Here is a little more on the newest copyright troll from the stable of PhotoAttorney Carolyn Wright.
Leslie Burns aka Leslie Burns-Dell'Acqua, jokingly refers to herself as an over-educated former Jeopardy! contestant.
In case the law thing doesn't work out to well for her, she can always fall back on her line of work: "Burns Auto Parts"
http://www.burnsautoparts.com/BAPsite/Index.html"Big NEWS" - "It is with a great sense of pride and excitement that I announce my new position with the law firm of Carolyn E. Wright, LLC… better known to most of you as photoattorney.com. Starting April 1 (yes, April Fools’ Day) I will be working full-time with Carolyn (and Evan)."
( April Fools Day?? That was really mean and nasty of Carolyn Wright to throw Leslie under the bus like this! )
Linkedin Profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/burnsautopartsFacebook:
http://www.facebook.com/BurnsAutoPartsBlog:
http://burnstheattorney.com/Look she's an author too!:
http://www.amazon.com/Business-Basics-Successful-Commercial-Photographer/dp/0557565316/http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/burnsautopartsjeopardy game archive:
http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?ggame_id=106
Pot meet kettle:http://burnstheattorney.com/2011/07/what-not-to-do/Notable quotes:
"Sometimes it’s tough to stand up. Sometimes, people try to cut off your voice or ignore you or embarrass you into silence. But if you look around, sometimes you’ll find that others are standing up too." ( Look over this way Leslie Burns, ESQ, you'll see a bunch of us standing up against the ever present copyright trolls.)
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"In the very recent past I’ve had more than a couple of photographers contact me about possible infringement situations. That’s great… it’s what I do. My first question, as always, is “Is the image’s copyright registered?” For almost every one of those photographers, the answer has been “no.”
"At the most basic level, your demand letter (assuming you start there) isn’t going to have as much punch if there is no registration."
"Also, the power of citing the registration number is a factor in your opening position for negotiations. Without it, you have a very weak negotiation starting point which, combined with the unlikeliness of a good size settlement, isn’t going to help you. Frankly, it’s not likely you’re going to find an attorney willing to bother with your case unless you are willing to pay the lawyer’s time." - ( unless your a troll like Leslie Burns that is!)
"No registration means the door to the courthouse is essentially locked for you."
"Also, as others much wiser than I have noted, once you go to trial, all bets are off. You just can’t predict what a jury (especially, but judges too) will do. Remember, Casey Anthony was found not guilty when the world thought she was." ( such as awarding 4,400.00 for an image that is actually" worth" next to nothing. )
and Look at this one!
"When you find your work has been infringed, there are many things you can do. Many of those things, however, are not good ideas to do.
For example, sending an invoice for three times the amount of the license fee is something you hear about from many sources, but there is no legal reason for that amount (or form) of a demand. Calling and threatening the infringer is another bad idea. Rolling over and ignoring it is also not a good plan."
(yeah 3 times the amount is just not enough, might as well try 10 times or even 100 times!)
Even though the image in the doc is blocked out I 'm pretty sure the image is question is this one, which is available on the photographers site as well as the Phototake site:
http://denniskunkel.com/index.php?module=media&pId=102&id=9880There are some registrations with the copyright office, But I could not locate this particular one... Did Attorney Leslie Burns misspeak and state that this image was registered when in fact it is not?
copyright search:
http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=Dennis+Kunkel+Microscopy%2C+Inc.&Search_Code=TALL&PID=yQBRWeUTpvkeBBQ9Tboxw7Xmc_g&SEQ=20120519071958&CNT=25&HIST=1
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