Mulligan,
Your response has moved me.
1. I am glad people are learning and appreciate the education aspect of ELI. Oscar has done an excellent job providing and teaching the legal arguments of our side. I have endeavored to teach the power of community, open commentary, symbolism, powerful web presence, teamwork, loyalty, commitment to a cause, unity, transparency, and authenticity.
2. Both Oscar and I had media exposure experience. We both have been on local TV, written articles, been written about, etc. before we even met. When we came together to work together, it was very easy to discuss media & PR strategy despite the fact we faced a media industry who had far more dollars and staff than Oscar and I did. Over time, the entire ELI Defense Team understands the concept of media and every team member has appeared and made their presence known in media.
3. Oscar and I agreed early on to play it straight, educate, and put our personal and professional reputations on the line. We did it to lead by example and hopefully inspire people to step up since talk is cheap. Actions speak much louder than words. I am gratified that our actions has attracted those people who want to associate with us and support what we do.
4. I am glad there is a "home among friends" feeling. I have endeavored to give everyone as much room as possible to express themselves and participate in ways they feel comfortable. If that means crazy memes, fine. If that means, some gallows humor, fine. If that means, in-depth research and digging, fine. If that means, just hanging out and shooting the breeze, fine. The ELI website is supposed to make victims and those that support our position feel safe. Notice how "the other side" rarely dare come into our community and spout their propaganda? They would never survive the onslaught. You notice that fewer and fewer people are legally threatening ELI compared to a couple years ago? That is why the ELI Defense Team exists. There is power and strength in community. You will note that each member offers and contribute something unique. I don't delegate. I let people fill in holes in ELI that need filling. I also let people create niches and explore ideas that ELI has not considered before.
I loved your well thought out responses. Thanks so much.
I come back and will continue to come back because of the people here on the forum. With the exception of my education in the school of hard knocks, I've never learned so much from a single source as I have from this forum. And I continue to learn more on most visits to ELI.
I also feel an obligation to stick around to help others who get their first letter from Getty Images or their first letter from that copyright troll and collection agent Timothy B. McCormack (who is way over his head when it comes to writing standard English form letters that aren't full of third grade errors) and his apparently semi-literate band of paralegals like Ashanti A. Taylor who have never noticed all the goofy and careless mistakes in the payment extraction form letters coming out of McCormack Intellectual [sic] Property Law.
Getty, McCormack, and his ilk cause a LOT of pain to honest and thoughtful human beings who in most likely 99% of the cases innocently use thumbnail images. By blustering and threatening and twisting outdated copyright laws, Getty, McCormack, and their band of minimum wage goons have undoubtedly caused many sleepless nights, if not panic attacks and worse. I consider behavior that affects fellow human beings in such a negative way an unconscionable moral crime, and I've made it part of my life's work to never let up on these foul creatures until they disappear back into the sewers from which they crawled, slimy and covered with shit and reeking of greed and lust for money they haven't earned by the sweat of honest labor.
I'm also here because I admire Matt and Oscar's courage and integrity. When one finds jewels like Matt and Oscar hosting a public service website like ELI, it become an obligation to help keep those jewels polished so they can reflect light into the grim darkness that composes the world of image copyright extortion.
I'm here because I admire Robert's humor and his passion for the task of stopping these extortion letters and exposing and publicizing those who send them.
I'm here because SG keeps me grounded and focused on learning more about copyright law and its proper application to image cases.
I'm here because Jerry stays on an even keel and succinctly provides some of the best advice available for new letter recipients.
I'm here because of Greg's sense of right and wrong, and the white fire he has stoked in himself to put an end to what the trolls are doing.
I'm here because Peeved brings a smile to my face with her comments and observations and contributions.
So, yes, Matt, I'll come back.
I'll come back because one always comes back to places that feel like home.
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