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Messages - Matthew Chan

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631
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: BWP Media Sanders Law
« on: February 22, 2016, 07:07:31 PM »
They don't typically file lawsuits that quickly. It is an intimidation tactic designed to "motivate" a response.

And whether they file a lawsuit against YOU in particular depends on whether you APPEAR to be a "juicy" target.

There are a lot of factors to consider in determining whether or not you will be a legitimate lawsuit target.

And they may turn you down now, but they could also be motivated otherwise if the right message is conveyed to them. It depends on the type of lawyer you have and how strong your personality is.

If your image was "hotllinked", then they have little to claim against you but you might need to communicate it to them and then stand your ground.

632
I thought everyone would like to see a company that discloses their fees for collection on infringement cases.

https://www.imagerights.com/pricing

=======
ImageRights Premier
Our Premier service is appropriate for Small Agencies and Pro Photographers with larger collections who routinely find infringements of their work. Protect up to 250,000 images

ImageRights Recovery
Keep 60% of net recovery
No service fee on Recovery cases
No Win / No Fee Recovery policy

5 free USCO Copyright Registration filings

$1,295 per year

=====

ImageRights Pro
Our Pro service is appropriate for Pro Photographers who routinely find infringements of their work. Protect up to 100,000 images

ImageRights Recovery
Keep 55% of net recovery
No service fee on Recovery cases
No Win / No Fee Recovery policy

3 free USCO Copyright Registration filings

$495 per year

=======
ImageRights Basic
Our Basic service is appropriate for Pro Photographers who find the occasional infringement of their work. Protect up to 1,000 images

ImageRights Recovery
Keep 50% of net recovery
$50 service fee on Recovery cases

$69 or $89 per USCO Copyright Registration filing

======

According to the Massachusetts Corporations Division, ImageRights is a foreign corporation (Delaware) that was formed in 2009 and Joe Grant Naylor and Ted Vancleave are two principals there.

http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSummary.aspx?FEIN=010936869&SEARCH_TYPE=1

633
MF is also fondly known around here as "MasterFail" depending on the context being spoken about.

634
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: The Legal "Haves" and Legal "Have-Nots"
« on: February 11, 2016, 12:58:45 AM »
I have not come up with a title yet but dealing with the issue of the "legal have nots" is something that has become an important issue to me due to the fact that I have seen too much suffering and loss from those that fall into that category. And they are not simply those that have low-income or live in poverty either. You would be surprised how many middle-class people fall into that category also and become victimized.

635
I am going to remind you that your "angst" is YOUR experience, not everyone elses. We cannot control how people choose to feel. We give lots of good information. Some people feel much better, others feel no different even with information.  It comes down to their own personal issues and personality makeup, not the reality of the situation.

Even if a lawsuit were to occur, it is not the end of the world. It is very inconvenient but there are tactics to fight off bogus lawsuits and make it uncollectible altogether.

Some people like me are aggressive fighters but I am accustomed to standing up for myself and I know enough to be a pain in the ass. But then again, I have gone out of my way to learn defense tactics and strategies and I do my best to NOT depend on expensive lawyers.

Knowledge and the right attitude goes a long way in not becoming a victim.

Thanks for your perspective, Matthew, that is a great help. I've been tooling around the ELI site for some time getting educated. Regardless, angst is still present, as I can't imagine anyone is ever comfortable with the threat of a suit down the road. But I'll stand firm and maintain vigilance.

636
Stinger is correct. All the emotions you are feeling is largely because you know very little and you are not yet educated. I don't mean this disrespectfully, it is a generalized comment.

The more people are legally educated on these matters, you will see that your extreme emotional reactions are excessive.

A healthy respect for the situation is both natural and prudent.  But extreme emotions plays into their hands. Fortunately for you, you are insightful enough to tap into the collective knowledge, wisdom, and resources of the ELI Community.

Stay involved and keep following our announcements. We will be among the first people on the web to get wind of any changes or new developments.

Last thing, as a general rule, lawsuits are the very last things they will consider due to the costs, energy, and time involved. Copyright extortionists are in this for the easy money and people who become low-hanging fruit.

The few lawsuits that are filed generally fall into Year 2  to Year 3 range prior to the expiration of statute of limitations.

