Messages

2116

Getty Images Letter Forum / Feedback Request: Should We Launch a Facebook Page for ELI?

« on: April 06, 2011, 01:25:18 AM »

I need feedback from the ELI community.

Should we launch a Facebook Page for the ELI community?  Or is this forum enough for us to stay connected?

In 2008, I did not launch a Facebook Page because I did not think it would be a good move.  First, I wasn't a big Facebook user. Two, back then it seemed that you could see everyone's name and identity. But now, Facebook has done a better job in protecting people's identity of Facebook pages you "like".

On a personal level, Oscar and I do have Facebook pages and it has been helpful to us maintaining relationships with our friends and business associates.

Personally, I have grown to like Facebook and there is a limit to how far we can stay connected using this forum. But for many of you, perhaps you like it that way.  I just don't know.

I would like to launch an ELI Facebook page but if you guys like it here on the forums, it might be pointless. However, there are things I can do in Facebook very quickly that I cannot easily do here like sharing articles, links, videos, etc.

I have no intentions of shutting down this forum. However, my thinking is that there is a growing group of people who want options.  For example, we do have a Twitter account but that is not currently the place to go to get the best, latest, greatest information.

Please let me know what you think about the whole Facebook Page thing for ELI.

Matthew Chan

2117

Getty Images Letter Forum / New Courtroom Strategy show with Oscar Michelen & Matthew Chan

« on: April 06, 2011, 01:03:12 AM »

Indirectly born out of the ELI Website project but certainly a direct result of our ongoing business friendship and partnership, Oscar Michelen and I have launched the "Courtroom Strategy" show.  It is a 30-minute web show where we discuss various legal issues but something the average person could relate to.  It can be serious but Oscar and I also inject some humor and have fun with it. And with the exception of 1-upcoming episode we will NOT be talking about ELI or the Stock Photos Demand Letter Controversy because we already have an entire website devoted to it.

We have 3-episodes so far and we are looking for more ideas for future episodes. We have committed to at least 10-episodes and see what the viewer feedback is like.

http://www.tempestbroadcasting.com/category/show/courtoom-strategy/

We know that the premise of this entire ELI website is really based on stress, conflict, and unhappiness caused by the stock photo industry. That is how we came together to meet one another in this community.

However, we are making a concerted effort to take a very unpleasant and unfortunate situation but create some good from it such as goodwill, camaraderie, education, and even friendships. Our web show is a step in that direction. Again, the show is free for all to watch and learn from. Maybe even get some entertainment from.

This year, I want to make it my personal mission to reach out to more community members on a more personal level. (I estimate there are now thousands of people who are letter recipients.) We never asked to get thrown together certainly but I am inspired by the behind-the-scenes emails of support and trust I have been receiving lately. I am also becoming increasing aware of the tremendous intelligence and talents of people that are receiving these letters.  Many of you are web designers, entrepreneurs, and certainly website owners.

I think I have a special treat for you in the coming months.  For now, I hope you will enjoy our first few experimental episodes of "Courtroom Strategy" hosted by Oscar Michelen and me. (Remember, we aren't show biz pros, so please cut us some slack!  :-) )

Matthew Chan

2118

Getty Images Letter Forum / Getty Images & Masterfile Among Top Readers of ELI Website

« on: April 06, 2011, 12:43:39 AM »

I took a peek into the traffic logs for this website for Feb and March 2011.

It looks like March 2011 nearly equaled January 2011 as the busiest month of readership. We still get a surprising number of international readership with Russia (can you believe that?), Canada, Bolivia (another surprise), and the UK consistently in the top 5.

And among the top readers?  The folks from Getty Images and Masterfile!  (Hello there!)

I didn't say that to alarm our readership but it only makes sense they would be among our most enthusiastic readers because this entire website would not have existed because of them and their wonderful life-changing demand letter campaign.  It is a gift that just keeps giving spreading joy and happiness to literally thousands of people. (Yes, I was being sarcastic.)

Matthew

2119

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: A New Twist in the "Getty Letter"

« on: April 05, 2011, 07:11:57 PM »

That was my mistake. You did nothing wrong except the message was in the wrong place. I made a mistake of deleting the posts when I should have moved them. Sorry about that. It doesn't happen often but it did this time.  I apologize for that.

