My comments are inline.Matthew - my point in the other thread (Masterfile's 2012 lawsuits) was only meant to suggest that there might be a more appropriate thread - which you have supplied here. This way, if visitors are interested in this conversation they can read it here - if they are interested in Masterfile's 2012 lawsuits they can read the other thread without the distraction. Clearly, this is your forum, you make the rules, and I did not mean to overstep the boundaries or overstay my welcome.
Dieselfish, don't try to backpedal on your words. I am not illiterate nor is BuddhaPi. We spoke about your comments and he told me he didn't even know what I was referring to or your subsequent remark. This comes from a guy who obsesses over monitoring the ELI Forum. And he started at the very beginning of that thread to even figure out who I was referring to because my mention was fairly devoid of details about you and your case. Online discussions are dynamic and fluid, they are not quite so linear in a thread. My thoughts come from different experiences. I relayed an experience I recalled in making a point. Below is your quote. Clearly, you were "bothered" by my comment about you being "squirreled away". You also wanted to say I was not "insightful". I may not be insightful but I am certainly more insightful than YOU, my friend. I know passive aggressive when I see it and I am calling you on it.
You clearly wanted to steer my commentary in a different direction although it has been MONTHS since you posted anything. If you weren't bothered with my comments, you wouldn't have said anything. That is the problem with the way you look at your situation. You think your case is so darn important to the exclusion of other cases. Just like you took my passing reference to your story that I was going to dwell on it. It was just one passing story that you so kindly called attention to yourself.Hmm... as the presumed subject of this rant I will "squirrel" away and reserve my comment for a more appropriate time and location. I'll just say that Matthew's take on my case with Masterfile is interesting, if not insightful.
I suggest that we return this thread to it's intended subject - Masterfile. Let's save the negative comments for the truly deserved (MF, Getty, HAN, etc.) and continue to provide support those that are here searching for help.
You of all people I did the most for in beating back Geoffrey Beal and Masterfile. I came up with the idea and painfully explained to you but your irrational self-centered fear kept blocking the logic of what I was trying to say. I sincerely apologize if my "going dark" or the fact that I have been fortunate enough to not need Oscar's services makes me appear ungrateful, spineless, cheap, or dumb. Honestly, I don't want to get into a war of words with you - I don't have the time or energy (too much of both has gone into my fight with Masterfile). I concede to you and do hope that I can convey to you that I mean no disrespect.
I don't care if you went dark. That is your choice. But it's funny that after months of being quiet, you felt the need to "poke" me. I am fully aware this little exchange doesn't exactly paint me in a positive light but I am not trying to win a popularity contest. People aren't coming to ELI because they are enthralled with my winning personality. ELI is about getting real, getting educated, getting empowered, and taking some meaningful action.
I stand by my statement. You are cheap but that is your right. You are spineless because you tried to shield your wife, you tried to misrepresent yourself, and you were happy to hide behind ELI when it suited you. Even though there are many people who post anonymously here, most of them when dealing with their letters didn't try to impersonate someone as you did claiming to be some "legal representative" crap.
You are dumb in the sense you still can't get the facts of the situation. The fact that you don't have energy over one this case is because despite whatever you wrote, it's mostly a bluff. Regarding ungrateful, I wasn't asking for any thanks but I don't recall much gratitude for the tedious amount of work I did on your behalf. Fortunately, the majority of people who are simply over their head and fearful are happy to pay Oscar. I don't get a commission for directing people to Oscar but I think for some people, like you, it is the least painful path. But again, you are too cheap and the stress you feel is self-inflicted. And now you are going to make a case you want to try to defend yourself? If you want to see how far you can go on your own, I will be happy to take down the Geoffrey Beal email exchanges. I will further issue an email from myself to Geoffrey Beal and Masterfile that I recant my initial support of you and your position. Let's see what happens then. I am dying to test that out to see if I am right or wrong.As for my wife's case with Masterfile, I did provide several updates to the threads that pertained to my case. Without rehashing the entire story, I will just summarize by reminding all that I am a graphic designer and built a site for my wife's company (she provides therapy for children with Autism). I briefly used an image for composition purposes while the site was under development. Ultimately, I was fortunate enough to find the same image for sale by a different company. I was able to show with EXIF data that the other company placed a copyright claiming statement and watermark on the image 2 years before Masterfile's claim against my wife's company. I admit Masterfile could fight this, but it has been about 6 months and we haven't heard anything else from them.
Dude, every letter recipient has a story. Cry me a river. Stand in line and take a number. So, as for "checking with my wife" - I'm sorry if that seemed cowardly. It is her company and the claim was against her - I am just the graphic designer fighting the battle on her behalf (for my mistake). As for not hiring Oscar - I have been fortunate enough to not need to at this point. I'm sorry if this makes me look cheap. I am cheap - that is why I came here to fight Masterfile rather than simply paying them.