Yes they do, Stinger. I appreciate your insight. I'll sit tight for now. I've certainly run the gamut of emotions after receiving these letters like everyone else has: stomach dropping angst, fear of the unknown, anger, frustration, and finally, apathy.

637
Robert Krausankas brought to my attention the recent sale of Corbis Images. I then followed up with some online research. According to online articles, Corbis Images was sold to Chinese firm, Visual China Group. They, in turn, have signed a distribution agreement with Getty Images to make the Corbis Images available to the U.S. through the Getty operation.

http://petapixel.com/2016/01/22/corbis-images-sold-by-bill-gates-to-china-visual-group/

http://variety.com/2016/digital/asia/bill-gates-corbis-images-sold-to-visual-china-1201687743/

http://time.com/4190784/image-licensing-war-is-over/

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/bill-gates-sells-corbis-images-to-visual-china-group-which-strikes-distribution-deal-with-getty/

Chairman Jonathan Klein then pissed off a few Twitter users with his gloating tweet.

http://petapixel.com/2016/01/27/this-is-what-getty-images-founder-had-to-say-about-the-sale-of-corbis-images/
 
Under his reign as CEO, Klein is fairly notorious in trying to orchestrate a monopolistic takeover of the stock photo industry by buying out (and incurring massive Getty debt) several smaller stock photo companies a number of years ago. However, he learned the hard way you really can't buy out the Internet when it comes to digital photographic images especially when new ones are being pumped out by the millions each year by new users and photographers.

It would appear that the the U.S. Corbis Images copyright enforcement operation will likely get folded into the Getty Images operation. For those that don't know it, Getty hides and operates behind the License Compliance Services (LCS) operation also.

It looks like the Getty extortion money machine will be getting bigger. They have the main Getty operation, LCS operation, and quite possible the Corbis operation.

As I have repeatedly said, with the exception of some elite speciality and historical images most of their so-called assets will continue to depreciate.  Big media companies may be willing to pay a lot for certain images but the vast majority of regular people, small business owners, and website owners will never buy into those images without a steep discount.

People inherently know that images and photos (while desirable) are simply not as valuable as they once were before.

Corbis Images would never have been sold if they were doing well. They were probably hurting and losing money which necessitated that sale to the Chinese company.  It is clear Getty wanted to acquire Corbis (based on Klein's remarks) but could never buy it. Getty of late has been dealing with heavy debt and leverage issues.

They are in a poor position to acquire any other businesses. They can't even fully digest the ones they made years ago. Getty is still dealing with a big case of financial indigestion. And we at ELI are doing our small part to make sure they don't ever fully recover.

638
I like your thinking! Very creative! Selling ELI to Getty Images would be a very interesting deal.  Or maybe Timmy would want to buy ELI, how about that?  LOL.

When you get tired and want to get out Matt, I would suggest that you sell ELI to a consortium of trolls and make them close it.  That way, at least you can actually get paid for all the time and effort that you have put into this site  for over 7.5 years.  We can make a good business case to them about how much money you have cost them in the past, and what it should be worth to them to have ELI out of the way.

Just kidding!  The old MBA in me always wants to monetize exit strategies.

Keep up the good work!

639
Getty Images Letter Forum / The Legal "Haves" and Legal "Have-Nots"
« on: January 23, 2016, 01:03:27 PM »
Over the course of years, I have come to realize that there is world of the legal "haves" and legal "have-nots".

The legal "have-nots" suffer and are victimized in unimaginable ways because they are unable to speak or understand "legalese". They live in the spectre of uncertainty and fear of loss. People who are normally very smart and confident become emotional putty once they enter the legal world. It is heart-breaking to see and very unfair.

ELI has never been a legal website per se, but we do end up having to discuss "legalese". I've also brought to light many non-traditional and unorthodox (but entirely legal) ideas and solutions to the forefront. And with the exception of Oscar Michelen, everyone else on ELI is a non-lawyer who volunteer their time to help other non-lawyers.  Next to Oscar, I have the most legal experience because of my personal experiences and practice in legal self-representation matters.  Additionally, I have interacted and learned from several lawyers over the years.

