Messages

736

Legal Controversies Forum / Good Article about the Emergence of Anti-Troll Sites

« on: February 27, 2013, 11:36:18 AM »

I found a good article today over at Ars Technica talking about how sites like www.FightCopyrightTrolls.com and www.DieTrollDie.com are informing people about the copyright trolls and how to fight back. This article was written more towards the P2P/bit torrent porn trolls as opposed to the stock photo trolls but it is still a good article and shows our story and fight is starting to get picked up more places and reported on.

The emergence of sites with names like Fight Copyright Trolls and DieTrollDie is creating headaches for the porn trolls. The trolls' threats often rest on shaky legal foundations, but they've been able to intimidate many victims into paying up anyway. Anti-troll sites closely monitor ongoing troll lawsuits, publicize troll misconduct, and offer their fellow John Does advice on fighting back. By providing victims with accurate information and moral support, anti-troll sites make it much harder for trolls to intimidate them. And by documenting trolls' misconduct, they provide defense attorneys with ammunition to discredit the trolls in the eyes of judges.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/02/enraged-by-abusive-lawsuits-anonymous-troll-slayers-are-fighting-back/

737

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Thank You

« on: February 27, 2013, 11:10:27 AM »

Bulldog1028,

Thank you for the kind words and I am glad my actions and campaign gave you some inspiration.  I see you have the same Getty Pen-Pal as I did, our Mr. Bieker.  If you plan on responding this is the last letter I sent to him just before I start my complaint letter campaign.  It stopped NCS before they could get involved as well as stopped McCormack from sending me anything (I don’t think it was even sent to him).  If you want to do something like this, do not copy this letter just use it as a guide, Getty knows my work and will call you out on it.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/103914504/1-8-Letter-to-Getty-07-03-12-Redacted

Hi Greg,

You were actually one of the biggest inspirations for me.  That and I have a lot of grit, so of course, I would fight.

On an old website that has since been taken down since my rebrand, I would write a series of blog articles on wedding-related items - mainly directed towards the groom.  For each article, I would attach a photo from a Google Image search, never thinking twice about it, that would relate to the topic of the article.  The photo I found was posted multiple times, on multiple websites of varying topics, and was in different image "crops" if you will.  The image would maybe be 300 pixels wide, and the posts were never to drive profit for me as I am a wedding DJ and I was writing about groomsmen gifts, in this case.

So I got the letter and was told to pay $1,065.  Of course, I had no idea how that number was calculated.  So I wrote two letters, got the standard response back, was sent to NCS, just wrote them a letter and finished my third reply to Bieker right now.

738

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Thank You

« on: February 26, 2013, 08:30:31 PM »

Way to go Bulldog!  I am always glad to hear when letter victims fight back.  Would you mind sharing some of the detail with us?  Please keep us posted either way.

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone - I, too, have received Getty's letter and have been studying in here for a while, as I have now written a third letter to Getty.  All three have been inspired by you all.

Without you guys and gals, I probably would have cowered and paid their amount as I was visibly shaking when I read their demand.

So, thank you, and here's to fighting the good fight!

739

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Thank you ELI for the resources re: Getty Images Demand Letters

« on: February 26, 2013, 01:53:18 PM »

Welcome RosebudTiger!  I hope you will continue to stick around, share your story and participate in the forums.

Rather than start a new post, I'll add my appreciation here.  A huge thank you to Oscar, Matthew, Robert, Greg, and the rest of the ELI community for all of your time and effort.  I've been visiting this site regularly since I received a demand letter from Masterfile a few months ago.  This is an incredibly valuable resource for those choosing to gain the knowledge and courage needed to protect themselves from the extortion campaigns.