You just don't get the euphemism I used. I tried to lessen the "wife" story now you force me to elaborate further. Let's be honest here. You made the mistake and you are trying to cover your tail with your wife. Except that you are working on a wing and a prayer barely holding it together. So many other web developers have made mistakes and you know what they do? They educate the client, reassure them, and then happily hire Oscar. You don't "need" Oscar right now because basically with ELI's help, we beat Geoffrey Beal back into silence. Do you think he magically and coincidentally backed off because of your outstanding and compelling arguments? Are you kidding me? Masterfile backed off because Geoffrey was going to be faced with some personal attacks. Masterfile and the major stock photo companies reads these forums.I may not have hired Oscar, but I have tried to help the ELI cause. I do read the site fairly regularly and I try to comment when I can. I opened a Pacer account and try to follow the Masterfile cases. I admit I haven't commented as much as I did when I was in the thick of my fight - but I don't think that I'm in the minority in that regard.
Dude, of all the people who have helped the cause, you don't rank very highly. You rode on the coat-tails of an ELI strategy that had huge ELI support. If you had just shut up both times, you probably would be better off. Now, all you have done is possibly attract Geoffrey Beal and Masterfile to your case. You are so thin-skinned you just hurt your case even more. I know that you deal with a lot of people who just want you and ELI to help them make their problems go away. I can see how that would get tiresome day in and day out. But please remember that this is a very scary situation for most and most don't have your thick skin, knowledge, or courage. I still remember the fear instilled in me as if it were yesterday. When I comment on ELI, I try to empathize with people who are experiencing that same fear for the first time.
Dude, 4 years ago, I got fearful for a short while then I got pissed. I started getting the ball rolling figuring it out as I go. How do you think ELI got going? You think Oscar came knocking my door the work with me? I had to win him over, not the other way around. You think Oscar would have teamed up with me if I was acting like you did? Give me a break. The reality is helping people have become much more pleasant now because I learned the hard way of who to help by screening them first. No more cold calls. I get more done in half-hour with my ELI Phone Support Calls than I could get done with you after several phone sessions. So no, I don't sympathize with spineless AND cheap. I can sympathize one or the other but not both.Please don't take this next section wrong - again, I mean no disrespect. When you called me, and I expressed my fear and apprehension, you said something like, "you people, you are all the same - you won't stand up for yourselves...". Honestly, I was taken aback and I did remind you that "you called me - I didn't call you". It was the first time that I was told that my case was not unique and that I didn't matter. It hurt because the fear was very real at the time. And then to read your veiled summary of our interaction... I was a bit peeved. So I apologize if what I said seemed ungrateful. Honestly, I am grateful for all that you, Oscar, and the rest of the ELI community has done for all of us victims.
Standing up for yourself is more than trying to bluff your way. You strike to me as a person who will bluff and I am dying to call you on it. I promise you I don't bluff easy. I still say to people "you aren't that special". What that means is you are one of hundreds, if not thousands of letter recipients. Somehow that seems like such a hard concept for you to grasp. If your feelings are hurt by that statistically true statement, then go into a corner and cry it out.Matthew - again, please don't take this wrong - I think you might do well to remember the fear that you felt when you got your first letter when dealing with those of us who seem spineless, cowardly, cheap, or dumb. Remember that the initial fear and confusion is very real and even debilitating for some. I am grateful to have found ELI as the people here (you included) gave me the confidence get over my initial fear, to spend weeks researching and to fight back against Masterfile.
Nope, I don't buy it. I didn't feel debilitated. Speak for yourself, I felt fear and it made me stop and think very hard but I was never debilitated. I was never going to sit on my hands and hope it would go away. "Hope" is not a strategy or action plan.I do hope that we can let this thread fall deep down to where it belongs as I for one hate to show a divided front to our common enemies. I suggest that we use our combined efforts, not in a war of words driving our community apart, but rather exposing the stock photo companies' continued use of extortion letters.
The thread was going to just die just fine until you came back again twice now. You say you don't want a war of words? Well, you came back twice now out of hiding to confront me. Nobody freaking knows your true identity except for me, dude. What is it that you are trying to protect here, the dieselfish name? It can't be your real name or face. Give me a break. Unlike you, I have used my real name and face since the beginning and I don't have to impersonate anyone as you did.
I promise you, the ELI community was doing just fine without you. I can promise you I don't make a habit of blasting someone on "our side" but I cannot respect your spinelessness, your passive aggressive approach, your cheapness, and how you think you are trying to help your wife when you are really trying to cover your tail. Unlike your little beat-around-the bush, passive aggressive approach, I tell it like it is.
Quite honestly, you are the second person I've had to blast back but at least the other person had the smarts to make his comments to me through private email and no one saw or knew about it. You are about just as dumb as a rock to make your comments public.
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