Matthew

2120

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I got a letter, but dont technically own the website

« on: April 05, 2011, 04:35:34 PM »

Buddhapi,

I have taken this further.  Larger companies do not use individual names for their domain contacts, they use position or job titles.  For example, I use "Operations Manager", "Technical Manager" or whatever generic title will work. No need to expose your name anymore than necessary. On a different front, there are domain mining companies try to steal domains from you. It is a dead giveaway when I receive those mails because they don't refer me by name. They simple call send a letter to "Operations Manager" which is obviously tacky for any business correspondence.

Matthew

2121

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Is PicScout Legal? - Cyber Trespass

« on: April 05, 2011, 04:29:48 PM »

JPicker,

It appears you and I are on a similar page about trust issues regarding photos. The exception is that I will go through the government sites for photos IF I need one.  But lots of times I will look a "pro's" photo and recreate it using my own props. For example, I launched a bookkeeping website and wanted to have a financial feel with calculator, checkbook, pen images, etc.  So basically, based on what I saw before, I took MY OWN calculator, checkbook, and pen and posed them and took several shots at high-resolution.  With photoshop, I can clean up the photo and crop what I need and it turned out great and very similar to a "pro's" shot.

And for buildings, I just went into my local downtown and took some photos of the good looking public buildings and add it to my own personal stock.  As I go through life now, if I see something interesting visually, I will take some photos to keep them for the future.

And like you, if you have a graphics designer create a graphic from scratch, there is NEVER any confusion of it being a photo.  So, I do like graphics as a substitute when possible.

I have said this before, it boils my blood that us letter recipients are pronounced and judged guilty with them imposing the sentence. That is simply unacceptable to me. Thinking about it now just fires me up and reminds me why I fought back so aggressively.

Anyhow, I am not going to rant....

Matthew

2122

Getty Images Letter Forum / Defense Letter Program is now $195 from $150

« on: April 05, 2011, 01:24:04 AM »

Effective immediately, Oscar Michelen's Defense Letter Program for Getty Images Settlement Demand Letters have been increased to $195 from the long-standing $150.

This increase was supposed to take place in January 2011 but was delayed due to administrative oversight. The increase is to cover the increasing costs and overall demand to support the Defense Letter Program and this website. When this program was first launched, there were much less traffic/calls/emails coming into Oscar's office and my office. Also, the issue was more simpler at the time.

However, in over 2.5 years that passed since launching the Defense Letter Program, the administration level and expense to track the 500+ letter recipients and maintain our entire web presence on this issue (which goes beyond this website) have increased.  The complexity level of this program (every client is different x 500 of them) and the arguments with Getty Images have advanced much further than before. And although this is not a direct factor for the price increase, people are hiring a more experienced and knowledgeable version of Oscar today than over 2.5 years ago.

In our last video update (posted in our Subscribers-Only area), we discussed that I nearly shut down this website in January 2011. I felt I was putting in too much of my valuable time and energy into this issue with very little reward (Although I do get a lot of thank you's and some donations along the way, they are not nearly sufficient to offset the work I put into this project) but it was Oscar's direct intervention that kept me as his partner in this project alive. (I told Oscar he could soldier on without me since his name was well-known in this controversy but he felt we made a great team and wanted my continued involvement.)

Bottom line, this website and the Defense Letter Program has always been a "loss leader" in terms of our time and energy vs. what we directly get monetarily. But the losses have become greater over time and there is a limit to what we can withstand. Hence, this small price increase in the Defense Letter Program is being used to offset and minimize the continued losses we incur for our time and resources. Without offsetting some of these real losses of time, energy, and administration, Oscar and I would simply have to shut this operation down altogether. (I can promise you that Getty Images and all the other stock photo companies would celebrate if that day came about!)

Having said all that, I can honestly say that you will be hard-pressed to hire an intellectual property attorney of any meaningful quality to take on Getty Images for $195. And they certainly will not have the experience and research backing Oscar Michelen. You would also be hard-pressed to find another safe, magical, and orderly community that has been created here. (Go check out other places on the Internet and you will know what I mean!)

We hope you understand that this decision was not an easy one for either Oscar and me. However, we felt that the greater good would be served with the price increase. The majority of people still get FREE information and education from our website.  And the people who want to pay for additional service and support still get a great value for high-quality legal representation.

Thanks for your understanding.

Matthew Chan

2123

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: I got a letter, but dont technically own the website

« on: April 05, 2011, 12:51:31 AM »

In my view based on what you stated, you definitely have a strong argument but Getty's folks are being reckless and irresponsible. This is what happens when you have unempowered college kids staffing their "compliance department". Either they have no authority or they are too dumb to know the difference. You are guilty until proven innocent which is preposterous.  

