Messages

2071

Getty Images Letter Forum / Brandon Sand Settlement Demand Letter

« on: April 30, 2011, 01:01:26 AM »

There is a new settlement demand letter player that was brought to Oscar's attention and subsequently to me.

This time around it is NOT a stock photography company sending out the demand letter.  It is a private solo lawyer based in San Diego who is sending out demand letters now.

Brandon Sand is asking $10,000 for 1 image and he wants payment mailed to him! Presumably, he keeps a percentage and forwards the rest to his client?

Feast your eyes on his letter!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72740193/Brandon-S-Sand-Settlement-Demand-Letter

Then feast your eyes on his resume! He is no Oscar Michelen, that is for sure!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72753092/Brandon-S-Sand-Resume

Enjoy the reading!

===========================

This post was modified on November 16, 2011 to comply with the DMCA complaint made to my hosting service. We were originally hosting the large PDF documents and happy to not incur the bandwidth behind this anymore and have taken down those PDF documents. We prefer Scribd for posting PDF documents.

In case Scribd takes down the resume that he freely shared with the world via LinkedIn, you aren't missing much. His resume is still available at LinkedIn minus these very interesting musical career entries. I am guessing that is now too embarrassing for a respectable lawyer image. Even without the five music entries, he has a very weak legal resume indeed.  Again, he is no Oscar Michelen.

Music Artist at Paramanu Records
May 2006 - February 2011

Music Artist at Uncommon Records
January 2004 - February 2009

Music Artist at Equinox Records
May 2005 - July 2008

Multimedia Producer at Vision Enhanced Studios
January 2004 - April 2007

Music Artist at Definitive Jux Records
January 2004 - January 2005

2072

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Thread Separation: Rebuttal to Oscar not responsive

« on: April 29, 2011, 09:06:41 PM »

Glad to hear you like what you see. I agree that it is an awesome letter.

2073

Riddick/Imageline Letter Forum / Major Discussion Board Forum Software Upgrade/Update Coming Soon!!

« on: April 26, 2011, 04:42:14 AM »

Just a quick heads-up.

I am currently testing and working out the kinks of a major new update/upgrade of our discussion forum software. This has been in the back of my mind for sometime but I was unable to find something I felt comfortable with that was inexpensive, reliable, stable, well-supported, and easy-to-use until now. I also wanted to preserve all the large message database that have been built up over the last 2.5 years.

I think I found a nice solution which will allow all of us to do more than what we are doing now which is to simply post messages. There are several bells and whistles I am looking to add. I am not prepared to announce these just yet. It will likely get rolled out gradually over time.

I will be spending the rest of this week testing the new software and working out the kinks. If all goes well, I anticipate the conversion to happen this weekend. If I make good progress, I may convert earlier.

I am not too keen in making major changes especially with a large, well-established community like the one we have now. It can be risky because if things don't work right or people don't like it, I could have a riot on my hands. :-) But trust me when I say this, I wouldn't be volunteering more of my time to do this if I didn't really think it was important for the long term.

Stay tuned and get ready for some big changes and excitement!

Matthew Chan

2074

Righthaven Lawsuits Forum / Major Discussion Board Forum Software Upgrade/Update Coming Soon!!

« on: April 26, 2011, 04:41:35 AM »

Just a quick heads-up.

I am currently testing and working out the kinks of a major new update/upgrade of our discussion forum software. This has been in the back of my mind for sometime but I was unable to find something I felt comfortable with that was inexpensive, reliable, stable, well-supported, and easy-to-use until now. I also wanted to preserve all the large message database that have been built up over the last 2.5 years.

I think I found a nice solution which will allow all of us to do more than what we are doing now which is to simply post messages. There are several bells and whistles I am looking to add. I am not prepared to announce these just yet. It will likely get rolled out gradually over time.