740

Legal Controversies Forum / New unbelievably brazen fraud: Internet Copyright Law Enforcement Agency

« on: February 25, 2013, 07:37:57 PM »

Before I start let me say that this group has been busted already. This was an amazing story not only in the brazenness of these crooks but it will be interesting to find out in the weeks to come how they were getting their information. This scam involved music downloads where people who had downloaded songs via bit torrent were identified by IP address and then a letter addressed to the IP owner was sent showing the downloads and demanding $495. This article can be found over at copyrighttrolls.com

Over the last couple of days, I started receiving disturbing reports about a new copyright extortion outfit, “Internet Copyright Law Enforcement Agency.” The con artists behind this “company” have been mass-sending demand letters threatening that those who won’t pay $495 by a certain date, “will be fingerprinted, photographed, and held in jail until you are arraigned in court.”

http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2013/02/21/new-unbelievably-brazen-fraud-internet-copyright-law-enforcement-agency/

741

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: New warning below some of Gettys Photos..

« on: February 25, 2013, 04:58:50 PM »

Robert, I tend to agree this sound more like a site owner trying to warn people.  But even at that people still don't get it all too often.  Remember the guy that put the picture of a car, I think it was a Nissan on his website that DID contain the copyright information in the photo and was shocked when he got a letter?

Take note that it is "under" the image not a part of the image...I've not seen this before, but it's best practice to have it in/on the image...someone will share these images, and getty will simply say "you were warned", when in actuality the warning is only good if you're at the source... Actually now that I think about it, the site owner most likely posted this under the image and not getty themselves..

742

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Something caught my eye....

« on: February 24, 2013, 08:14:39 PM »

I so wish I could talk about it, but in time it will be revealed

Darn, thanks for pointing this out, Robert. I missed that altogether.

Greg, looking forward to seeing what you come up with regarding this new little nugget of naughtiness by the copyright trolls at Getty Images.

743

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Something caught my eye....

« on: February 24, 2013, 05:37:21 PM »

I am going to investigate this further and I WILL make something of it as it could tie in nicely with my current project with Getty.

744

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Received a Getty Demand Letter, part 2

« on: February 22, 2013, 11:10:39 PM »

Oscar is amazing!  Glad to hear the outcome.  I hope you will stick around the forums.

I too got a second Getty letter.  They had responded to my request for proof of their claim, their contractual rights to claim, their inflated dollar request etc etc. ALL smoke screens and bla bla bla.  I decided I do not have the time or the "edge" or knowledge to respond again and continue to play the game.  I contacted Oscar and asked him to prepare a letter to Getty.  Wow, I am 150% ok maybe 200% relieved- ok 1000% happy I did it.  He sent such a comprehensive, tight letter and truthfully I consider the issue a dead one and so does Oscar.  I had one image Getty was asking for about $1200 for.  Slam dunk.  Thank you Oscar you did an Spectacular job!!!

745

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: An Experiment Against Getty

« on: February 22, 2013, 11:49:20 AM »

Thanks Mulligan, CD number two of 6 should arrive at the end of the month and I will get those up shortly thereafter too.  I'm not sure why they are only sending around 10 at a time, maybe because there is a lot of boilerplate stuff and they have to go through and redact passwords to access Getty's online payment system and other items like that.  We have all seen these letters and I remove this part and leave the meat so you guys don't have to wade through the same replies to every letter from Getty.

Greg, thanks for your work on the latest complaints.

I found quite several useful legal citations in this particular complaint, citations that have gone into my declaratory judgment recourse file:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675147/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-2

Good job, as always, Greg!

746

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: An Experiment Against Getty

« on: February 21, 2013, 09:32:08 PM »

Here are the complaints from the Washington State Attorney Generals office that were on the fisrt CD with the fluff removed.  The next CD is due to ship to me on the 28th.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675143/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-1

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675147/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-2

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675148/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-3

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675150/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-4

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675152/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-5

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675155/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-6

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675156/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-7

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675160/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-8

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126675161/WA-State-AG-Complaint-New-9

747

Legal Controversies Forum / Re: Can you be sued for leaving a bad review?