Either way, it is wrong. However, you did not say who's name is listed as the owner of the domain.  If it is the name if your LLC, it is harder to argue that you don't own the website.  If the domain name lists the Phillipine company, then they don't really have a case to go after you.

Matthew

2124

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: New ELI Video Update for March 25, 2011 Released!

« on: April 02, 2011, 02:38:48 PM »

Glad you liked the video. We also feel it is a good way to better personalize our position and relationship with community members such as yourself.

Matthew

2125

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: New ELI Video Update for March 25, 2011 Released!

« on: March 30, 2011, 05:09:44 PM »

The link is NOT in the Subscriber Box on the home page.  The Subscriber Box is simply where you put your name and email address so that you are taken to the Subscriber Only page.

If you are an existing subscriber, you need only go to link that was given to you when you subscribed. If you deleted that email, you will simply have to resubscribe.

Matthew

2126

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Stock Photo Industry Helps to Destroy Internet Archive

« on: March 30, 2011, 03:35:47 PM »

Oscar,

Obviously, I cannot speak to anyone else except me (but I suspect I am not alone). I have strived over the years to maintain an excellent reputation especially when it comes to my online presence. Trust me when I say that it hurts me to have the Internet Archive delete my 10 years of history of various websites. In many ways, it speaks to my credibility as I have maintained for a long time an online presence

When I looked back at the historical snapshots of my various websites, it was like going down memory lane watching to see how I evolved my presence and business over the years. I am actually sentimental about these things. Truth be told, my web style has always been traditionally light on graphics and images and heavier on text and basic layout. So, for me, it isn't a matter trying to cover up a trail of photo infringements.

However, I cannot say for absolute certain that these Indian web designers didn't put me into a compromising position more than once. Hence, having been through this grief like the thousands of other letter recipients, I don't care to repeat the incident.

I have chosen to take a more assertive position and to control my online presence. That includes taking down anything that isn't meant for current use.

2127

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: OK ... A Friend Got "The Letter" from Getty

« on: March 29, 2011, 07:00:09 PM »

Lettered,

You brought up an excellent point and I just wrote a small commentary that the stock photo industry is actually helping to destroy the work the Internet Archive is doing to try to preserve Internet history.

Myself alone, I had many sites going on 10 years and there were many changes over the years. Unfortunately, they are no longer there at my request just because I don't need to take the risk there might be another stray image used by some Indian web and graphic designer.

I think the Internet Archive would just cringe over the advice we are giving people but the stock photo companies have left us no choice but to give such harsh advice.

Matthew Chan

2128

Getty Images Letter Forum / Stock Photo Industry Helps to Destroy Internet Archive

« on: March 29, 2011, 06:56:55 PM »

It is really ashame that part of our advice is to ask website owners to remove their websites from the Internet Archive.  I do think those folks really are trying to preserve a piece of history.  But the ongoing rampage by the stock photo companies of looking for any infringement however small even if accidental requires me to advise people to just eliminate their contributions to the Internet.

I have a number of sites that go back nearly 10 years and it was actually fun to see the evolution of those sites but I have had to ask the Internet Archive to remove my websites because I cannot be sure there isn't another stray image that was inserted by some Indian web banner and header designer.

Perhaps one day the Internet Archive folks need to become aware that the work they are doing is being undermined and used underhandedly by the stock photo industry.

Matthew

2129

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: New ELI Video Update for March 25, 2011 Released!

« on: March 28, 2011, 02:39:46 PM »

We don't post open links to the information here.  We only make our videos available to Subscribers. (It's a free subscription.) We don't plan on hand-delivering our thoughts to any of the stock photo companies. If they want to see it, all of them will have go through the subscription process also.

Go to the Home Page & Find the Subscriber-Only Box, put your email address, and you will get an automated email.

2130

Getty Images Letter Forum / New ELI Video Update for March 25, 2011 Released!

« on: March 28, 2011, 03:17:54 AM »

Oscar Michelen and I have recorded our very first video conference on March 25, 2011. We have provided an all-encompassing ELI Video Update on the current status of the Getty Images Settlement Demand Letter controversy, ELI website updates, and other goodies within this 26-minute video.

As many of you know, we don't frequently do many updated recorded audio and videos. But when we do, you can be sure we have something interesting to report.

As with all our past audio and video updates, this informational update is FREE. You simply have to go into our SUBSCRIBER-ONLY area to view this newest video. (Go to the Home Page & Find the Subscriber-Only Box)

If you want to give us thanks (or encourage us to do more), we would appreciate some feedback in this forum thread. One day, we might even take some live callers! But you have to let us know.

Matthew Chan