The fact of the matter is that, unlike me, most lawyers are not the education business. There is no money to be made in educating non-lawyers. Their money is made being HIRED by non-lawyers. Oscar is the one exception here. While he doesn't actively participate here on the ELI Forums as much as before, the impact of his work ripples forward. By virtue of his educating the ELI Defense Team, we then pass it forward to all of you readers.

My power and talent lies in my ability to tap into the First Amendment and the power of technology and publishing. I also have a background in marketing, presentations, and business education. I synergize the aforementioned in creative ways to help others.

A Getty lawyer who shall go unnamed wrote a complaint about me accusing me of "practicing law", in effect trying to silence me. My rebuttal was that I represent no one but myself. The First Amendment gives me the right to report and give my personal opinions on a wide-ranging material include law and legal matters. I have a right to discuss with anyone or share my non-lawyer opinions on legal matters. I have never represented myself as a lawyer (and never will) and people have always been free to accept or discard the information I publish. But it goes to show you the lengths some people have gone to silence me.

Part of solving the problem of the legal "haves" and legal "have-nots" is non-traditional education. That is one reason why the ELI Forums exist. We educate people in ways that could never happen in any seminar or classroom. We occasionally use social media, we also use outpost websites like YouTube and Scribd as teaching tools. I brought together people into a "mindshare" to create a small army of eyes and ears.

But some people believe just because they have some money at their disposal, the fall in to the  legal "haves". Unfortunately, it is only when they spent all their money, they realize how little they had to begin with. They had no idea what their lawyers knew or didn't know. They had no real-world perspective as to the practicality of the advice they are getting. They had no ability or skills to properly interview, select, and manage their lawyers.

There is no shortage of people who spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, in legal fees and realize they got ZIPPO. They got ZIPPO because although they had the ability to hire a lawyer, the person never got any smarter and they were ENTIRELY DEPENDENT on what a lawyer tells them.

They were legally ignorant and they didn't realize how badly their legal ignorance hurt them until their lawyer pumped all their money from them and got shitty results. You don't need to spend lots of money to get shitty results. People can do it all by themselves without any help whatsoever.  It is a very old story and continues to happen to this day.

Part of the solution is not throwing dumb money to hire a lawyer.  A big part of the solution is learning and getting an education in "practical legalese". Reading a law dictionary will do nothing for someone unless they know how to apply it in real life. And law schools are notoriously bad for teaching "practical law" and "practical legalese". By being smarter in "practical legalese" and becoming more "legally informed", you will then have much more success and satisfaction in hiring a lawyer.

How do I know? As I have gotten smarter over the years, my interactions with lawyers have become remarkably better and the results are far superior. And I become less dependent on lawyers for smaller matters because I have learned basic skills of being a legal practitioner on behalf of myself.

To be clear, learning all of this "practical legalese" is not something I intentionally set out to do. Some if just "happened" to me. Some of it was because of business necessity.

Outside of the copyright extortion arena, I have seen all kinds of bad legal stuff happen to others in areas such as publishing, real estate, tenants, free speech matters, etc. And some spent LOTS of money on lawyers with very little good results. They were suckered and had no idea whether their lawyer was any good or not. I still see people I know get all tangled up in legal matters but clueless in how to chart a course out. It is tough to watch but you cannot force another person to learn "practical legalese". They have to want to learn it.

What this is all leading up to is that I be releasing a series of reports on Amazon Kindle this year that will directly deal with the things people need to know when choosing, interviewing, and managing lawyers. And what you can do even if you don't have a lawyer. I am a non-lawyer and I cannot give legal advice. But what I can do is share my own experiences and opinions on different matters.

I promise you what I will be reporting, no lawyer will ever willingly tell you or teach to you. In fact, I will go so far as to say that many lawyers don't want their clients to know what I plan on teaching because they will be fearful the information will be used against them if you ever become unhappy with them. It is entirely legal but your knowing certain things can dramatically shift the power of influence into your direction as a client.

People who have read ELI have some insights because I have, over time, shared my information. However, I have never attempted a comprehensive document of everything I have learned. It is information every non-lawyer needs to learn. I have seen too much power imbalance and too many people unfairly taken advantaged of because of their legal ignorance. And while I cannot save the world, I can save a few people willing to learn and support my efforts.