« on: February 21, 2013, 03:29:39 PM »

I don't think you have anything to worry about as you have everything documented, it is a review and you don't see movie companies suing reviewers who get on national TV and say it was the worst thing ever don't waste your time or money, and it falls under freedom of speech.

However, the only exception to this rule would be if you were reviewing or speaking unkindly, but truthfully about Linda Ellis as she would file a temporary protective order against you for stocking and harassment.

I read reviews all the time and I see many bad reviews of products and service. I was wondering, can a person be sued for giving a bad review of a company on the web?

Here is what I went through with one article service. Can I get sued for having this info of my experience with this company on the web?

http://www.edrums.info/this_was_the_first_round_of_emai33.html


 If I shoud not have posted this here, please remove.

748

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: An Experiment Against Getty

« on: February 21, 2013, 03:15:08 PM »

I like that mental image . If this goes well I think Getty may be saying.... "Could we please just go back to that misguided and misdirected letter writing campaign? 

Greg that post just put the glorious image of some Getty Images legal drone staring into his computer, setting down his powdered sugar donut, and saying, "uh-oh."

749

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: An Experiment Against Getty

« on: February 21, 2013, 02:58:07 PM »

Once I receive all six CDs of Attorney General complaints I am already planning a follow-up letter to the Attorney General asking at what point there will be enough complaints to investigate this company for extortion. I also have included an cited quite a bit of case law backing up my claim.

I also have a couple of other things in the works which I am not at liberty to talk about at this time since Getty reads the forums and I don't want them to have a heads up.

"The campaign to file complaints against us is misguided and misdirected"

BOO HOO!

Gee I wonder where Getty would like this campaign to be guided and directed. Personally I think the campaign to extort money out of current and potential customers is "misguided and misdirected." But that ain't stopping anyone.

I wonder, is it possible to offer up a rebuttal to their rebuttal? I'm sure the D.A. does not need to be reminded that Getty seldom (never?) provides proof that THEY control the copyright to an image in question, that the image is properly registered, and that the image is exclusively theirs to represent. But maybe a little reminder is a good thing.

750

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: An Experiment Against Getty

« on: February 20, 2013, 08:53:37 AM »

The more I think about this statement from Getty the more it bothers me. I believe the same could be said for Getty settlement demand letter program. Shortly above this statement Getty claims that what they are doing does not meet the definition of extortion, while I firmly believe in the intellectual property rights of the artists and for them to make legitimate and fair claims on infringement this is not what Getty does. According to Wikipedia the definition of extortion is as follows:

Extortion (also called blackmail*, shakedown, outwresting, and exaction) is a criminal offence of unlawfully obtaining money, property, or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion.

If you look at what Getty does I believe it is so close to this definition if not completely meeting it. I will use my case as an example. I let it be known from the beginning that while I did not agree with Getty's demand for money I was willing to negotiate a reasonable settlement in the only thing I was asking for was proof of their claim which they responded would only be provided when they took me to court. I had my lawyer send them a letter stating if they could not provide proof due to some confidentiality agreement we would both be willing to sign one binding us to only discuss the information with Getty for the purposes of settling the claim to which Getty responded they cannot provide this proof because it would take too much time and cost additional money, again proof would only be provided when they sue me. They also sent me the final notice letter stating if I did not pay it would be escalated to their legal Department. So here we have Getty trying to coerce me to pay while providing no proof of their claim in light of the fact I made clear several times I was willing to negotiate a fair settlement in all they had to do was to show me proof they had rights to the image in question which is reasonable in light of Getty V Advernet.

It is Getty's use of these tactics which ultimately led to me starting my complaint letter campaign and encouraging others if they agreed with me and felt as strongly as I did to send in complaint letters of their own. Maybe Getty should take the hint if there is such an increase in complaints that it requires this additional statement in their responses to the Attorney General's office that maybe they need to rethink their business model and perhaps adopt one more like Glen Carner has of late.

           

"The campaign to file complaints against us is misguided and misdirected"