response?  You do know that if we wanted to, we could track your IP address, ISP, and email address to find out your true identity?

Are you trying to provoke a fight with us?  Make a name for yourself? Stir the pot, or what?

I hate getting nasty but you are making some outrageous and personally insulting statements here.

Matthew

Sue Oscar for Malpractice. He likes to take money and never do the work! See my other post. Oscar does this to many people. If you can't do the work Oscar, don't advertise it and don't steal other people money. They have enough stress with Stock image companies. They don't need to be scammed by some slimy lawyer! Being busy is not an excuse for negligent representation and theft!

[DOCSRB]

Thanks for this forum!!  

I thought this of major interest to our members as this purported trademark infringement is on the boxed words, "TOP SECRET" that all of us have seen many times in our life.  My research proves it is a trademarked name.  Our associates website didn't;t even have the full word on their site, just 90% of the word "SECRET" was showing.  Now they are hounding me, and it is not even my site, but I am listed on the site as a Director.

I tried to explain this to them several times, but they won;t go away.  they say I am still liable, even though they sent a certified letter to an address we closed down in 2008.  (I'm privy to the fact that they need not send a letter)

My letter:
I am back in the office today, and am happy to provide the following information.

I've done some additional checking on the origin of the image, and have found out very little.  The last registration for this company that I am familiar with was through President Craig XXXX in Quebec Canada, and he is now deceased.  Many years ago someone had it incorporated in Nevada, but I am not sure whom, as I've never been officially on any charter.

I am a volunteer for the organization, and have never been officially on any Board, or served in capacity other than a non-paid consultant.  None of our current people are privy to where it is actually registered, but definitely not by me, and definitely not in the USA.  I have never been involved with the registration, payment for services, web design, or current hosting, nor is my name in any way registered with it.  I actually have no knowledge where and by whom is paying for and hosting the site.

I had seen the image in which you speak, and from what I hear, the web group in India denies is being the same as yours, and it is only partially displayed.

Also, we closed the address you said you sent a certified letter to, back in 2008, and really don't have an official address in the USA.  Our Mr. Ash is not officially on any board and states that the site is ran by a firm in India.

Please advise, as I would rather pay my attorney's to handle this rather than engage in a frivolous lawsuit.

Any input would be interesting...
Thanks all!

[Extortion-Victim-No Longer]

Have faith in Oscar & Matthew...they are by far the most experienced specialists in this area of anyone out there! Oscar was busy when I hired him but I kept my faith & when he put the gas on - it was done & gone! The best thing I could have done...It is a very upsetting and disturbing experience to be the recipient of the dreaded demand letter...There is an abundance of valuable information on this website and it is the ultimate site for which to educate yourself!!! Good luck... 

[SoylentGreen]

DOCSRB,

Thanks for your post.

Does your adversary say that it's an actual image (picture) that they copyrighted, or is it simply the words "Top Secret"?
What evidence did you find that it's trademarked?  In which country is it trademarked?
I take it that your company's in Canada, the trademark is in the US, and the web development is in India?

Is the trademark owner in a silimar industry as your company?
Was your company also using the word "top secret" as an actual trademark, or was it just part of the web design?


S.G.

[DOCSRB]

Thanks Gentlemen!

I'll just provide a copy of what I sent them back.  We have a small international membership organization which collects small membership fees.  I do not think we even took in the $3900 they requested?  It may not be the right response, but I laid it out.

My letter:
I am back in the office today, and am happy to provide the following information.

I've done some additional checking on the origin of the image, and have found out very little. The last registration for this company that I am familiar with was through President Craig XXXX in Quebec Canada, and he is now deceased. Many years ago someone had it incorporated in Nevada, but I am not sure whom, as I've never been officially on any charter.

I am a volunteer for the organization, and have never been officially on any Board, or served in capacity other than a non-paid consultant. None of our current people are privy to where it is actually registered, but definitely not by me, and definitely not in the USA. I have never been involved with the registration, payment for services, web design, or current hosting, nor is my name in any way registered with it. I actually have no knowledge where and by whom is paying for and hosting the site.

I had seen the image in which you speak, and from what I hear, the web group in India denies is being the same as yours, and it is only partially displayed.

Also, we closed the address you said you sent a certified letter to, back in 2008, and really don't have an official address in the USA. Our Mr. Ash is not officially on any board and states that the site is ran by a firm in India.

Please advise, as I would rather pay my attorney's to handle this rather than engage in a frivolous lawsuit.

[SoylentGreen]

DOCSRB,

ohhh... this is a Masterfile deal.
I thought that this was some other "trademark" thing, not an image copyright/license infringement.

For you personally/professionally, your best move at this time is to forward Masterfile's correspondence to someone in charge.
The more that you engage Masterfile, the more that they'll' assume that you're "the guy".

However, I should warn you that they likely won't buy the line that "the owner's dead, "we don't know who owns the company", etc.
They are quite persistent, and it's not very difficult to determine who's in charge of a company whether it's incorporated or not.

You'd probably have to provide the forum with more information if folks here are to advise further.

S.G.

[DOCSRB]

Thanks again.....  We have a membership organization, and the folks that run it in Denmark, say that the membership fees they took in wouldn't even pay the fines they want, about $3800.00  The site for the US part of the organization expired back in 2005, and we got a new us domain back in 2010 but never hosted a new site on it.

The websit re in question is registered and hosted in Denmark I believe. We have several people that are Directors is various countries, 4 or 5 of them.

As a matter of principle, I would rather fight it, and if I lose, then they can worry about getting blood out of a turnip.  It is something I haven't had control of since about 2005.  The problem I see is it has this listed on the site as my duties of the executive director........"Board Duties: Communication, leadership development and educational consultant."

I have different site I've used for this particular service we offer, since 2006.  The company was originally set up as a nonprofit membership organization for the protective services, and most are Military, Former Military, Security and Police.  I believe the Nevada corporation dissolved about 2003 or so, and it has more or less Been dormant at that time.

I am partially disabled, and stayed on as USA Director ofter turning it over back in 2005.

Thanks again for the help.  (I have sent an e-mail to the attorney that runs this for guidance)
SB

[SoylentGreen]

DOCSRB,

If you aren't getting paid anyway, I'd just quit.
If MF writes to you again, it's not your company, and you don't work there.
Problem solved...

S.G.

[wildorchid]

To say on this forum that you just need to talk to them and tell them your story is a joke. They don't care! Their only response is they don't care how you came by the image they are still suing YOU! Example: I received a template for website design offered on a site specifically for website designers. When I used a picture from the template on my website I was sent a bill from Masterfile for $4300.00 saying I had copyright infringed by using the image on my website. When I supplied the source where I had legitimately obtained the image I was told that was between me and the site, but that they were going to sue me for using the image anyway. I believe they purposely put their images out there as a trap for people to use and they have designed special software that searches the internet to then find these images so they can charge outrageous sums for them. It is legalized extortion!

[SoylentGreen]

I agree with wildorchid that giving them an explanation usually doesn't accomplish much.
That's because companies such as Masterfile just want the money.  That's it.

If you bought the template from Template Monster, they will usually reimburse the stock image company for you.

Much as I dislike them, I don't think that Masterfile puts their images out there to trap people.
But some other companies are suspected of doing such things.

S.G.