Messages

76

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Masterfile Letter: Is this a Scam?

« on: April 08, 2013, 05:32:04 PM »

This is the first time I've heard of Masterfile using a debt collection agency. Either I've missed some information or MF is no longer using strictly ever-escalating threats of lawsuits to get money out of folks.

77

Legal Controversies Forum / Victory for College Students

« on: March 20, 2013, 05:13:46 PM »

Oscar's latest blog entry makes for very interesting reading at

http://www.courtroomstrategy.com/2013/03/supreme-court-upholds-first-sale-rights-of-foreign-bookseller/

I was happy to read about the decision in Oscar's blog post because the big textbook publishing houses for once got the short end of the stick... at least until their lobbyists (as Oscar points out) influence Congress to pass a law that'll once again protect their huge, unconscionable profits on educational textbooks.

Anyway, Oscar's observations about the Supreme Court decision are well worth reading. I especially enjoyed the little digs at Scalia and Thomas.

78

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Another tale of attempted extortion

« on: March 12, 2013, 07:40:20 PM »

Rosebud Tiger, good job dealing with MasterFile's speculative invoice scheme.

Given that you've tracked down the registration details and origin of the image, I think you're safe from this ending up in court. MF may try to threaten you again with another letter, but I suspect a reply telling them what you know about their faulty registration would end the matter once and for all.

79

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty Claiming I Emailed Them...

« on: March 07, 2013, 01:39:52 PM »

My experience is that Getty sends out so many letters and gets so many responses and is so understaffed with minimum wage and incompetent "compliance officers" that a lot of the time the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. It doesn't surprise me a bit that you were told they had an email from you that you didn't send. In fact, nothing about Getty Images' speculative invoicing and copyright extraction scheme surprises me anymore.

80

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

« on: February 24, 2013, 08:04:30 PM »

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.

81

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: photoattorney.com Carolyn Wright adds new hire

« on: February 24, 2013, 08:00:49 PM »

It's weird, but it seems that many lawyers who work in copyright settlement demand and speculative invoicing law offices have never learned how to smile.

I've noticed it again and again... the smiles are painfully forced. Perhaps that's because they have trouble looking in mirrors and not liking what they see because of the work done in those offices to make easy money?

In any event, seeing some of these images causes me to visualize the grimace on a shark's face when it's goosed in the ass with a barbed arrow from a spear gun.

82

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

« on: February 23, 2013, 09:58:47 AM »

Sandy makes a really good point about not having the time or the "edge" to play Payment Extraction games with Getty and it's outside counsel, copyright troll, and collection agent Timothy B. McCormack of Seattle, Washington.

I personally have enjoyed almost every minute I've spent educating myself and then messing with the interns at Getty and the notorious "Mistress of Misrepresentation" paralegal at McCormack Law, Ashanti A. Taylor. But, at my advanced age, I have time on my hands and a lot more than a half century of anger built up over the various injustices in this country. The speculative invoicing and payment extraction schemes perpetrated by Getty Images and the other copyright trolls represents for me one of the most egregious injustices currently being used by greedy bastards to extort money from individual blogs and small business website owners.

So I enjoy spending time and energy doing what I can to help others fight these extortionists.

With that said, if I didn't have the time or the energy or the "edge" to play the game with these trolls, I would have paid Oscar in a heartbeat to handle the matter for me. Indeed, for most people who don't handle stress well (and getting threatening letters from the biggest image company in the world as well as from their "outside counsel" and collection agent can be plenty stressful) I think Oscar's letter program is the best solution available.

83

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: An Experiment Against Getty

« on: February 22, 2013, 11:27:12 AM »

Greg, thanks for your work on the latest complaints.

I found 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!

84

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

« on: February 21, 2013, 12:12:00 PM »

I'm surprised you lost the dispute. And sorry to hear that because you seemed in the right on this to me.

85

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

« on: February 21, 2013, 10:45:00 AM »

You can get sued any time by anyone for any reason if you live in litigious America.

With that said, I seriously doubt that the company you're dealing with is going to sue you when they apparently are scraping copyrighted articles from other people's websites.

If you paid them with a credit card, you should request a refund through the credit card company instead of wasting your time trying to get your money back with this article spinning company.

86

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

« on: February 15, 2013, 10:15:54 AM »

Steve, letters from McCormack are nothing but smoke. Without providing proof of a right to sue, he knows nobody but a frightened fool is going to pay him a dime. Unfortunately, most people get a letter from a lawyer and they shit their pants before they reach for their wallet. This is a really dumb move because most of these payment extraction scheme lawyers are arrogant assholes playing their little games of aggression and bluff to drag down easy money.

So do NOT shit your pants when/if you get a letter from McCormack.

If you want to reply at all, tell him essentially "No proof, no money. And without proof, as far as I'm concerned this matter is closed and I will not communicate with you any further."

And then ignore any future letters (I got two more after telling them the above, the last one saying they were recommending litigation to Getty). I ignored both and haven't heard peep from McCormack's office of Getty Images for many months now.

At some point before my three year period runs out, I do expect to hear from Getty's collection agency, but I'll tell them they have no business contacting me over a claim that is NOT a debt and then that should be the total end of it.

Mainly, resist the very natural temptation to lose sleep or inner harmony over a letter from an asshat lawyer who makes his living off the pain and fear of fellow human beings. It's just a stupid piece of paper full of misrepresentations rather than a legitimate threat.

87

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

« on: February 14, 2013, 12:04:52 PM »

Steve, actually the times goes very quickly once you drop the fear factor that Getty Images and its copyright troll and collection agent Timothy B. McCormack use so effectively on many people who don't do their homework to extract payments with their nasty invoicing scheme.

Once you realize it's just a big game of bluff and bluster, then the whole deal becomes quite tolerable and their various letters downright amusing. At least, that's been my experience for almost two years now.

88

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Class action suit filed against “Getty Images Master Delegate” in Israel.

« on: February 09, 2013, 09:37:33 AM »

Ian, that's a win! Congratulations!!

89

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty Settlement Purposes Only Letter - 3rd Letter

« on: February 08, 2013, 04:42:08 PM »

Tony, great idea for the newspaper story. Let's see if there's any interest in serious investigative journalism at the Seattle Times. If they're not owned by Getty, they should give serious consideration to doing a series on the Getty/McCormack relationship and payment extraction scheme.

90

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty Settlement Purposes Only Letter - 3rd Letter

« on: February 08, 2013, 11:04:45 AM »

Tony, it's much better to let McCormack be surprised to learn from the bar associations that yet another letter outlining his outrageous behavior with this payment extraction scheme has been filed against him. He likes to surprise us with his letters, so turn about is certainly fair play.

For details about my experiences with copyright troll and collection agent Timothy B. McCormack and his paralegal "Mistress of Misrepresentation" Ashanti Taylor please read...

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/mccormack-office-is-in-potential-trouble-again-over-'last-chance'-letter/