ExtortionLetterInfo Forums
ELI Forums => Getty Images Letter Forum => Topic started by: steve2012 on February 12, 2013, 04:09:24 PM
-
Hello again ELI Community,
This is Steve, with a current update on my situation with Getty Images. Just to recap from my previous thread, I received the Getty extortion letter in November, replied back indicating I got the image from a template, I am in the middle of bankruptcy 13 and I cannot afford to pay their demands of $840.00. Well, I finally get a reply back from Getty Images, indicating they want documented legal proof that my company was going through a bankruptcy “dissolution”. It is not a dissolution, or my company LLC being terminated. It’s a standard “re-build” bankruptcy 13 case, with myself being the sole owner. The bankruptcy was not meant to dissolve the company.
I printed hardcopies of my bankruptcy documents (just the documents sating the case, not personal or payment information), and plan on mailing the package to them via certified mail. After this, I feel it’s a done deal. If they want to pursue it further, they should realize payment is not possible, due to the courts having me on a defined and set budget. I do not have an extra $840 dollars to put in their pocket!
Any thoughts on my game plan? I hope I am not working myself into a corner by supplying them to much information on my status. Also, I made my payment contribution to the ELI website lifeline. I would not know what to do without the assistance of this website and valuable contributors!
Thanks for your help!
Steve2012
-
I've not seen the bankruptcy paper work that you are offering them, but I would be careful that it does not contain information that will make it easier on them to continue to pursue you.
From everything I have seen, they are only in it for the money. They have no compassion. It is their business model to chase people. If your paperwork was not a re-organization but a closing of shop, I wouldn't be so worried. Look it over carefully. Give them no information they do not have. Part of their gameplan is phishing to help them pursue you later.
-
Personally I wouldn't send them jack, save the postage!! ( you're on a budget) I would reply that you do not need to nor are required to send them anything, but will gladly supply the documents in court... Thats the game they play, they won't supply proof of anything until it gets to court...it never goes to court.. they will either call you out, in whaich case you'll have to spend some time in court , or they won't, which is the likely scenario...
Better yet if you feel you need to respond, tell them the court records are public knowledge and they are free to go get them, you won't be supplying anything and the matter is considered closed...
-
It's stupid to provide them any of your information. Let it go. They won't do anything over 1 image.
-
Thanks Stinger, Robert and Mathew for your advice. Hell, your right, if they want further clarification of my situation, go view the supplied case number, its public record. Their implication that dissolution is required to cancel their demands really pissed me off. It made me want to supply something in my defense to ram down their throats. But your right, it they will not supply their proof, I will not either. Go dig for it! I would also think because of my situation, trying to pursue it could be a legal nightmare for Getty. As stated, if it goes to court (which WE all doubt it would go to court), I will supply the documents at that time. As far as I’m concern, I will state my case, and call it a done deal. I can deal with their bullshit for 3 years!
-
Well if you're that pissed, you might want to respond telling them the matters is closed, and if they continue to hound you, you will file complaints with the AG, etc...look at Greg Troys post which we refer to as "going Greg Troy on them" a complaint with the AG probably won't stop them, but they'll have to spend some time replying, and time is money in my eyes..
-
You read my mind Robert. I do intend to reply to them stating my Bankruptcy is public record, and will not supply any documents. If this is not sufficient, I can supply my documents in court. I strongly believe with my current Bankruptcy status and Court defined budget, will stand up in court for my defense for a reduction or dismissal. If anything, the court will drop it down to a $200 "slap on the wrist" payment, again because of my situation. Again, if it went to court.
I did review Greg Troy’s response, good stuff!! He’s an animal! :) Excellent advice, I will add filling a complaint with the AG if they continue to hound me.
Also, I enjoy your humor you inject on some of the postings. It help relieves the mental distress!
Thanks again Robert!
-
I concur with what the others that said and you don't need to provide Getty with anything. You have told your situation and it's up to them to prove there case. I would consider in addition to the AG that you file complaints with the BBB, the FTC as well as your Congressman and Senator. also if you live outside of Washington State file a complaint with your own States AG.
I am glad to see we're not going to take this lying down and going to fight back. Please keep us posted as to your progress
You read my mind Robert. I do intend to reply to them stating my Bankruptcy is public record, and will not supply any documents. If this is not sufficient, I can supply my documents in court. I strongly believe with my current Bankruptcy status and Court defined budget, will stand up in court for my defense for a reduction or dismissal. If anything, the court will drop it down to a $200 "slap on the wrist" payment, again because of my situation. Again, if it went to court.
I did review Greg Troy’s response, good stuff!! He’s an animal! :) Excellent advice, I will add filling a complaint with the AG if they continue to hound me.
Also, I enjoy your humor you inject on some of the postings. It help relieves the mental distress!
Thanks again Robert!
