new copyright thug to add to the list?

[shammalamma]

Got this letter and subsequent invoice after removing a few fish thumbnails that were taken from government web sites.  They were low quality and for educational purposes of fishes we stock.  We made no money as a result of his photos.  They only served to support a description of the species.  This was not an intentional theft or misrepresentation of authorship for financial gain.  It was simply a mistake that was remedied when we were notified of our error.   

[mdc2727]

Got a new letter from Mustoe yesterday..Same old stuff..More threats and now giving me the option to pay $500 in January and $500 in February..will try and share on here soon..

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Please do share the letter with us, I'd love nothing more than to have a nice little collection from this ass hat..

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Here's a post I made in my Experiement Against Getty thread using cranky fish's Court Opinion he posted, you all may want to include this bit in any repiels to Mustoe.

While reading the posts in another thread I came across something I thought was very interesting. A post by cranky fish where he cited a Federal District Court opinion on a case contain something I thought was interesting. While citing the history and the facts of the case the court made a reference to the "Extortion Letter" that was initially sent out and made this comment about it.

This Court must be very careful to treat all attorneys with courtesy and not launch missiles. The Court, however, finds a portion of the letter from the Kansas attorney to be frankly disturbing. No person, especially an attorney, should be even mentioning a possible criminal prosecution in an attempt to collect money in a civil dispute. Extortion is theft by threat if a person obtains property of another by threatening to accuse anyone of a criminal offense. This is not only the common law but is a statute in South Dakota. See SDCL 22-30A-4(2). It is also a specific grounds for disbarment in South Dakota.

I would like to thank cranky fish for posting this district court's opinion as I am going to modify all of my complaint letters I have ready and waiting should I receive a letter from Mr. McCormack and also the complaint letters I have ready to go against Getty images and Lisa Wilmer to include this Federal District Court opinion.

For those of you who are writing complaint letters I would recommend including this in your letter in some fashion and here is the link to the entire opinion provided by cranky fish.

http://www.sdbar.org/Federal/1998/1998dsd033.htm

[whiteoak]

Here is an interesting excerpt from the Dakotah, Inc. v. Tomelleri, 1998 DSD  Shows fish artist Tomelleri  was doing this 15 years ago and continues it today:

"Tomelleri not only threatened litigation in the District of Kansas, but implied that Dakotah and others, including retailers of Dakotah products and perhaps George White (then president of Dakotah) personally were subject to criminal prosecutions if they did not comply with Tomelleri's demands."

"CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS"....WHAT AN A$$HOLE

http://www.sdbar.org/Federal/1998/1998dsd033.htm

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Here is an interesting excerpt from the Dakotah, Inc. v. Tomelleri, 1998 DSD  Shows fish artist Tomelleri  was doing this 15 years ago and continues it today:

"Tomelleri not only threatened litigation in the District of Kansas, but implied that Dakotah and others, including retailers of Dakotah products and perhaps George White (then president of Dakotah) personally were subject to criminal prosecutions if they did not comply with Tomelleri's demands."

"CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS"....WHAT AN A$$HOLE

http://www.sdbar.org/Federal/1998/1998dsd033.htm

I'm generally not a spelling or grammar nazi, however I do enjoy good search engine results..with that being said I feel compelled  ( as it is my duty to make a few cringe every once in awhile) to make a slight modification /correction..

"CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS"....copyright troll Joseph Tomelleri what an asshole!

[mdc2727]

  Nice one!! Will scan letter and send it soon..

[whiteoak]

BuddhaPi,
I just love your perspectives and rants on ELI.  You give us all hope and help make dealing with these Extortionistic "Asshats" somewhat bearable.  The world needs more BuddhaPi's!

[mdc2727]

Latest letter:

[whiteoak]

"Mr Tomerelli is done making offers to you so this is your last opportunity to resolve this short of filing suit."

......Very professional and a good grasp of the English language.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

"Mr Tomerelli is done making offers to you so this is your last opportunity to resolve this short of filing suit."

......Very professional and a good grasp of the English language.

@Whiteoak, it's hard to be professional and use proper English with one's head buried in ones ass...just sayin...Steven Mustoe also has a way with treating people with respect..

[Mulligan]

Oscar, is it normal for intellectual property attorneys to be poorly schooled in formal grammar and traditional syntax associated with the English language?

I thought at first it was just copyright troll and collection agent Timothy B. McCormack and his office full of illiterates who sent out error-filled settlement demand letters, but at this point in my law education from the University of ELI, I'm now starting to think that most lawyers playing the copyright extortion game either can't write English or else have so little respect for the intelligence of the people they're sending their letters to that they don't bother to even try to write as if they had at least finished high school.

What's really absurd is that most of the letters I've seen are boilerplate form letters, anyway. You'd think college educated extortionists pulling down 40% or more of a settlement fee for sending out a form letter would at least have enough pride to send out a professional one.

I know, I know. As my blushing bride of close to half a century always says, "Dear, you expect too much from lawyers. Stop being so old school. Stop expecting professional correspondence from an honest lawyer who's representing an honest client who in good faith wants to resolve a legitimate issue. In other words, get your head out of your ass, Mulligan, and go wash the dishes before you get all worked up into an ELI frenzy and end up shitting your pants again!"

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

I have a crush on Mrs Mulligan!

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

I think that there is a good case here for extortion, since Mustoe say that they WILL sue if the money is not paid by Feb 15th.  When it turns out he's bluffing I would call them on it and use the district court statement as a hammer and file complaints with the AG's office and with the Bar Association(s) he is a member of for using extortionist tactics to try and get money from you.

And should they sue I would file a counter suit for the same thing based on this opinion and push for sanctions or disbarment.

This Court must be very careful to treat all attorneys with courtesy and not launch missiles. The Court, however, finds a portion of the letter from the Kansas attorney to be frankly disturbing. No person, especially an attorney, should be even mentioning a possible criminal prosecution in an attempt to collect money in a civil dispute. Extortion is theft by threat if a person obtains property of another by threatening to accuse anyone of a criminal offense. This is not only the common law but is a statute in South Dakota. See SDCL 22-30A-4(2). It is also a specific grounds for disbarment in South Dakota.

[Oscar Michelen]

Mulligan - I taught the first year writing program at New York Law School for about 7 years and my first year law students would have been able to construct a better letter than this one. If you are going to send boilerplate letters, then all the more reason that they should be grammatically correct. You are only writing them once - take the time to proofread them, make sure they are accurate and properly written and then you never have to worry about it again.