Messages

76

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Letter from Lynn Burke, Sanders Law

« on: May 18, 2018, 12:25:30 PM »

The images on this site are licensed by RM Media Ltd under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license which permits the free use of the images for any purpose including commercial use and also permits the images to be altered - please view license details under each image.

you need to read and understand the terms, yes the images are "free" to use, providing you abide by the terms set forth...RM Medias terms state, you must show attribution and link back, if you don't, you are not following the terms, and now on the hook for infringement...when are people going to realize NOTHING in this world is free... RM counts on people not reading and or understanding the "terms", that how he snares his victims, nothing "illegal" about it, just morally and ethically wrong, guys a douche bag.

77

UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Feel sick! Lovely Email from Getty! Please help

« on: May 10, 2018, 03:15:31 PM »

Not every case should be  ignoted, but many of them can be, in many cases Getty simply sends an email, as they have no name, no address or no "person" to contact directly, they get this info from the domain whois mainly, sometimes they get info form the offending site as well.. Naturally they can't file a claim against an email address.

78

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Got my harassment letter. Image. Finding info scattered here.

« on: May 01, 2018, 12:52:49 PM »

Unfortunate that you don't find these threads helpful, there is nearly 10 yrs worth of information compiled in these forums, most questions including "high level" questions have been answered numerous times, if one takes the time to wade through the info freely given. Yes the video are old but mostly still relevant, the trolling industry hasn't changed much, but the players certainly have.. We suggest everyone get educated, as each scenario is different, if you are looking for  a magic solution, there is none short of paying the demand. To answer your questions:

1. yup it's a case by case thing, largely depending on who sends the letter, some trolls are more combative and assertive than others, there is always the risk of a lawsuit, the recipient (you) needs to determine the risk level and if you can tolerate 3 yrs of BS harassment in the hopes you don't get served.

2. again they all operate differently, but everyone "pays" something, whether it be money, time & energy, or waiting out the unknown until the statute runs out.

3. nope they don't have to inform you beforehand, that's a common courtesy that most trolls don't possess, they are in it for the money, that is all.. And they haven't sued you yet, they have simply sent you a demand letter..

For whats it worth, I would venture to guess they won't file a lawsuit here, they are only demanding 660.00 which is nearly the cost to file a lawsuit in Federal court, add to that,  that I've never heard of cartoon stock, perhaps they are a new player or just not very aggressive..

Here is a thread here regarding cartoon stock, I see they are located in the UK, which brings down the odds of a lawsuit being filed, do you really think they will travel across the pond, hire US lawyers, for a case that would likely not show a profit? doubtful

https://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/sued-by-cartoon-stock-for-one-image-on-website-but-variation-of-theirs/

As stated above each case is different, and only you can decide how to proceed, the more you know the better armed you are.

79

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Higbee Fraud (class action for people who have already settled?)

« on: April 06, 2018, 12:31:45 PM »

he claims himeself that a vast majority of "cases" are settled before getting to court....he lied to you, you believed him, and ponied up...good luck with anything fraud related..and good luck finding an attorney that would entertain trying to get a class action suit off the ground, it's been discussed here many times, and will likely never happen.

80

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: NY Supreme Court Disqualifies Higbee lawyer: Virtual offices not sufficient

« on: April 04, 2018, 02:07:43 PM »

Unfortunately for our purposes, I think this rule is for New York State court and wouldn't apply for Federal court in New York, but I could be mistaken. Still, it's a good find.

That's a good question, however i wonder if one could argue that the Higbee firms now has a track record of not being truthful..might not get far in front of a federal judge, but probably worth it to get it on record somehow.. Another question I have which could effect these other states he supposedly does business inn... wouldn't it be considered "false advertising" if he simply leases "virtual spaces".. I'm sure most Bar assoc. have strict rules on advertising..maybe this could be a basis for bar complaints??

81

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Mathew Higbee of Higbee & Associates Bullshits People about "National Law Firm"

« on: March 30, 2018, 09:51:44 PM »

Is it not enough to just show the damn image is on 1000 free wallpaper sites and whatnot?  That it doesn't have any copyright info on it?  I can't imagine a court would award anything but the minimum if you show them that.

I think that byou would need to prove the artist uploaded the image(s) to those wallpaper sites, which are mostly run by scummy image pirates, that would be very difficult. I imagine you would need to subpeona the wallpaper site to get upload data, and with most of them hosted offshore, you would not get very far.

Copyright info (watermark) is not a requirement, so that argument would go nowhere..

82

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Mathew Higbee of Higbee & Associates Bullshits People about "National Law Firm"

« on: March 30, 2018, 10:19:40 AM »

Don't take this is as  me defending the troll, I'm certainly not! However..

