Vincent K Tylor strikes again

[Matthew Chan]

It is easy for people to be self-righteous until they get smacked in the head. I promise you that some of these people will come running to ELI for help the minute they are on the receiving end of the stick.

Most people don't understand or appreciate what we do on ELI until they get a letter and start bouncing around dealing with non-ELI people.  What we do and share here is pretty unique.  People think it is all about any ol' lawyer responding to any ol' infringement claim.  People who think that will get TREATED and dealt with the very same way.

You have a mission you need to achieve defending against VKT.  Ignore the non-supporters who don't get it.  Stick to a powerful community and people who "get it". If you have attackers there, then stay away from there.  Stay here where you will get the support you need to defend your case.

I'm getting slammed up here in Vermont.  http://vtdigger.org/2014/06/16/vermont-business-owner-says-hit-copyright-troll/
Check out the comments

[Peeved]

Agree with Matthew and I was thinking the very same thing regarding the "non-supporters" and as Matthew put it "attackers". I hope that none of them ever "accidentally" rear-ends anyone one day, causing only a scratch of damage, only to have the other party claim "injury" and sue them for big bucks! Ya...that karma lady can be a real bitch! That's right..I said "LADY".

Also agree that those "non-supporters" will never "get" the fact that "trolling" is a BUSINESS PLAN and has little to do with the protection of intellectual property. "Non-supporters" also do not "get" that this forum is not about being "against" the right to protect ones intellectual property. Quite a few ELI contributors are artists and photographers themselves, but I digress...

[lucia]

What does it take to be allowed to comment on vtdigger.com?  I left a comment that was factual and did not flame any party there.  It has not shown up, while others continue to post rude things one after another.

Same thing happened to me.  I posted descriptions of where VKT's images appear and so on.

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

I agree with Matthew's comments.  Stick around as there is not only support here but a wealth of knowledge as well.

[Oscar Michelen]

Peggy: I will review the info you sent me Monday and get back to you asap. I also could not post a comment on the site btw

[Matthew Chan]

Don't make this more difficult than it has to be.  You are caught up in terminology and overthinking this.  Anyone can give anyone else money for any reason.  Having said that, if you want to have people contribute money to you to help in defeating VKT, this is not a complicated procedure. It can be as simply as sharing your email address for Paypal contributions.  However, to actually receive contributions, there are other things you will likely have to do.

Most of the people on ELI know you have a legitimate lawsuit against you filed by VKT. You have had a newspaper article written about you and your case.  You have written blog posts about your position and your case. You have laid a lot of the groundwork to credibly show that you are not soliciting money trivially or without reason.

Asking for financial help is probably one of the most difficult things normally self-sufficient people with pride can do.  Trust me, I know.  I don't like asking for help. It isn't easy but sometimes you have to be open to allow others to help you.  If you want someone to help you, your job is to NOT make it complicated.  Make it simple and make it compelling.

Tell people your situation and story, lay out your case, tell people what you are trying to achieve and what the money will be used for.  Seeing VKT get defeated would make many people happy.  Paypal is one of easiest ways to transfer money to another person on the Internet.

If and when you decide to not overthink and overcomplicate this, you will post such information, your case, your story, etc. on your blog/website and then invite others who may be interested to do so.  It isn't like you will be raising tens of thousands of dollars.  You will be lucky to get a few hundred dollars contributed to help you.  This little bit of money does not even come close to what you are reading and thinking.

Don't make it hard for people to help you. And give people a compelling reason to do so.  Find a way to give back in exchange for contributions.  It can be regular updates, personal emails, gratitude, etc.  Using creativity and imagination can go a long way.

Thanks so much for your support, everyone.  The case is progressing.  Matthew suggested we set up a legal defense fund.  I haven't found much information about IRS requirements or forms.  This seems like overkill - not really a fit for me (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_defense_fund).  I guess we could just set it up on paypal.  Any suggestions?

[lucia]

Peggy: I will review the info you sent me Monday and get back to you asap. I also could not post a comment on the site btw

It turns out vtdigger requires commenters to include both first and last names. Their stated reason is that this makes things more civil. It's not clear to me that it would. Among other things, I don't know how they can check whether someone uses their real name.  But if you only wrote 'oscar', that could be an issue. (That said, you usually use your full name. So, who knows?)

