Messages

1696

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Nordic Photos

« on: January 31, 2012, 01:46:26 PM »

Although the elderly Kentucky couple won't go public out of fear, at least they were smart enough to hire Oscar. Fortunately, Oscar was nice enough to help out pro bono on that one but the easiest way to fight that one was to go public. People would have rallied very quickly.

One only needs to go study the recent case of "Jennifer Petkov" the woman who cyber-bullied a dying 7-year old.  The Internet and media rallied so quickly over the outrage.

I am quite confident that will be the end of it as Getty does not have the reputation to sue. And Oscar will help them see the light of going any further.

1697

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Providing Proof of Infringement

« on: January 31, 2012, 01:40:44 PM »

They probably aren't going to be able to nail down the exact date but they do have two places they can obtain third-party screenshots of approximately when it might have happened.

IF this does escalate to the lawsuit level and it reaches the discovery level, you could require it then. Otherwise, they don't have to provide anything. They can't threaten you all day long.

This is why I tell people that at some point trying to "outlawyer" Getty Images is futile. They are not obligated to do anything. They know all they have to do is wear people down and they will eventually cave in.

I am a big proponent of game-changing the fight. That is the whole reason ELI exists and it is for free. And yet, to this day, everyone persists in fighting it THEIR way, instead of your own way.

1698

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Introduction

« on: January 31, 2012, 03:02:46 AM »

When I say "dying", I don't mean it will become extinct. But let's face it, nothing technology related is what it was. Anything that empowers the individual often takes away from the old standby's. Having said that, there should be a new crop of photographer/artist adopting a new model of business.

Like the music business, the record/CD companies, music publishers hate all the digital distribution selling singles vs. albums. In fact, many musicians are no longer depending on music royalties for income. But they have gotten into merchandising, concerts, performances, branding, etc. to adapt to the new changes.

The days of photographers of simply taking all kinds of interesting photos and uploading them to some listing service is over.  The entrepreneurial ones will survive. Most will not and be relegated to hobbyists.

Even the paparazzi are starving nowadays. It is hard to catch "exclusive" photos when people everywhere have cameras in their pockets nowadays.

I disagree that professional photography is any more of a dying industry than that of a musician or writer. There will always be a need for talented artisans with an eye for color, composition, and detail; and the ability to create great

1699

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: $600 (discounted from $780) for a 1.5" x 2" image on my web site

« on: January 31, 2012, 02:54:47 AM »

You actually have way more time than they say. They will never turn down a good amount of money. It is an artificial deadline designed to create the reaction you are expressing.

1700

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Nordic Photos

« on: January 30, 2012, 09:38:29 PM »

At the time Getty Images, Masterfile, and Imageline got most of our attention. You were at the bleeding edge where little was known about Hawaiian Art Network. It was your letter that started the ongoing coverage of HAN and their lawyer's shenanigans.  Brandon was one of the first lawyers that we learned worked with HAN. And being the dumb young lawyer he was, he never imagined anyone would ever get wind of the $10K threat. Nor did he imagine that he would get caught saying that you would go to jail for not settling.

Make no mistake, the folks at HAN and those who work with them better watch themselves.  Hawaii is a small place and word has gotten out on HAN and their entrapment friends like Vincent Tylor. This is no longer idle speculation.  There is just way too much evidence to the contrary that a lot of this is one big EEE (excessive/entrapment/extortion) scam.

To directly answer your question, HAN is being more careful what they release because they know it could end up here on ELI and subsequently on Google, Facebook, and Scribd.

Getty Images came down quite a bit on the amounts they were seeking some time ago. Oscar and I believe that ELI's ongoing pressure and exposure forced them to adjust their strategy a bit. Oscar alone had hundreds of cases on his desk. That doesn't include those people who ignored Getty or independently fought Getty. It was enough of an impact to force some adjustments.

And as much as we are loathe to admit it, Getty's approach starts looking much more professional and attractive when compared to Imageline, HAN, and their lawyers.

Why was my demand letter asking $10,000...everyone else seems to be getting letters for sooooooooooo much less???