Believe me, legal information is power and lawyers ain't teaching. Law schools teach theory, I focus on "street law", the information that you can actually apply and use.

For those of you interested, I will make periodic updates but I will also make updates on Defiantly.net, a first-cousin website to ELI.

640
So, there is a guy who made a post on the ELI Facebook page trying to get a dig on us where most of the information and advice is FREELY shared here on the ELI Forums. And a dig on Oscar because a response was missed. 

Sadly, not sure this site is really still active. Sent information to the Oscar Michelen Defense Letter Program, but never got a response. Could not get a response from anybody here either. Got on the phone and settled the Masterfile threat letter myself.

My response:

Sadly, you can't read that ExtortionLetterInfo.com is the main website where we provide most of the information and forum activity, not this Facebook page which is mostly for announcements. Sadly, you are proud of yourself for paying probably way too much to Masterfile. Good job for being a sucker.

Despite the fact, there are all kinds of mentions and links to the main ELI website and ELI Forums, somehow he thinks because we don't make constant announcements or have active dialog on the ELI Facebook page, that we are not "active".

Because we all know how many lawyers are killing themselves to legally defend victims at a flat fee of $200-$275.  Not $200-$275 per hour, a flat fee of $200-$275. Because lawyers just are dying to compete with that.

Regular ELI readers know that Masterfile claims often go into $3,000 to $6,000 range. So this genius, probably got himself a smoking deal of settling with Masterfile for $1,500-$2,000.  Oooooh, I am so impressed that someone "only paid" $1,500 to $2,000 to settle.

ELI is not perfect. Unlike the copyright extortionists who collectively generate millions of dollars per year, ELI works on a voluntary business where the majority of people get FREE information. Yes, we do offer some small support programs but it is nothing compared to the resources being spent on the opposing side.

We largely VOLUNTEER our time and try to be creative to provide support where very few are willing to go do.  That is why after 7.5 years, Oscar remains the only lawyer in the U.S. to consistently maintain visibility and a non-moneymaking, flat fee legal representation program. This is why you will find certain information and advice here that you cannot find anywhere else.

IF ELI ever shut down doing away with the Defense Letter Program, the ELI Forums, and the ELI Support Call program, tens of thousands of victims in the U.S. would suffer like you would never believe. And the copyright extortionists would celebrate.

Yes, there are some websites occasionally "reporting" on complaints and giving some shaky advice, but ELI remains the only ACTIVIST website that knows the players in ways others cannot and who does this year-round. ELI remains an ongoing power check and counter-balance to the stock photo copyright extortion industry. With few exception, we have directly taken on and engaged many of these people, not just sitting in the background being a pundit.

Some people should show some fucking appreciation and stop being clueless. This Facebook moron is so proud of himself because he has more money than brains or a spine.  Good on him.

It is people like him that make me sometimes think about shutting down ELI and letting the copyright extortion wolves have at it.  Then maybe some people will be less of a wise-ass and realize the impact we have had over the years. If Masterfile is settling more easily, they aren't doing it to be nice guys.  They are doing it because they know if they don't settle easily, they will eventually stumble here on ELI to get further educated and they will likely get ZERO.

Masterfile used to try to show everyone how big and tough they were a few years back until they got the legal bills for trying to be so tough. When those big legal bills came in, they realized that it didn't work as well as they intended.

641
Masterfile don't care where there money comes from: her or the insurance companies.

If Masterfiles' thinking to go after MD's because they might have money, they will fail, the MD's don't make the money the insurance companies do.

642
Gobbler,

Good catch on that. I didn't remember. Yes, we have long known that the people we report on are enthusiastic readers of ELI.

Could you do me a favor and email me the filing to matt30060 gmail?

I agree that for many people, it is best to use an alias.

Regarding Sheila, it looks like I entirely missed that thread in May 2013. It was during the time I got disgusted and pissed with the whole 2013 Linda Ellis vs. Matthew Chan legal fiasco and decided to go into self-imposed exile until Timmy McCormack pissed me off and brought me back.

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/eli-founder-matthew-chan-returns-to-eli-after-year-long-exile/

I think many of us were preoccupied behind the scenes on my legal case. I certainly made no secret that I was going to be selfish and worry about myself first before anyone else and part of that was that I didn't participate or read the ELI Forums for nearly a year.