[JLorimer]

I used my full name.  No dice.  I had a friend try as well.  He used his full name and left an even simpler comment.  Still no dice.  It is nice to see yours got through lucia.

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

Lucia's comment was not the only ELI user that was able to post...I have very strong suspicions that Martin Mcneil is also an ELI visitor and user..

[lucia]

I had trouble posting this morning. I wanted to share a bit of response to the vtdigger site

she should read the 9th circuit decision regarding willful infringement and product and having to go to where the plaintiff has a business or resides or does business.

Do you mean she should read this:

"The Ninth Circuit’s model jury instructions on the law of willfulness define a willful infringement as one where the plaintiff proves the following two elements: “1. The defendant engaged in acts that infringed the copyright; and 2. the defendant knew that those acts infringed the copyright.” 

http://onellp.com/blog/ninth-circuit-jury-instructions-on-willful-copyright-infringement-need-updating/

If that's the 9th circuits definition of "willful" the defendants infringement is not willful and the judge and jury might knock the assessement down to $200. It's not even willful if we go to the stricter definition in the linked article-- because getting and from a site that is one of many tat advertises it as licensed for free is not 'reckless disregard' or 'willful blindness'. 

why were they able to find it still archived on her site 2 years later?

I'm guessing. But reading first: note that the image listed as (2) cases in VKT's complaint is really one image hosted at typepad.  It's very easy for a user to think they have deleted an image in a typepad post when they have not deleted it.  A typical user will select the image, click "delete" and believe they have deleted it.  As far as most Typepad users are aware, they have deleted. Unfortunately, Typepad programmers have organized things to be confusing:
See:
http://help.typepad.com/delete-manage-images.html

[JLorimer]

From what I have read, it still seems like Hawaii is the wrong place to file.  Others here know better than I do.  I think it needs to be filed in your state though.

[lucia]

Ordinarily. But there is that Washington Shoe case in the 9th circuit. It's only precedential value is in the 9th circuit-- but that's where Hawaii is.  So, the argument is because infringement was willful (due to images still being on Typepad) they venue can change to the copyright holder. That might work in Hawaii where the copyright holder works, it probably would not have worked in California.

It's going to be important for Peggie's lawyers to have a look at the argument in the recent shoe case and also point out that the links still being on Typepad do not constitute willful infringement because Peggy took down her links, but Typepad is the one who did not take down the links based on her request. Note: the Facebook don't look like a separate hosted image. That looks like a hyperlink to the Typepad server. So there was nothing to take down from Facebook because nothing was there.

He'll need other arguments for why any violation was not aimed at WA, but in particular, the fact that Typepad has this weird screwy system will need to be brought forward early rather than later.

[Matthew Chan]

Yes, ELI does excellent organic SEO!  The nice thing is everything we do Google absolutely loves because we don't resort to bullshit trickery, black-hat or grey-hat tactics.  No need to adjust and change how we do things unlike so many questionable SEO operations.  I have always insisted on focusing on producing, generating, and encouraging relevant and legitimate discussions and the content comes naturally.

There is nothing forced about ELI's discussions.  They simply ebb and flow organically depending on what is going on and Google loves us and rewards us for it.

What I will absolutely take credit for in 2008 is making the decision to launch an open discussion forum where Oscar and I did not elevate ourselves and write articles for others comment on.  We are one of the many users here engaging in open conversation.

I know many people would prefer if we wrote definitive articles on the ELI blog but the fact of the matter is, it is far easier to write and generate organic, relevant content this way, than writing articles.

And if someone wants to take a screenshot of my post, let's make sure we get the ENTIRE context captured, not a quote fragment or this one reply post.  And to those people who are trying to shut me up, I have a First Amendment right to share my opinions with everyone.  If someone doesn't like our content, they need to stop visiting and reading ELI.  Simple as that.

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

If someone doesn't like our content, they need to stop visiting and reading ELI.  Simple as that.

And stop doing unethical things, then would wouldn't have to report on their actions.