I will be spending the rest of this week testing the new software and working out the kinks. If all goes well, I anticipate the conversion to happen this weekend. If I make good progress, I may convert earlier.

I am not too keen in making major changes especially with a large, well-established community like the one we have now. It can be risky because if things don't work right or people don't like it, I could have a riot on my hands. :-) But trust me when I say this, I wouldn't be volunteering more of my time to do this if I didn't really think it was important for the long term.

Stay tuned and get ready for some big changes and excitement!

Matthew Chan

2075

Getty Images Letter Forum / Major Discussion Board Forum Software Upgrade/Update Coming Soon!!

« on: April 26, 2011, 04:41:03 AM »

Just a quick heads-up.

I am currently testing and working out the kinks of a major new update/upgrade of our discussion forum software. This has been in the back of my mind for sometime but I was unable to find something I felt comfortable with that was inexpensive, reliable, stable, well-supported, and easy-to-use until now.  I also wanted to preserve all the large message database that have been built up over the last 2.5 years.

I think I found a nice solution which will allow all of us to do more than what we are doing now which is to simply post messages.  There are several bells and whistles I am looking to add. I am not prepared to announce these just yet. It will likely get rolled out gradually over time.

I will be spending the rest of this week testing the new software and working out the kinks. If all goes well, I anticipate the conversion to happen this weekend. If I make good progress, I may convert earlier.

I am not too keen in making major changes especially with a large, well-established community like the one we have now. It can be risky because if things don't work right or people don't like it, I could have a riot on my hands. :-)  But trust me when I say this, I wouldn't be volunteering more of my time to do this if I didn't really think it was important for the long term.

Stay tuned and get ready for some big changes and excitement!

Matthew Chan

2076

Righthaven Lawsuits Forum / New Righthaven Lawsuits Information Page

« on: April 22, 2011, 06:42:09 PM »

After speaking with Oscar, he has agreed that we need to spend some time to more closely monitor the Righthaven Lawsuit controversy because of the many parallels to the Getty Images/Stock Photo Industry copyright trolling activities.

As we always do, we prefer to start small and slowly to see how the Internet community responds.

In that spirit, we have launched the beginnings of a Righthaven Lawsuits Information Page.  That page has some important links you should read.

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/righthaven.htm

You can also find our brand-new Righthaven Lawsuits link in our Menu area on the top-right corner of our web pages.

Matthew

2077

Righthaven Lawsuits Forum / Re: DMCA protection NOT automatic

« on: April 21, 2011, 01:53:17 PM »

I saw that. Next time I speak to Oscar, I have to run it by him and see what he thinks about that.

Matthew

2078

Righthaven Lawsuits Forum / Re: i dont get it

« on: April 20, 2011, 12:02:25 PM »

Lettered,

It is really overwhelming trying to read all the articles written even though this only started in 2010.

Two websites have a LOT of good info.

righthavelawsuits.com
righthavenvictims.blogspot.com

Online, I almost feel like we are being surrounded by copyright trolls look for all of us to make one mistake to take you to the cleaners.

Matthew

2079

Righthaven Lawsuits Forum / Newspaper Biz Admits to Copyright Trolling for Revenues as Business Model

« on: April 20, 2011, 11:41:59 AM »

You guys will love this article. Righthaven CEO Steve Gibson outright admits that he is looking for infringers Not to enforce copyrights and prevent future occurrences. He is in it for the money! In fact it is part of his business model to monetize the newspaper business! Can you believe that? He wants to make a business of suing people who read and popularize newspaper articles. He wants to expand his program nationwide!

I guess we can add some of the newspaper industry into the same pot as the stock photo industry now.

He doesn't really care if you keep infringing as long as you are willing to pay. Enjoy.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/copyright-trolling-for-dollars/

Steve Gibson is an example of why many people hate lawyers.

2080

Getty Images Letter Forum / Righthaven Lawsuits Forum Launched!