Sheila was an unfortunate soul who was caught with bad timing during my self-imposed exile in 2013. Oscar doesn't typically ignore emails but he gets freaking busy.  Oscar gets a lot of emails and was likely busy and her emails might have fallen through the cracks. Oscar also had one extra unexpected person he was helping behind the scenes, it was me!

I looked back at my email record and it turns out that Sheila did send one email in asking me to contact Oscar. It looks like I forwarded it to his office but I didn't respond back to her like I typically do.

I give preferential treatments and remember those that enroll in an ELI Support Calls. The reason I do is because I actually spend time with them on the phone and get to know them and their case, so they stick out in my mind more. I also feel a greater moral obligation to assist like when they are trying to reach Oscar's office.

Everyone else, who sends me email (and I get lots of email), I don't remember or recall as well. The Defense Letter Program service is a very good one but no one hard sells it. Due to the low price, it simply cannot be at the top of the priority list for Oscar but they typically do get around to taking care of everyone.

People who enroll in ELI Support Calls often get better results coming through me simply because I have a direct line to Oscar and his office manager if I need to use it. I also tell them how to submit a request. 

I feel bad for Sheila because she appears to have fallen through the cracks.

Actually guys, Shelia Addison was active on this board about 2 years ago.  She was complaining that Oscar had been ignoring her emails.

See here:  http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/masterfile-threat-should-i-continue-to-reply/

Not only that, but her postings are quoted in the filing on Pacer which shows that these dirtbags are definitely prowling this discussion board looking for evidence.  ...which is why I'm at least semi-trying to be anonymous :-)

643
It looks like Masterfile is off to an early start this year. Masterfile filed two fresh lawsuits this week to launch 2016. I haven't gone into Pacer yet but a Google search reveals that these are two medical practices. I guess Masterfile figures that brick and mortar doctor offices should have money to cough up and pay copyright infringement claims.

Interestingly, I don't know either one of these doctors. In fact, since these were only filed the last 2 days, they will likely get served by next week and I am sure they will be very unhappy when that time comes.

Normally, we find out lawsuits after the victims do. But I am certain the victims don't yet know they are going to be served very soon.

Masterfile Corporation v. The Heartbeat Clinic, PA et al
Filed: January 20, 2016 as 3:2016cv00171
Plaintiff: Masterfile Corporation
Defendant: The Heartbeat Clinic, PA, Amer Suleman
Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement
Court: Fifth Circuit › Texas › Texas Northern District Court

Masterfile Corporation v. Sheila Addison
Filed: January 19, 2016 as 4:2016cv00293
Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement
Court: Ninth Circuit › California › California Northern District Court

Masterfile filed 3 lawsuits in 2015. January isn't over and they have already filed 2 lawsuits. It should be interesting to see how many they will file in 2016.


644
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: NCS letters
« on: January 21, 2016, 12:34:00 AM »
Yup, Getty is notoriously sloppy. They went and bought millions of images in an attempt to monopolize and hold the value of stock photo images.  They finally realized they can't buy EVERYONE out. And that most images are fundamentally depreciating assets.

Every year that goes by as many millions of images are produced everyday, it further diminishes all the other images in existence.  It is a pretty shitty business to be in and there are only so many big paying customers.

yes,someone is fibbing here,and my guess is that it is Getty. Hell how is Getty to even know if you licensed the image elsewhere..

645
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: NCS letters
« on: January 21, 2016, 12:30:52 AM »
People don't always do what they are supposed to do. In those situations, people need to get their head on straight.

It certainly doesn't hurt to assert FDCPA because NCS is at the heart a debt collection agency who extended their operation to copyright claims collection.

All I am saying is that quoting FDCPA may not be all that effective.

I'm not sure I agree with this assessment. NCS is certainly trying to collect on something they see as debt,even though it is clearly a "claim".. By stating as much I think they are legally required to punt it back, and cease any further communication. IMHO a second letter would make them think twice, however,Getty will simply "escalate" the case to one of their "Lawyers" ( term used loosely) like Seattle Attorney and drug dealer Tim McCormack.

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