Click Official ELI Links
Get Help With Your Extortion Letter | ELI Phone Support | ELI Legal Representation Program
Show your support of the ELI website & ELI Forums through a PayPal Contribution. Thank you for supporting the ongoing fight and reporting of Extortion Settlement Demand Letters.

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Matthew Chan

Pages: 1 ... 45 46 [47] 48 49 ... 154
691
It is pretty clear that no one at ELI and its readership has any love for Getty Images, any of its employees, or what they do.  They have made themselves thousands of enemies over the years and created a lot of badwill.  They continue to do what they do and they drive more people to ELI.

Unfortunately, I have very little inside information on Getty Images and I continue to hope that one day someone will come to me with juicy information on the inner workings of Getty Images.

In 2008, a Getty employee named Chloe made me very unhappy and I had to write a couple of unhappy letters to her which gave birth to ELI and inspired the alliance of me and Oscar Michelen.  This further lead to alliances with many other people who have since become really good friends with us. We don't like extortion bullshit and look out for each other's backs. Not only that, we teach readers some really good information, tactics, and strategies to defend and protect themselves.

As far as most of us are concerned, we are relishing the day Getty Images gets brought down to their knees and fortunately for us, Getty's own hubris, poor management, and obnoxious ways has come back to haunt them. 

Investor report services and the financial press have been covering Getty Images' very poor financial condition. They are saddled with tons of debt and investor ratings and reporting of Getty Images is very bad.

Not many people like Getty Images.  Investors don't like them, extortion letter victims hate them, photographers dislike them, and even their customers don't like them.  Getty Images has managed to piss of so many people from different constituencies that Getty's credibility is essentially shit.  Almost no one believes their propaganda.

Based on my preliminary research of Getty Images financial condition from Bloomberg, Moody's, and other financial reporting websites, I have come to the conclusion that Getty Images will eventually have to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy which is a forced legal re-organization overseen by bankruptcy courts.

When a company becomes insolvent and its cash revenues are insufficient to support debt and operations, they often seek court-protection. And to do that, they have to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy. When that happens, it sends a serious chill to all stakeholders such as employees, vendors, suppliers, customers, etc.

I honestly think that Getty stakeholders will be interested in someone covering Getty Images' deteriorating financial conditions. It may be that Getty can turn things around but from my perspective, it looks bleak.  Hence, this thread is dedicated to a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Getty Images.  The debt levels appear to be a serious problem and the only way to get rid of it is through bankruptcy.  I don't think any potential buyer of Getty Images will want to acquire them without the bankruptcy process to jettison the debt.

There are two serious loan deadlines looming on the horizon in 2019 and 2020. So, it will be interesting to see what transpires between now and then.

692
They tried to buy up all the competition but most of the stock photo industry tanked on them. Quite frankly, the value of most stock photography is fairly low.  There is a huge abundance (glut) of photographs today.

693
For those looking towards Getty Images financial demise, Moody's Investor Service released some interesting information on August 14, 2015:

https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-says-Getty-Images-plan-to-issue-additional-debt-is--PR_332559

Some interesting quotes from the Moody's report:

Given the company's very high leverage and limited free cash flow, Moody's believes capital to be raised by the company to fund additional growth investments should be largely in the form of equity to avoid negative rating actions. Getty Images' senior secured term loan B (roughly $1.85 billion outstanding) is due 2019 and the $550 million 7% senior notes are due 2020. The ability to refinance these debt instruments prior to their maturities becomes increasingly challenged to the extent the company is not able to reduce leverage below current levels.

Basically, Getty Images has a ton of debt to support. They are barely holding it together right now. There are some major loans due in 2019 and 2020 and there are concerns that Getty might not be able to refinance.

Revenue totaled $827 million for the 12 months ended June 30, 2015.

No doubt that the License Compliance division contributes to these revenues. I would even go so far that upper management constantly cracks the whip on them to collect more money.  Getty Images desperately needs cash flow to service their debt levels.

If you sign up for a free account of the Moody's Investor Service (as I did), you will find even more goodies (although some reports you have to pay for to read).