Him SEO-ing some images and throwing them up as creative common images, is not "illegal". He's banking on the fact that most people are to lazy or dumb to read the license agreement, of which many don't read.. So showing a trail of how he performs SEO on some images, while not on others, would not be a defense to infringement, even though it's a sleazy tactic. One might be able to convince a judge to lower any awards, for "innocent infringement", but at the end of the day it falls upon the end user to adhere to the "agreement"..

Would not surprise me at all if this is indeed his method to get infringments, and it's a sleazy, dirty thing to do, he's largely banking on the ignorance of those that download the images.

83

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: New Higbee / RM Media / Nick Youngson case filed in Arizona

« on: March 28, 2018, 06:48:23 PM »

I'm having a hard time drumming up any sympathy for this defendant, contacted multiple times, yet didn't remove the images in question?

84

Legal Controversies Forum / Re: e-mail

« on: March 27, 2018, 01:25:05 PM »

Robert Krausankas...Have you known Peter Holt to actually file his Settlement Demand Letter complaint to the U. S. Copyright Office if he is ignored?

What? Your question makes  no sense..one doesn't file a demand letter to the copyright office.. One "might" file a copyright infringement lawsuit in federal court, but the copyright office is not involved kin any legal proceedings. It's literally beenn years since we have seen any letters from Perter Holt, thought he was out of the game, but apparently not, or he just returned.

85

Legal Controversies Forum / Re: Class action suit against Google?

« on: March 24, 2018, 08:46:04 PM »

What I'm saying is that a class action against google, wouldn't ever happen, they just serve up search results in the form of links, what a user does with that information is not on googles shoulders. Free image sites are a different scenario, as those images are actually uploaded to those sites, I think sites such as pixabay should bear some responsibility as they themselves are likely infringing and supporting the infringing by others, problem is most of those sites are not hosted within the US and therefore don't fall under our copyright laws, so how does one enforce it?? Pixabay is located in Germany, US copyright law does not apply, so there is a huge loophole, and you wil also notice in their terms, they clearly state the following:

You also agree to indemnify and hold harmless Pixabay from and against any and all claims brought by third parties arising out of your use of the Website.

so your on your own for all intents and purposes.. the copyright trolling will continue, until folks realize they have to their homework BEFOREHAND, which is how many get ensnared..

to the side note a US Federal judge at his discretion, could lower the awarded amount to 200.00, which is another reason many of these case never go that far, it's a losing proposition for the trolls, they just want fast, easy money, from people that are uneducated and paralyzed with fear.

86

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another Peter Holt Shakedown

« on: March 24, 2018, 02:52:31 PM »

That asshole Peter Holt doesn't like to be associated with "extortion", go read this very old thread, he got his panties in a knot when phrases such as "Attorney Peter Holt sends extortion letter" , Peter Holt Practices Extortion" and the like when we discussed him on ELI, he seemingly doesn't like any of us to post our opinions that he is a copyright troll, practicing legalized extortion...We haven't heard a peep from Peter Holt or his firm in a very long time, now all of a sudden he has chosen to step back into this arena.....

https://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/attorney-peter-t-holt's-letter-to-oscar-michelen-eli-website/msg3763/#msg3763

87

Legal Controversies Forum / Re: Class action suit against Google?

« on: March 24, 2018, 02:40:06 PM »

not going to happen, every image search result has the subject to copyright disclaimer, and google is not "hosting" the images, simply linking to them.. People need to realize there is no free, and at the very least learn to read license agreements, yes most of these wallpaper sites are full of jacked images, many of them do state, that images are "free" to download for "personal use" as in a screen saver, desktop background..that's not the same as using them for commercial purposes.

88

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another Peter Holt Shakedown

« on: March 23, 2018, 06:57:28 PM »

this is typical, read the forums, get educated and then decided your best course of action..nothing is ever "free" anymore.

89

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Copytrack chasing me

« on: March 22, 2018, 12:02:50 PM »

the image in question, may not have been seen by the public, it could have easily been in a upload or image directory on the server, simply sitting there..these trolls use bots to rifle through all of the files looking for matches...chances are good a human from the trolling company never even laid eyes on your site, they are not known for vetting or confirming anything before sending out their dumb letters. They just want your hard earned cash.

90

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Agence France-Presse and Pic Right? Anyone deal with this combo yet?

« on: March 19, 2018, 05:50:52 PM »

they have your "old address" does this mean you moved and they don't have your current mailing address?? if so they have no way to "serve" you IF they were to file a lawsuit.. Geoffrey Beal is a well known dirt-bag here, whose bark is bigger than his bite, a true copyright troll Geoffrey Beal is.