new copyright thug to add to the list?

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

I have a question..and several statements..regarding attorney Steven Mustoe and his bullshit comments...

Are there more pages to this letter he sent or is it just 1 single page as shown??

This asshat Steven Mustoe is sadly mistaken that the "only fact that matters is the unauthorized use of a copyrighted image"....actually the the fact that matters most is he has not even proven an infringement even occurred..

Look at this nice little sunfish by copyright troll Joseph Tomelleri



I ask Steven Mustoe, would this be an infringement, because i have this picture here??

Attorney Steven Mustoe is such a good IP attorney, that he has to supplement his business by also offering

Business & Corporate Law
Civil Practice
Contract Law
Criminal Law
Intellectual Property
Personal Injury Law
Real Estate Law

Jackoff of all trades...master of none...

http://www.mustoelawfirm.com/~mustlaw/steven-h-mustoe

oops I just infringed again, by posting his image!! I wonder if ELI will get another bogus takedown notice...

more to come, as attorney Steven Mustoe from Prairie Village Kansas has managed to get under my skin...

[mdc2727]

second page had invoice for settlement..Robert you are da man!!

My response to email and other responses....

Dear Mr. Mustoe:

Upon reviewing the photos in question I have came to the following conclusion in regards to the alleged copyright infringement:

·         There is no possible way that any damages could have been done towards Mr. Tomerellis works over the alleged photos. I see this month that you settled with an individual who was reselling his works and also printing them on goods. I understand your case for a a fairly large sum on this case. Our site made only around $12 in its full existence. Zero dollars came from the alleged photos in question.

·         I could not verify 2 of the alleged copyrights to said to have been registered via the link you sent me for research.

·         Once again if any of these alleged photos were used it was %100 innocent and with no mal intent whatsoever.

·         I also found these same works with no copyrights stated at the following sites that you may want to investigate. These are government sites with no statement of copyright on any page for the images.

 

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/fishing/forests/fishresources/mtbsno_warmwater.html

http://fishgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/fishingplanner/htm/Bluegill-Pumpkinseed-Sunfish.htm

http://www.kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/Fishing/Fish-ID-Gallery/GREEN-SUNFISH

http://www.fishesoftexas.org/taxon/lepomis-megalotis  (creative commons)

 

As stated before your value for the alleged images is nowhere close to market and I see no evidence of web images sold by Mr. Tomerelli for any amounts, only prints.  I feel like my previous offer was very reasonable, but I am willing to offer double that ($200.00) to settle this matter. The money can be sent today if you wish via PayPal.

Kind Regards,



His response..

The United States Congress disagrees with you.  17 USC Section 504 creates a minimum damage of $750 per image and a maximum of $30,000 plus attorneys fees.  So the recoverable damages in this case are probably 50 times the settlement offer.  You can take the risk of trial if you want.  But you also have until tomorrow to get the $1,000 to us if you want to resolve this for an amount far under the statutory fine amount.  Depositing the check into the mail by tomorrow meets the terms of the offer. 

 
My final emails ...

Dear Mr. Mustoe,

I have been advised to no longer correspond with you via email. Any correspondance you have for me please mail in letter form. All emails from your address will not be responded too.


Response

Your choice; as it is Mr. Tomelleri's choice to sue.  If the advice is from counsel, please provide the name of counsel. 

[Mulligan]

I wish a letter recipient would serve a troll like Mistletoe with a fat declaratory judgment. I bet that would take some of the steam out of his bullshit, as well as some money out of the pocket he's trying to so easily line.

Given what I've learned this past year and a half, I decided months ago that I was going to go the declaratory judgment route if copyright troll and collection agent Timothy B. McCormack or his paralegal Ashanti A. Taylor contacted me again.

I'd like nothing better in life than to see McCormack and his ilk get their nasty game slammed right smack back in their greedy, dishonorable, immoral, dishonest, and always smug ugly mugs.

Edit: Out of curiosity, I did a bit of searching at law.justia.com and couldn't find a single copyright related case in federal court ever handled by a lawyer with the name of Steven Mustoe nor could I find a case with the name Joseph Tomerelli.

[Oscar Michelen]

mdc: Be aware that he can only get the statutory fees he describes and legal fees if the images were properly registered with the Copyright Office at the time of the infringement and that even then a court can reduce penalties to $200 per infringement for innocent infringement cases.

[mdc2727]

Thank you for that Oscar..I think only one may possibly be registered, the other 2 look to be registered in a collection or book.

[Jerry Witt (mcfilms)]

The fact that is available on so many state government sites is interesting.

I wonder if you reached out to the webmaster of these sites if they would share with you how they obtained them. If they just got them from an image search, it may be nice to warn them that a troll is a'comin'. But wouldn't it be ironic if they got them from some sort of compilation CD-ROM for 50 bucks.

[mdc2727]

The link at the beginning of this post is from a forum and that webmaster actually got them from a cd, but still settled...