Here is another negative report by Moody's about Getty Images from December 15, 2014.

Moody's Changes Outlook of Getty Images from Stable to NEGATIVE!

https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-changes-the-outlook-of-Getty-Images-to-Negative-from--PR_314730

This particular article has a LOT of detail that I have not entirely processed yet.  But it is mostly bad from the tone of the article.

Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") changed the rating outlook of Getty Images, Inc. ("Getty Images") to negative from stable due to continuing declines in Midstock revenue and Moody's revised forecast indicating very high leverage over the next 12 months with reduced free cash flow.

At the end of 2014/early 2015, Moody's gave Getty Images very bad marks to their corporate health.

I predict that Getty Images will have to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the near future to do a corporate reorg. Short of substantial cash revenue growth or investor cash infusion, their corporate debt seems likely to break them in the near future. Remember this, I am calling it now!


I am betting that most of the Getty Images employees have no clue how bad things are because most of them are only concerned about their salaries and not smart enough to read investor business reports to get the inside poop of a large company. Upper management has no incentive to tell their lower-level employees of the financial crisis Getty Images is in. Lower level employees are always the last to know.

Smart Getty employees will start polishing their resumes and get the hell out before things get really bad. Upper management will always take care of themselves with golden parachutes while the line employees and lower management take a bloodbath.

Getty employees can thank me for advance warning of a future Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. I don't have confidence Getty will turn it around but, who knows, I could be proven wrong.


694
I am noticing some changes from the Getty Images' Picscout arm of the License Compliance division. I have a copy of an email sent by a Koleta Vee using a cluster-fuck of email addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected].  I didn't notice these changes before but it could be I was not paying close attention.

lcservices-inc.com is owned by Getty Images based on the whois info and uses the Getty DNS. It was registered in Feb. 2013 and last updated March 2014. The lcs.global domain was registered in July 13, 2015 and last updated Aug. 23. 2015 Given this, the LCS email operational changes seems very new.  lcs.global DNS points to wixdns.net

The email I have clearly states a corporation name "License Compliance Services Inc." that is NOT registered in the Illinois, California, New York, or Washington corporations database. They are using the Seattle address. From the GettyImages.com contact us page, they list 4 business locations. 

http://www.gettyimages.com/contactus

    Getty Images, Chicago
    55 E Monroe Street
    17th fl, Suite 1700
    Chicago, IL 60603

    Getty Images, Los Angeles
    6300 Wilshire Blvd, 16th Floor
    Los Angeles, CA 90048

    Getty Images, New York
    75 Varick Street
    New York, NY 10013

    Getty Images, Seattle
    605 5th Ave South, Suite 400
    Seattle, WA 98104

They are also using a new LCS logo with a tag "Creations are Valuable". The logo as well as LCS can be found here:  http://www.lcs.global/

I believe Getty is engaging in corporation name hanky-panky but I cannot be absolutely sure. They are advertising/communicating/using a corporate name I cannot find registered in the 4 Getty business states.  But there is a small possibility it might be registered in one of the other 46 states.

And what is the deal with the address lcs.global.com? A visit to global.com indicates some enterprise software company that Getty appears to be utilizing as part of their internal communication process. My guess is that it relates to how they are moving towards maintaining cases and distributing extortion notices electronically vs. by letter as in years past.

I welcome anyone who wants to help me dig and uncover more information based on what I have found so far.


695
I periodically check on individual cases for people who pay for ELI Support Calls.

My best guess that this has been in effect only this year, probably the last few months at most. 


696
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Publicly Shaming Trolls?
« on: September 01, 2015, 07:32:25 PM »
I encourage you to share information. If you are concerned about sharing certain information, then you can send people to ELI and the ELI Forums where there are many anonymous contributors of information.

There are many ways to skin a cat.  ELI specializes in being a vexatious force against those that try to take unfair advantage.

If it means anything, since Week 1 when ELI launched in 2008, I have adopted a philosophy of naming names and calling out people on all levels from the lowly clerks to lawyers to managers and executives.