-
Thanks Greg for the excellent advice! I will file complaints with the BBB, FTC, my Congressman and my Senator. I don’t appreciate the strong arm tactics Getty is doing, especially when it was an honest mistake. I have read several posting on this forum on individuals being unemployed, lost their homes, assets, and barely making it in general. And when they tell Getty Images of their situation, Getty have no sympathy at all. I know in the corporate world its all about money, but PR goes along way. There are numerous websites that images can be obtained for a reasonable price. I HOPE Getty is shooting themselves in the foot, and go crashing down. I want to be a part of that! At first when I received the demand letter , I was passive and truthfully, scared shitless! Now, the more I think about it and the more I get involved, I get pissed off and want to put in my "two-cents" to stop their tactics.
-
I understand completely with your thoughts and sentiments and I'm glad to have you join the fight!
Thanks Greg for the excellent advice! I will file complaints with the BBB, FTC, my Congressman and my Senator. I don’t appreciate the strong arm tactics Getty is doing, especially when it was an honest mistake. I have read several posting on this forum on individuals being unemployed, lost their homes, assets, and barely making it in general. And when they tell Getty Images of their situation, Getty have no sympathy at all. I know in the corporate world its all about money, but PR goes along way. There are numerous websites that images can be obtained for a reasonable price. I HOPE Getty is shooting themselves in the foot, and go crashing down. I want to be a part of that! At first when I received the demand letter , I was passive and truthfully, scared shitless! Now, the more I think about it and the more I get involved, I get pissed off and want to put in my "two-cents" to stop their tactics.
-
ditto to the others...in fact, I've filed complaints against Getty and McCormack with the WA State AG office....stupid Getty tried calling our company to try to resolve our issue by settling for "editorial" rates...pssh....I'll fight them all the way through....I suggest you do the same. The more of us that stand up to them, the better. Very thankful for this site.
-
Great job and I'm glad to hear you're fighting back! Please keep us posted, especially let us know if the complaint letters make Getty back off.
ditto to the others...in fact, I've filed complaints against Getty and McCormack with the WA State AG office....stupid Getty tried calling our company to try to resolve our issue by settling for "editorial" rates...pssh....I'll fight them all the way through....I suggest you do the same. The more of us that stand up to them, the better. Very thankful for this site.
-
Thanx for the compliment, little jabs of humor go a long way, and after you're done with Getty or the 3 years SOL, you can begin to look at the whole thing a bit differently, and you too will see just how crazy and stupid these troll are.......we like to reference Greg " as "Freak Show" but animal certainly applies!
(http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111004221239/muppet/images/7/78/AN_004.jpg)
-
LOL!! Thanks for the support and advice. It's going to be a long and interesting 3 years!
-
Steve, actually the times goes very quickly once you drop the fear factor that Getty Images and its copyright troll and collection agent Timothy B. McCormack use so effectively on many people who don't do their homework to extract payments with their nasty invoicing scheme.
Once you realize it's just a big game of bluff and bluster, then the whole deal becomes quite tolerable and their various letters downright amusing. At least, that's been my experience for almost two years now.
-
I agree with you Mulligan, once you get over the initial shock and educate yourself it can actually come down right amusing. I really enjoyed drafting some of the letters I sent to my Getty pen pal Douglas Bieker, however I don't think that they like me much anymore as they have not written to me in almost a year now :'(
Steve, actually the times goes very quickly once you drop the fear factor that Getty Images and its copyright troll and collection agent Timothy B. McCormack use so effectively on many people who don't do their homework to extract payments with their nasty invoicing scheme.
Once you realize it's just a big game of bluff and bluster, then the whole deal becomes quite tolerable and their various letters downright amusing. At least, that's been my experience for almost two years now.
-
Thanks Mulligan and Greg. The “McCormick” hurdle could be a challenge on the nerves, when that day comes. I think the word “attorney” builds up a certain amount of anxiety. But with the knowledge I gathered from this forum (and the numerous postings on various websites on the Internet, ALL in agreement that this is extortion!), I’m ready to meet it head on. The more information I digest, the more I realize this is a big game of promoting fear to innocent users to pay up.
-
The way I handled that was when I let Getty know if they did not drop their claim within 14 days that I would file complaints to various agencies and included a copy of the complaint letter to let them know I was serious. I also told them to make sure they let Mr. McCormack know if they were going to pass my case along to him that I had a similar set of letters ready to go out complaining against him to all the same agencies in addition to the Washington, Oregon and Idaho State Bar associations where he is licensed to practice law. I also included a letter to NCS solutions should they decide to pass my claim along to them basically informing them that this was a claim and not a debt and not to contact me which eliminated them from the picture completely. I have not heard a peep from them since other than their responses to my complaint letters.
Thanks Mulligan and Greg. The “McCormick” hurdle could be a challenge on the nerves, when that day comes. I think the word “attorney” builds up a certain amount of anxiety. But with the knowledge I gathered from this forum (and the numerous postings on various websites on the Internet, ALL in agreement that this is extortion!), I’m ready to meet it head on. The more information I digest, the more I realize this is a big game of promoting fear to innocent users to pay up.