1701

Getty Images Letter Forum / Professional Photography is a Dying Industry

« on: January 30, 2012, 07:54:39 PM »

I have not formally written an article about this but I think I am going to at some point because not one is saying it LOUDLY.  "Professional Photography is a Dying Industry" and the stock photo companies are going down with it. Images are quickly becoming commodities because there is so much of it.

For the moment, I am going to plagiarize myself by simply cutting and pasting one of my earlier comments in another thread.  It concerns the Professional Photography as a dying professional industry. And yet photography as a while is growing.  Why is that?  The power of photography is shifting from the pros to the everyday person who can now afford high-quality cameras and inexpensive digital photo editing software. Nearly every smartphone has a digital camera and video camera built within. Guess what that means?  Bad news for the professional photographer and videographer.
=====

You are correct in that the stock photo companies have lost their way. However, I also think photographers have lost their way also. There is an entitlement mentality by photographers that they deserve to make a living as they have done in years past.

The problem here is that since the advent of digital photography, the Internet, and the ever-decreasing prices of digital cameras, ANYONE can be a photographer and people can actually take some nice photos with relatively inexpensive cameras. Further, the people who invest in nicer cameras can take photos that match those of so-called professionals.

When you have an abundance of imagery, over time, it becomes a depreciating commodity. Being in "professional" photography in most cases is like trying to get into desktop publishing, printing, or secretarial business. These are functions that still exist but FAR smaller than before advances in technology.

Professional photography is a dying industry because nearly everyone has a nice camera.

I would venture to say that many of the smaller stock photo companies would go out of business without the revenue stream from the extortion letters. In fact, I t believe very few stock photo companies can stay in business WITHOUT being in the extortion letter business. I would venture to say it is the MAJORITY of their revenues.

I put the stock photo companies among the dying, antiquated businesses such as the newspapers, book publishing, and music publishing business.  These are people who tried to make money off the artists they sponsor without providing much value.  Now, the biggest value stock photo companies provide is PicScout and their "extortion letter" "shakedown letter" campaigns.

I imagine this may be in some other topic but one of my associates found this

http://rising.blackstar.com/getty-photographers-pessimistic-about-the-future.html

I noted that none of the photographers unless I missed it attributed this to all out piracy of images. 

1702

Getty Images Letter Forum / Anti-SLAPP Resources

« on: January 30, 2012, 07:42:52 PM »

There is some good information in how ELI might combat SLAPPs in the future.

http://www.thefirstamendment.org/antislappresourcecenter.html

http://www.anti-slapp.org/your-states-free-speech-protection/

1703

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Nordic Photos Settlement Demand Letter

« on: January 30, 2012, 07:14:06 PM »

Thanks to BigTed, we can now being the analysis & commentary on the NordisPhotos Settlement Demand Letter.  Let the commentary and analysis begin.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/79905440/NordicPhotos-Settlement-Demand-Letter

One thing I will say is their FAQ looks strangely like the Getty Images FAQ.

This is the 2nd time we have seemingly found someone plagiarizing Getty Images FAQ. However, it may be a form letter that Getty Images has allowed PicScout customers to use. After ll, Getty Images now owns PicScout.  And all the other stock photo companies are now customers of Getty Images via PicScout!

1704

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Nordic Photos

« on: January 30, 2012, 06:02:01 PM »

We have never heard or seen a settlement demand letter from Nordic photos.  We would like the opportunity to take a look at this. You can email it to: [email protected] or fax it to 888-696-3441.  We will redact it to anonymize the letter.

The ELI community would be happy to do an analysis and commentary on it if we could see it.

We put one of our constant contact emails on our website that has a picture in the banner at the top.  Now we get the demand letter from Nordic Photos in Iceland.
I've read through the posts here, but no one has addressed the issue of a demand letter coming from out of the U.S.  Is this common?  It seems like they would have a pretty tough time collecting without going through a U.S. company.

1705

Hawaiian Letters & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Hawaiian Art Network v. Moku-aina Properties observations

« on: January 30, 2012, 02:06:02 PM »

Not necessarily. HAN dropping a case could simply mean that a settlement was negotiated and agreed upon. The court dockets don't always specify this. Further, there is a good chance HAN would insist on a confidentiality clause.

