Collection phone calls from collection lawyers

[rock]

United States Telephone Recording Laws
http://www.callcorder.com/phone-recording-law-america.htm#The US Federal Law

from the website:
The U.S. federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call.

Recording Telephone Calls with Parties in Different Jurisdictions
Federal law may apply when the conversation is between parties who are in different states, although it is unsettled whether a court will hold in a given case that federal law "pre-empts" state law, but either state may choose to enforce its own laws. Therefore it is better to err on the side of caution when recording an interstate telephone call.

I would NEVER enter in a legal conversation with a collection lawyer over the phone.
I will not get upset, and tell my caller:
1-I do not know who is calling, (even if it is the IRS) and I will not answer any question.
2- I ask them to send me everything in writing by regular mail ( and not email)
3- I will NOT give them my legal name, address, email address, or any information, they could be SCAMMERS
(it is there problem to figure that)
4- I will not volunteer any information
5- I will ask them not to call me anymore
6 -IT IS MY RIGHT

if they keep calling me, and harrassing me, I will file a complaint with the attorney general , I will make it a public record for everyone to use as possible class action lawsuit.

[Canada Bob]

I've seen this written a few times that postal mail is preferred over email.  Not sure why this is - is it because emails may sometimes get spammed or are emails still admissible when it comes to court?  Thus far I've used a combination of email and letter when corresponding to Getty as they have also done the same.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

why make it easier on them to extract your money? let them purchase paper and stamps and go thru the motions, why make it easier on them? I would promptly cut off any telephone, email communications..

[Mulligan]

why make it easier on them to extract your money? let them purchase paper and stamps and go thru the motions, why make it easier on them? I would promptly cut off any telephone, email communications..

Plus 1 and 100% agreement. Make the bastards put everything in writing and on paper and mailed to you via good old snailmail.

[Matthew Chan]

Postal mail carries more psychological, symbolic, and legal "weight" because it takes more effort to send.  Additionally, It is officially recognized as legal communication. This is why lawyers and courts use them in matters of serious communication.

The "package" of your message and words often matters to great effect. But the user has to know how to use it.

I've seen this written a few times that postal mail is preferred over email.  Not sure why this is - is it because emails may sometimes get spammed or are emails still admissible when it comes to court?  Thus far I've used a combination of email and letter when corresponding to Getty as they have also done the same.

[SoylentGreen]

Getty always refuses to forward proof of its claims.
Therefore, would anyone care to to explain to me in detail what you're gaining by talking with them?
I really don't see any point to all these "emails" and "letters".

S.G.

[Jerry Witt (mcfilms)]

Great point SG. I think most people are looking for "closure." They don't want this open claim hanging over their head. But the prudent thing to do is make it very clear what you want from them, and what you are willing to do and then that's it. Further communication could simply be met with, "I was clear what I required from you and until you provide it we have nothing to discuss." End. Of. Story.

[Matthew Chan]

For some reason, there are people who feel compelled to answer the phone everytime it rings. And likewise, cannot hang up the phone without the approval of the other party.

It is true that all this talk about recording phone calls seems to be a waste of time. However, this all started with my comments to Glen Carner and his "new" phone program.

I tend to agree, just hanging up is the way to go.

I also agree with Jerry that at some point, you have to draw a line in the sand.

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

S.G.
I completely understand where you are coming from but I will tell you why I responded to my letters, even after reading the forums and knowing it would go nowhere.  There have been a total of three letters sent and now I’m completely done until my requests are met. That is unless someone writes me asking me to give them some serious butt hurt like Timmy did with Matthew.

I responded to their letters to:
1)   Show this was an innocent and non-willful infringement (if they owned the rights to the images)
2)   Request proof they owned the image and had the right to make a claim.
3)   Offer what I felt was a reasonable settlement (Providing they gave me proof)
4)   Tell them I consider the matter closed and have nothing more to say until you send me the requested proof.
I did all these steps to show, should they be stupid enough to take me to court that I have been fair, reasonable  and tried to settle the matter but GI has refused  to negotiate and just crossed their arms, stomped their foot  and cried “I want my money”

Everyone needs to decide what they want to do for themselves but for me I thought if they should try to take me to court they could say I ignored their letters and failed to respond in any way, it might look badly on me to the court.  Now I can say here is my solid proof showing this was innocent infringement, here are my reasonable requests for proof, here is my settlement counter offer and GI has refused to provide anything to me except threaten escalation. 