-
ahhh, see we just need to adjust your thinking!!! Don't think of Timmy McCormack as an attorney, just because his title says that doesn't mean much..In the grand scheme of things in my opinion he has very little legal experience except for Getty letters, which doesn't say much... you have to look at him as a glorified collection clerk, collection agency, or better yet as the asshat that he is.
-
Even if Timmy was the best attorney on the planet, it wouldn't mean much in this situation.
S.G.
-
You guys are right, he puts on his pants one leg at a time like everyone else. Greg, I like your strategy.... gives me food for thought on my next move.
-
Steve, letters from McCormack are nothing but smoke. Without providing proof of a right to sue, he knows nobody but a frightened fool is going to pay him a dime. Unfortunately, most people get a letter from a lawyer and they shit their pants before they reach for their wallet. This is a really dumb move because most of these payment extraction scheme lawyers are arrogant assholes playing their little games of aggression and bluff to drag down easy money.
So do NOT shit your pants when/if you get a letter from McCormack.
If you want to reply at all, tell him essentially "No proof, no money. And without proof, as far as I'm concerned this matter is closed and I will not communicate with you any further."
And then ignore any future letters (I got two more after telling them the above, the last one saying they were recommending litigation to Getty). I ignored both and haven't heard peep from McCormack's office of Getty Images for many months now.
At some point before my three year period runs out, I do expect to hear from Getty's collection agency, but I'll tell them they have no business contacting me over a claim that is NOT a debt and then that should be the total end of it.
Mainly, resist the very natural temptation to lose sleep or inner harmony over a letter from an asshat lawyer who makes his living off the pain and fear of fellow human beings. It's just a stupid piece of paper full of misrepresentations rather than a legitimate threat.
-
Well said Mulligan
-
Great advice Mulligan... Thanks!
-
Also recall that McCormack has never to our knowledge filed an actual complaint in court on Getty's behalf - he has been challenged repeatedly on this site by me and others and has even recently changed his boilerplate trolling demand after we broke it down, so Getty going to McCormack does not change the scenario at all.
-
I too got a second Getty letter. They had responded to my request for proof of their claim, their contractual rights to claim, their inflated dollar request etc etc. ALL smoke screens and bla bla bla. I decided I do not have the time or the "edge" or knowledge to respond again and continue to play the game. I contacted Oscar and asked him to prepare a letter to Getty. Wow, I am 150% ok maybe 200% relieved- ok 1000% happy I did it. He sent such a comprehensive, tight letter and truthfully I consider the issue a dead one and so does Oscar. I had one image Getty was asking for about $1200 for. Slam dunk. Thank you Oscar you did an Spectacular job!!!
-
Oscar is amazing! Glad to hear the outcome. I hope you will stick around the forums.
I too got a second Getty letter. They had responded to my request for proof of their claim, their contractual rights to claim, their inflated dollar request etc etc. ALL smoke screens and bla bla bla. I decided I do not have the time or the "edge" or knowledge to respond again and continue to play the game. I contacted Oscar and asked him to prepare a letter to Getty. Wow, I am 150% ok maybe 200% relieved- ok 1000% happy I did it. He sent such a comprehensive, tight letter and truthfully I consider the issue a dead one and so does Oscar. I had one image Getty was asking for about $1200 for. Slam dunk. Thank you Oscar you did an Spectacular job!!!
-
Sandy makes a really good point about not having the time or the "edge" to play Payment Extraction games with Getty and it's outside counsel, copyright troll, and collection agent Timothy B. McCormack of Seattle, Washington.
I personally have enjoyed almost every minute I've spent educating myself and then messing with the interns at Getty and the notorious "Mistress of Misrepresentation" paralegal at McCormack Law, Ashanti A. Taylor. But, at my advanced age, I have time on my hands and a lot more than a half century of anger built up over the various injustices in this country. The speculative invoicing and payment extraction schemes perpetrated by Getty Images and the other copyright trolls represents for me one of the most egregious injustices currently being used by greedy bastards to extort money from individual blogs and small business website owners.
So I enjoy spending time and energy doing what I can to help others fight these extortionists.
With that said, if I didn't have the time or the energy or the "edge" to play the game with these trolls, I would have paid Oscar in a heartbeat to handle the matter for me. Indeed, for most people who don't handle stress well (and getting threatening letters from the biggest image company in the world as well as from their "outside counsel" and collection agent can be plenty stressful) I think Oscar's letter program is the best solution available.
-
I did not enjoy writing my first letter because I felt too much anxiety. However, I enjoyed writing my second, and really enjoyed the 3rd. The third getty images letter was written in response to a letter that was probably automatically generated by some computer script that automatically sends things out to people who had not paid. It came from the generic collections department.
In contrast, the 2nd getty images letter at least mentioned they'd read my response to their first letter and was somewhat tailored.
In my response to the third letter, I suggested that their collection people contact the person assigned to my case to obtain the my response to their 2nd letter and requesting they provide the information I had requested in the 2nd letter. That person responded quickly telling me that my case was still being mulled over (or something to that effect.) That was roughly a year ago. I haven't heard since. I don't expect I will.
-
Lucia - I doubt you will, and three years from date of your first letter it will be over for good.