In my view, anyone is fair game if they come after me. I take an aggressive view of those people and enemies who attack me and I believe in mowing down anyone associated with such actions.  I will use every legal tactic available to me.  For me, the First Amendment, search engines, and publicity are my friend and available to anyone being attacked / extorted.

As a publisher with a reasonably well read blog I feel empowered to shed some light on this copyright troll issue.  We had our own back and forth with a troll last year which I ended up (perhaps foolishly) settling with.  At any rate, I'd very much like to publish some of the email exchanges I had with these clowns as part of a series of articles simply as a way to illustrate their tactics, aggression, and expose their idea of ethics.  Basically I want to shame the industry for what it's worth.

I know a lot has been republished here despite troll's claims that such things are private and so on. Curious if there is any real risk in angering the troll post settlement here.  I'm guessing no, since I never signed anything promising to keep it private, but it would be helpful to hear best practices on this!


697
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Online Petition Against Getty
« on: September 01, 2015, 07:24:01 PM »
We, at ELI, are much pragmatic people.  We like to take meaningful action.  Signing an online petition requires little effort but it also has little impact in making a difference.

Many of the strategies discussed on this forum such as filing complaints to certain agencies are very powerful and effective. Speaking out public and sharing information here on the forums is very powerful on so many levels.

The Google and Bing search engines are our friend. When people post on these forums, it also helps us out in getting the word out within search engines. It is amazing how education and knowledge to many people can effect so much change.

People who hang on ELI are not about cowering and hiding.  It is about being smart, creative, and punching back.  Everyone gets to choose how to punch back directly or indirectly.

Just know that if you are "only" reading, lurking, going dark by not paying, hiring me or Oscar, you ultimately are punching back. Filing complaints, outing extortionists, and naming names are all awesome gravy items.

It is difficult for anyone who connects and reads ELI to NOT have a negative impact against copyright extortionists.  It is how we roll around here.

698
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Do Trolls Talk to Each Other?
« on: September 01, 2015, 07:15:08 PM »
The answer is absolutely "yes".  When it comes to the copyright extortion business, "competitors" do compare notes and they do discuss ELI.  It is all about maximizing their collections and using new tactics and strategies to extract more dollars from every victim.

ELI is very much the aggressive counter-punch to those people and we are hated for discussing very unorthodox, unconventional (but legal) ideas.

That is why there are certain things that DON'T get posted on ELI anymore. ELI is the common enemy/adversary.

In fact, because copyright extortionists read ELI extensively and track our posts, we have to withhold certain information and the only way to learn about certain things is through an ELI Support Call. I discuss things and share information (as appropriate) on an ELI Support Call that many of us know within ELI but don't publicly post here on the forums.

Traditionally, we prefer to be open and transparent but we have learned that ELI (and me in particular) have very real enemies. And given that the copyright extortionists are always watching ELI, there are a few of us who are forced to keep information close to the vest.

The copyright extortionist industry is a small business where most of the major players know each other.  We have heard from various channels that ELI is ultimately what brought many of them together.  It is the price paid for ELI being so effective in educating and informing so many people over the last 7 years.

699
To follow on to Robert's comment, we are talking about an administrative dissolution of a corporation.  Simply stop paying the state and they will dissolve your corporation within 1-2 years and it becomes a non-entity.

Bankruptcies will only help if you had a bunch of other debts you needed to discharge.  It would be crazy to pay and file bankruptcy over a small infringement claim.

A person who is determined to NOT pay a judgment can do a lot. This is why there aren't more lawsuits by copyright extortionists.  Judgments can be very difficult to collect from many people.

They prefer to get money "cooperatively".  Scaring the crap out of someone to pay is considered a "cooperative" endeavor because the victim willingly pays regardless of the underlying motivation.

700
I am informing everyone that Getty Images/Picscout License Compliance Services are now implementing LiveChat popup windows were a staff member offers to assist any visitor to the infringement case link.

I was helping someone look at their case and a LiveChat popup window with a support agent's name came up to offer me "assistance".