« on: April 20, 2011, 11:39:35 AM »

I had to launch a brand-new discussion forum dedicated to the Righthaven Lawsuit Controversy. I have a lot of comments and info that you will want to pay attention to.  There is just so much. They serve as possible lessons and examples of what could happen if Getty Images and the rest of the stock photo industry gets more aggressive.

Knowledge and information is your friend. EFF is very involved in the fight and every letter recipient would do themselves a favor to start bringing themselves up to speed on the Righthaven Lawsuits and the Copyright Trolling going on.

I look forward to your contributions and comments on the Righthaven Lawsuits Forum. It is only a couple mouse clicks away.

Matthew Chan

2081

Righthaven Lawsuits Forum / I had to launch this forum

« on: April 20, 2011, 11:34:52 AM »

Due to the overwhelming amount of information and stories I have found relating to the Righthaven controversy, I was "forced" to start a brand new forum. My posts alone might overrun the main Getty Images Letter Forum and I didn't want that to happen.

While seemingly unrelated, Righthaven lawsuits actions has parallels to the Stock Photo Industry Settlement Demand Letter Controversy.  Righthaven shows what might be possible in the near future regarding Getty Images and the rest of their gang.

EFF calls it copyright trolling.  I agree and there is just so much to talk about.

Do a search on "Righthaven" and you will see what I mean.

Matthew Chan

2082

Righthaven Lawsuits Forum / Welcome! Please Read the Rules Before You Post!

« on: April 20, 2011, 11:29:00 AM »

Welcome to the Righthaven Lawsuits Forum. Here you can share your story and discuss your comments, stories, and situation as it relates to the Righthaven Lawsuit Controversy.

This forum is intended for intelligent on-topic discussions only.
* No ranting, raving, or cursing.
* No spamming or advertising here.
* No personal attacks or name-calling.
* No URLs, email or physical addresses in signatures.

Thank you!

2083

Getty Images Letter Forum / Newspaper Biz Admits to Copyright Trolling for Revenues as Business Model

« on: April 20, 2011, 11:19:43 AM »

You guys will love this article. Righthaven CEO Steve Gibson outright admits that he is looking for infringers Not to enforce copyrights and prevent future occurrences.  He is in it for the money!  In fact it is part of his business model to monetize the newspaper business!  Can you believe that? He wants to make a business of suing people who read and popularize newspaper articles. He wants to expand his program nationwide!

I guess we can add some of the newspaper industry into the same pot as the stock photo industry now.

He doesn't really care if you keep infringing as long as you are willing to pay. Enjoy.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/copyright-trolling-for-dollars/

2084

Getty Images Letter Forum / Righthaven "Copyright Troll Tactics"

« on: April 20, 2011, 11:08:36 AM »

Everyone needs to get up to speed on the Righthaven controversy.  There are many parallels of Righthaven to Getty Images/Stock Photo industry tactics.  However, the biggest difference is that (for the most part) the stock photo folks have not yet gone crazy on the Litigation front....... yet.

I am following Righthaven with great interest and all of you should too.

But from the Righthaven controversy, we get some new "vocabulary" to use for the Stock Photo Industry Demand Letters.  I helped popularize the term "Extortion Letters". EFF gets credit for coining "Copyright Trolls". I just love that term, "copyright troll".  I wish I came up with it.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/04/eff-righthaven-sham/

BTW, EFF email me to let me know that they are aware of Getty Images and the stock photo demand letters.  I am fairly confident if and when Getty Images and others decide to start firing off lawsuits, EFF will enter the fray. I think EFF is simply watching and monitoring.  And, they are probably following Oscar's representation on these matters.

Matthew

2085

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Thread Separation: Rebuttal to Oscar not responsive

« on: April 20, 2011, 10:56:56 AM »

Something is not right or something has fallen through the cracks if it has been that long. Perhaps he sent it out and you didn't get notified?

Oscar checks the forums and he will see your note here.

Matthew