In light of the trolling cases of late where the courts have scolded the plaintiff attorneys for using the courts for business gain rather than true justice and if the image in question should be the one of the images Getty actually has register properly, innocent infringement usually brings about a 200.00 fine.  I don’t think too many district courts will be happy having their time wasted over a 200.00 case.  I would hope any possibility of attorney fees would be thrown out since I have made it clear I will talk and try to settle if they provided proof.  I just will not pay an unreasonable amount.

Again, I completely understand the way you feel S.G. and would tend to agree but I don’t think ignoring it, at least at first is the way to go.

Getty always refuses to forward proof of its claims.
Therefore, would anyone care to to explain to me in detail what you're gaining by talking with them?
I really don't see any point to all these "emails" and "letters".

S.G.

[Matthew Chan]

I don't think anyone is advocating dead silence or outright ignoring the letters.  There is a middle ground somewhere.  Mine stopped at the 2nd letter and that was that. It was never escalated.

But there are some people who want to keep the dialog going with the rationale that talking about this will make riding out 3 years easier. Whatever, to me it becomes a waste of time at some point.

IN the end, everyone gets to choose what is best for them.

[SoylentGreen]

Good discussion.  Whatever works for each individual is fine, of course.

I guess that if somebody's coming after me in a legal way, wants money and won't give me any proof, then all bets are off.
One doesn't have to worry about looking good in the courts eyes, as Getty's already done the worst thing that you can do when demanding a settlement.
Without proof, I wouldn't offer a cent... and why should I?

The onus isn't on me to investigate somebody else's accusations, for example.
If they can't prove anything, and they just say "pay" in each letter, then it's just going into the shredder. lol

S.G.

[Peeved]

Good discussion.  Whatever works for each individual is fine, of course.

I guess that if somebody's coming after me in a legal way, wants money and won't give me any proof, then all bets are off.
One doesn't have to worry about looking good in the courts eyes, as Getty's already done the worst thing that you can do when demanding a settlement.
Without proof, I wouldn't offer a cent... and why should I?

The onus isn't on me to investigate somebody else's accusations, for example.
If they can't prove anything, and they just say "pay" in each letter, then it's just going into the shredder. lol

S.G.

YEP! I however am saving them for souvenirs or perhaps to help Mulligan along with his Expose!
 

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

This is a good discussion, and I like hearing other people views and ideas.

I agree 100% and in my response I did tell them that even if they should accept my offer ($75.00) it was contingent on them providing they sent me a "copy of the signed contract between you and the artist transferring copyright and giving you exclusive rights to the image as you have stated in your letter."

Without proof, I wouldn't offer a cent... and why should I?

[Mulligan]

YEP! I however am saving them for souvenirs or perhaps to help Mulligan along with his Expose!
 

Oh my God, Peeved, tell me you're not saving paper for me because the file of evidence and correspondence and commentaries and unsent letters and nasty satires I've written for my expose is already more than an inch thick!

A book and movie may well be in the offing here:

"Mulligan's Guide on How to Spend Your First Three Retirement Years Messing with Copyright Trolls or How I Learned to Turn Stress and Anger into Sweet Payback and Legal Retaliation Against Digital Evil Doers Who Would Suck Money Out of Innocent Mom and Pop Webmasters!"

Starring Christopher Walken as Mulligan
With Johnny Reid "John" Edwards as McCormack

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Actually, after I finished the last post I thought I would just go ahead and share the letter I sent.  Perhaps someone who just got a letter can use it as a reference to help them if they choose to respond to GI. 

 Okay, I think I need your help BuddhaPi.  Is there a way to insert a word doc here so that it keeps its formatting?  I will post the letter once I figure out how.