Messages

211

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: ELI Support Call: Don't Be This Bimbo and Waste My Time

« on: January 11, 2013, 08:08:59 PM »

My guess is that her lawyer "negotiated" them down to $700 or $800 and then charged her $300 to $400. Still less than the original claim, but, as we all know, about $1200 more than she should have paid. Well played, lady. Well played.

212

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: New for 2013 ~ The Copyright Troll Asshat of the Month Award...

« on: January 11, 2013, 08:01:08 PM »

That certificate of award is absolutely awesome. It makes me want to be a jerk (or be MORE of a jerk) just so I can get my own.

213

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Copyright Defense League Attempts to Squelch Settlement Agreement & Release

« on: January 10, 2013, 12:07:13 PM »

Also worth mentioning that there can be consequences to filing a bogus DMCA claim. -- http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/linda-ellis-lindas-lyrics-dash-poem-letters-forum/the-consequences-of-filing-a-false-dmca-claim/

214

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: We are the latest victim of the Getty Image extortion scam

« on: January 10, 2013, 11:56:50 AM »

Hi Jot,

Even though I'm willing to bet that your company is in the clear, I do hope you'll continue to participate on these boards. Perhaps at some point you can share more specifics about what they actually did to access your site.

215

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: ELI Support Call: Don't Be This Bimbo and Waste My Time

« on: January 10, 2013, 11:54:07 AM »

The fact that the firm she has been in contact with has already kept this issue alive for a year and the fact that she suddenly started talking about "vetting" you makes me suspicious. (I surmise somebody said WHO is this Matt and what is ELI? Have you properly vetted them?) My bet is that they are on their way toward milking hundreds of dollars from her while -negotiating- with Getty.

Sometimes you just can't save people from themselves.

216

Hawaiian Letters & Lawsuits Forum / Re: PDN Article Featuring "Kindly Uncle" Glen Carner

« on: January 10, 2013, 11:35:39 AM »

"trivial copying is not an infringement"

Thank you for posting this Oscar. I'm happy to see we are finding more and more actual case law that supports the general anti-extortion position.

217

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: PDN Article on ELI, Copyright Extortionists, and my position on the matter

« on: December 29, 2012, 12:19:54 AM »

I'm glad this article exists. But to me it contains a great deal of misinformation and I think it is an effort by certain parties to "shade" the issue and make themselves look better. I found it interesting that so many of the people interviewed have been pretty well featured on the ELI site. Here are a couple of my personal "favorite" sections:

One person on ELI’s list of so-called “copyright extortionists” because of his enforcement efforts says ELI is anti-copyright, and that the organization uses intimidation to discourage copyright owners from pursuing infringers. (He asked not to be named, saying, “I don’t want to be a lightning rod for unrestrained attacks from the people and companies who want all content to be free.”)

When has ANYONE EVER said that on here. That is just outright wrong.

Getty says sites such as ELI’s “contain a wealth of misinformation” directed at infringers, and the agency has invested resources in photo licensing education efforts. “We think it’s important that image users have access to accurate information,” an agency spokesperson says.

So lets see... The ELI site has bad information, but the author doesn't specify one example. Meanwhile, the trolling industry is investing resources into education, but the writer cannot provide one example or one link. Perfect.

My final thought, I don't like this Steve Pigeon guy much. He comes off as condescending ("they invoke fair use or ignorance") and as a liar ("the outcome has generally been favorable to us").

My personal belief is the intent of this article is to leave the reader with the impression that ELI is full of half-truths. Notice they don't even mention Oscar's substantial contribution to the site. The secondary goal is to convince the reader that the majority of letter recipients cut a check to the trolls.

218

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Who can I get images from?

« on: December 28, 2012, 11:36:58 PM »

If you decide you wish to purchase royalty free microstock photography, I urge you to consider Pond5.com and avoid iStockPhoto.com. iStock is owned by Getty Images and it makes no sense to feed the trolls (financially speaking). Furthermore, the photography on Pond5 is as good as what iStock offers, and their pricing is lower. I have checked with a couple Pond5 reps and they have stated that they do not participate in the practice of trolling and don't send out demand letters. As far as I can see, that is true.

219

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: My Story

« on: December 17, 2012, 10:14:55 PM »

I would let them know that you have nothing further to discuss unless proof of claim is provided and if you hear from them again you will file complaints against Getty and the shyster with the Washington State Attorney's General Office, the BBB, the FTC your Congressman and Senator as well as the Bar Association for the Shyster and Lisa Wilmer (Getty's legal beagle).

I would be curious to see if a letter with Greg's comments would get Timmy to go away, or if he will continue to see how many complaints he can stack up with the AG, FTC and BBB. Hard to tell with these types, but my guess is that he would get the message and send it back to Getty.

220

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Corbis Infringement Claim on Images that Former Designer Never Paid For

« on: December 13, 2012, 12:22:55 PM »

Now it's my turn to disagree.

If the web designer said, "We have talked about needing to eventually purchase these images" and that conversation took place, I'm not sure how much blame you can place on them.  Of course there are a lot of unknowns. Were they also the ones to put the site live? Did they really bring it up twice?

Their choice to use "rights managed" stock images was horrible. There are plenty of great, public domain, creative commons, or even microstock images available.

But I don't think all the facts are in and at this stage it's hard for me to see how they are 100% responsible if they repeatedly said you need to get the licensed images.

That's not to say I think they should be left off the hook completely. They should have offered to chip in or pay for Oscar's letter program. But if they said a couple times, "These images are for placement and you need to license them before you go live" I can't see them being on the hook.

221

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: new copyright thug to add to the list?

« on: December 13, 2012, 11:39:13 AM »

The fact that is available on so many state government sites is interesting.

I wonder if you reached out to the webmaster of these sites if they would share with you how they obtained them. If they just got them from an image search, it may be nice to warn them that a troll is a'comin'. But wouldn't it be ironic if they got them from some sort of compilation CD-ROM for 50 bucks.

222

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Corbis Infringement Claim on Images that Former Designer Never Paid For

« on: December 11, 2012, 05:00:37 PM »

I think if the designer told you that you were going to have to replace the FPO (for placement only) images with licensed images, you can't really hold them responsible. If there was a line-item in the bid for stock photography or they explicitly stated they were providing images it may be a different story.

It doesn't matter to the troll anyways. They go after the company that is displaying the image.

223

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty Settlement Purposes Only Letter - 3rd Letter

« on: December 11, 2012, 01:44:30 PM »

I would be VERY surprised if anyone from the trolling industry has contacted Greg at all over the last few months. No one's going to poke that hornets nest.

224

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another Newby Masterfile

« on: December 11, 2012, 01:39:04 PM »

It's remarkable how quick the claim jumped from $2500 to $500. This is further evidence that the ELI site is closely followed by the coalition of trolls. Once they realize that you are on to them, it seems they are willing to suddenly offer an 80% discount to see if they can squeeze any juice out of their lemon.

It's also further validation that getting loud, being active, and staying unafraid to name, names is the best way to fight these monkeys.

225

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: An Experiment Against Getty

« on: December 06, 2012, 10:13:14 PM »

Persistence overcomes Resistance!