Essentially, they are tracking visitors to any particular claim and trying to initiate direct communication with any website visitor. So beware of this.

I would tell everyone to get the screenshots you need and then don't visit any more than necessary.


701
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Defense Letter Program
« on: May 27, 2015, 06:55:20 PM »
I don't know what else to tell you. Hiring Oscar for the Defense Letter Program is not difficult but it is occasionally imperfect. Your case might have fallen through the cracks. Many people have hired Oscar successfully over the years without going what you have gone through.

You keep saying "someone" said Oscar would call you back.  Except I am telling you that is NOT how you get on the Defense Letter Program. I know because I helped design the enrollment system with the input and feedback from Oscar and his Office Manager.

You can try to contact on your own or you can email me and I forward it to them. That is the best anyone here can do. No one here on the Forum (besides Oscar himself) has a more direct line to the people who can help you than me.

You have not identified yourself to me so I cannot help you unless you do.

702
As far as the "seeding" issue is concerned, there may not be any evidence of VKT seeding the Internet but there is no question in my mind that he is EXTORTIONATELY and DISPROPORTIONALLY PROFITING from all the "free wallpaper" websites.

I can't speak for anyone else but in my view anyone who wants to take unfair advantage of such circumstances and trying to reach into my pocket, I would do everything in my power to fight it even if that meant going outside the legal system and using publicity to my advantage.  Contrary to some people's belief, expressing strong, negative opinions is NOT the same as defamation.  For some, they have been accustomed to working too many years in ivory tower offices outside of public eyes.

There is no person that I know who would ever agree that asking $2,000 or more as a "fair settlement" because they found a stray Hawaiian image on a "free wallpaper" website. They are taking egregious advantage.  ELI has established that extortion lawyers work for their 30%-40% commissions and they want to do it secretly without anyone ever knowing.

VKT and his extortion lawyers can try and line their pockets. The best thing that anyone can do is to make sure they name names which includes their sleazy lawyers like James Stephen Street, Dane Anderson, and Adam Gafni.  As far as I am concerned, they are all part of the VKT Extortion Scheme, financially RAPING their victims, and then silencing them through "confidential settlement agreements".

As far as I am concerned, I could not let those kinds of people figuratively and financially RAPE and me and get away with it expecting me to stay silent. But I know that is only MY OPINION and not reflective of how others might feel.

I take things very personally and I have no problems writing unflattering opinions for others to read and let people make their own judgments.  Too many people are way too polite and "civil" which is why they get bent over and get figuratively and financially "raped" by VKT and his extortion lawyers.

703
Just an update. I have seen another one of Adam Gafni's extortion letter on behalf of Vincent K. Tylor. Apparently, he is still seeking his 30%-40% share from the victims.

It is still a mystery where the law firm of Woolf, Gafni, Cirlin LLP is registered.  If it is registered in California, I have not found it and I have tried.

In my view, WGC operates in California and they should be registered there regardless if they are a foreign corporation.

I would say that any victim of VKT and WGC would need to report this California Attorney General's office or the local BBB as this seems highly suspicious. Or perhaps even the California State Bar.

As far as I am concerned, something smells fishy in that whole set up. 

704
Yes, thanks everyone.

It was two long years getting to this outcome.  Lots of waiting around.

705
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Defense Letter Program
« on: May 27, 2015, 05:18:06 PM »
You can't just send information.  You have to be explicit in your email that you want to hire Oscar for the Defense Letter Program.  Some people are not explicit about wanting to hire Oscar and be on the program. Some people write "soft" emails expressing interest in the program without being pointed about it. His staff reads the initial emails. When in doubt, they go to the bottom of the stack.

If you do not feel you are getting the proper response, email me, then I will forward it to his office.

Pages: 1 ... 45 46 [47] 48 49 ... 154
Official ELI Help Options
Get Help With Your Extortion Letter | ELI Phone Support Call | ELI Defense Letter Program
Show your support of the ELI website & ELI Forums through a PayPal Contribution. Thank you for supporting the ongoing fight and reporting of Extortion Settlement Demand Letters.