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

This letter has now been added to our scribd library:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/116954544/Copyright-Demand-letter-from-Attorney-Steven-H-Mustoe-on-behalf-of-artist-Joseph-R-Tomelleri

[mdc2727]

Thanks Robert..I am now using pacer also..Does it show suits that are newly filed. Even if plaintiff has not been served..

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Thanks Robert..I am now using pacer also..Does it show suits that are newly filed. Even if plaintiff has not been served..

Yes it does, but be warned, if you are not careful or diligent, it WILL get expensive!

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

And very quickly too

Thanks Robert..I am now using pacer also..Does it show suits that are newly filed. Even if plaintiff has not been served..

Yes it does, but be warned, if you are not careful or diligent, it WILL get expensive!

[jot]

The fact that is available on so many state government sites is interesting.

I wonder if you reached out to the webmaster of these sites if they would share with you how they obtained them. If they just got them from an image search, it may be nice to warn them that a troll is a'comin'. But wouldn't it be ironic if they got them from some sort of compilation CD-ROM for 50 bucks.

If the image in question is on government sites, whether it be municipal, county, state or federal, the image would be considered in the public domain and can not be in in copyright violation.  Capture screenshots of the image on the government website(s) and inform them of the fact the image is in the public domain the next time they try contacting you.  If they keep trying to press the matter, they will lose.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

The fact that is available on so many state government sites is interesting.

I wonder if you reached out to the webmaster of these sites if they would share with you how they obtained them. If they just got them from an image search, it may be nice to warn them that a troll is a'comin'. But wouldn't it be ironic if they got them from some sort of compilation CD-ROM for 50 bucks.

If the image in question is on government sites, whether it be municipal, county, state or federal, the image would be considered in the public domain and can not be in in copyright violation.  Capture screenshots of the image on the government website(s) and inform them of the fact the image is in the public domain the next time they try contacting you.  If they keep trying to press the matter, they will lose.

I'm not sure this is 100% accurate.. this site http://www.fishesoftexas.org/taxon/lepomis-megalotis credits the artist. I think if the image is created by the government entity, it is public domain, thats not to say that government site can't or don't use other images.. I would be weary of grabbing just anything from a government site.. refer to this thread for some PD image resources:

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/list-of-public-domain-stock-footage-companies/

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Agreed, it could be that the artist has given permission for the images to be used on the government sites or they have purchased licenses for the use.  Be as sure as you can of your facts before you respond.

The fact that is available on so many state government sites is interesting.

I wonder if you reached out to the webmaster of these sites if they would share with you how they obtained them. If they just got them from an image search, it may be nice to warn them that a troll is a'comin'. But wouldn't it be ironic if they got them from some sort of compilation CD-ROM for 50 bucks.

If the image in question is on government sites, whether it be municipal, county, state or federal, the image would be considered in the public domain and can not be in in copyright violation.  Capture screenshots of the image on the government website(s) and inform them of the fact the image is in the public domain the next time they try contacting you.  If they keep trying to press the matter, they will lose.

I'm not sure this is 100% accurate.. this site http://www.fishesoftexas.org/taxon/lepomis-megalotis credits the artist. I think if the image is created by the government entity, it is public domain, thats not to say that government site can't or don't use other images.. I would be weary of grabbing just anything from a government site.. refer to this thread for some PD image resources:

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/list-of-public-domain-stock-footage-companies/

[jot]

Agreed, it could be that the artist has given permission for the images to be used on the government sites or they have purchased licenses for the use.  Be as sure as you can of your facts before you respond.

The fact that is available on so many state government sites is interesting.

I wonder if you reached out to the webmaster of these sites if they would share with you how they obtained them. If they just got them from an image search, it may be nice to warn them that a troll is a'comin'. But wouldn't it be ironic if they got them from some sort of compilation CD-ROM for 50 bucks.

If the image in question is on government sites, whether it be municipal, county, state or federal, the image would be considered in the public domain and can not be in in copyright violation.  Capture screenshots of the image on the government website(s) and inform them of the fact the image is in the public domain the next time they try contacting you.  If they keep trying to press the matter, they will lose.

I'm not sure this is 100% accurate.. this site http://www.fishesoftexas.org/taxon/lepomis-megalotis credits the artist. I think if the image is created by the government entity, it is public domain, thats not to say that government site can't or don't use other images.. I would be weary of grabbing just anything from a government site.. refer to this thread for some PD image resources:

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/list-of-public-domain-stock-footage-companies/

I stand corrected.  I was under the impression that any images on a government web site were in the public domain from what I had read earlier and upon further examination, I have found out this is not true.  I suppose the only true way to be sure of using an image on a website that will not violate anyone's copyright is to only use photographs that were taken by yourself.

Think I am going to stick to posts about security settings and computer networks as that is where my expertise is.  Still learning all of this copyright law stuff and the more I learn, the more I feel I don't know.