HAN dropping a V.K. Tylor case will embolden everyone who reads here and has gotten a V.K. Tylor letter!

1706

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Anyone else been S.L.A.P.P.'ed by F.E.C.A.L.?

« on: January 30, 2012, 02:03:11 PM »

This is a great find and absolutely accurate with what ELI has been through. There is actually a legal term/acronym for such actions.  Good job as always. I continue to be amazed with the insights, discoveries, and commentary being shared and contributed.

ELI will not every tolerate being "SLAPP"ed down. Attempts to do so will be met with equal or greater retaliatory measures.

Anyone else been S.L.A.P.P.ed by F.E.C.A.L. Lawyer Julie Stewart?

S.L.A.P.P.: Strategic lawsuit against public participation...

"A strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition.[1]"
 
"The typical SLAPP plaintiff does not normally expect to win the lawsuit. The plaintiff's goals are accomplished if the defendant succumbs to fear, intimidation, mounting legal costs or simple exhaustion and abandons the criticism. A SLAPP may also intimidate others from participating in the debate. A SLAPP is often preceded by a legal threat. The difficulty, of course, is that plaintiffs do not present themselves to the Court admitting that their intent is to censor, intimidate or silence their critics. Hence, the difficulty in drafting SLAPP legislation, and in applying it, is to craft an approach which affords an early termination to invalid abusive suits, without denying a legitimate day in court to valid good faith claims."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation

Many jurisdictions have legislation in place to deal with "S.L.A.P.P.'s" in an expeditious manner.

S.G.

1707

Hawaiian Letters & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Hawaiian Art Network v. Moku-aina Properties observations

« on: January 30, 2012, 07:36:16 AM »

I don't think HAN will let it get that far. It will either get settled or HAN will drop it. I don't think HAN will want any more information out in the public than what has already been reported.

Love it, lets hope this gets to the discovery stage so we can learn more about HAN and their operation.

1708

Hawaiian Letters & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Popular Local radio Station ~ HAN & VKT

« on: January 29, 2012, 03:39:35 PM »

Touche'.  You are absolutely right. You could have spoken about it until you were blue in the face and they probably still would not have understood. But simply faxing/emailing that letter spoke volumes. Good call.

That is exactly why I tell people to share their stories and their letters.  They can try to fight, complain, explain, etc. but it seems like anyone has to courage to "come out" and openly tell the world what is going on, the would-be extortionist slinks off quietly.

With more exposure comes more scrutiny.  It is easy to get threaten from within the shadows.  Not so easy in the bright light of day.

That is exactly why I bothered! To stop them from abusing another person...Over the phone, I could tell whomever I spoke with that he must of thought I was a 'space case' throwing around words like extortion... but when I provided him proof, he was pretty quick to thank me. It's not the first time I've seen that same Hawaiian lagoon  photo on someone else's website either.

1709

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: NCS Recovery using the name NCS IP Solutions?

« on: January 29, 2012, 03:12:50 AM »

This is news to us. Where are you seeing this used?

The company exists but it is newly formed.

http://www.florida-annual-report.com/ncs-ip-solutions-llc.html

I am guessing that IP stands for "intellectual property". Maybe they are "gett"ing into the Getty extortion business.

1710

Hawaiian Letters & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Popular Local radio Station ~ HAN & VKT

« on: January 28, 2012, 09:32:07 PM »

Good job in helping them avoid become another HAN / VKT victim.  They really should have done something nice for you. It could have become very inconvenient for them.

Same image used - town next door...I went to listen to my local popular radio station online a few days ago and to my surprise, well not really, the first thing I noticed was their use of one of VKT's images - promoting a win a trip to Hawaii contest...I then felt compelled to warn them that using one of VKT images (the same image I fell into the trap over) was probably not a wise move considering they probably had no idea...I showed them a copy of my demand letter & they took down the image the same day, even though they were under the impression that they could use it...The letter shocked them so much so that they decided not to use an image at all!