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Messages - stevep

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16
Looks like Riddick filed a response to the original complaint Wednesday that basically says "not guilty". And it was filed by himself without an attorney. Wondering what that means?

17
Riddick reportedly found a Chicago law firm to help him out, and from the sounds of it the SIIA (www.siia.net) may be involved as they have in the past in supporting him. This group helped him on some suits last year, which ended with mixed results.

18
Riddick still has apparently not been able to find an attorney, according to court records. Riddick filed an inappropriate response and was told to correct it by month-end. Bernina filed a motion for default judgement and permanent injunction last week, as Riddick cannot represent his companies without an attorney and those companies have therefore not responded in the case at all. There is a status conference scheduled for tomorrow in front of the judge.

It is clear from the court transcripts that the judge is growing weary of Riddick's unprofessional responses. At one point the judge said, "You seem to think you can thumb your nose at the processes of the Court."

19
Riddick/Imageline Letter Forum / Re: He strikes again...
« on: September 10, 2010, 07:47:51 AM »
Wow, I wasn't aware Riddick was using Image Rights. Good reason to stay away from that company! I was just thinking of letting them look for my images on the web too.

20
Here's an interesting Federal Court document that explains that Riddick cannot represent his company himself without an attorney, unless he is one. Now THAT is funny...
http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/illinois/ilndce/1:2010cv04917/246135/14/

21
As far as lawsuits, near as I can tell, he won one, lost one, and settled three or four. This link should provide a list:
http://dockets.justia.com/search?q=Imageline

Most of these appear to be people who were selling clipart.

22
According to recent court documents, Riddick is having difficulty finding an attorney and thus represented himself against Bernina's attorneys in Federal Court. The judge issued a temporary restraining order against Riddick, and ordered the parties back to Court for August 31.

The highlight of the court transcription was this classic exchange between Riddick and a Senior Federal Court Judge with 30+ years experience on the bench:

MR. RIDDICK: I said I don't really appreciate that, because I do know what I'm talking about, having worked on this for 25 years. However, I know --

THE COURT: You know, I'm glad you've been at this 25 years. I guess I had a misspent youth, because I've been 30 years at the bench here just last month; and I appreciate your education, but I've got to tell you, it doesn't seem to work the way you seem to think it does. So, you'd better have something professional in the way of a response.

23
Here is a summary of the case filed yesterday in Federal Court in Chicago against Riddick and Imageline. The filing goes on to explain why they believe Riddick's copyrights are essentially worthless.

NATURE OF THE ACTION
1. This action arises from (1) Defendants’ false allegations of copyright infringement and threats of litigation against Bernina and its authorized dealers; (2) Defendants’ misuse of copyright to extort money and gain concessions from Bernina; (3) Defendants’ bad faith publication of defamatory statements about Bernina; and (4) Defendants’ malicious interference with Bernina’s valid and existing business relationships. Since Defendants, by their conduct, have created a real controversy between Plaintiff and Imageline, Plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment that it has not infringed upon any valid copyright owned by Imageline. Plaintiff further seeks damages and injunctive relief as a result of Defendants’ defamation and tortious interference with Bernina’s business relationships with its dealers.

24
Riddick/Imageline Letter Forum / Re: He's Still At It!
« on: July 16, 2010, 06:55:25 AM »
Got exactly the same email. Note that George took his name off the latest one and now has a Copyright Compliance Team. What a crock.

I came across this piece lately. Apparently he lost this case big time per the federal court (Imageline was the plaintiff here) and had to pay the defendent's court costs too!

JUDGMENT by Judge Dale S. Fischer: IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the plaintiff take nothing, that the action be dismissed without prejudice, and that defendants recover their costs of suit pursuant to a bill of costs filed in accordance with 28 U.S.C. Section 1920.

25
Six months ago, I received an email from George P. Riddick III, CEO of Imageline. He demanded information from me and alleged copyright violations. We don’t sell anything and our website is simple and clean. I was surprised. I immediately fired off a reply asking him which image was infringing, and asking him to provide proof of his copyright. He never replied.

A few days ago, six months later, I finally heard back. Riddick alleged I hadn’t replied, and demanded $2,500 for the alleged use of one clipart image, payment plans accepted. This time he displayed his allegedly copyrighted image next to the one that was allegedly on our website. The two images aren’t even the same – they are clearly different works. He still hasn’t provided any proof of his copyright either.

Attached to Riddick’s most recent email was an impressive sounding letter from a law firm, spelling out the trouble I was in. I thought it was odd that a law firm’s client (Riddick) would forward the law firm’s correspondence to me. I called and talked to the principle (head lawyer) at the law firm, and to my surprise found out that Riddick and Imageline aren’t even clients of the firm.

I tracked down the attorney who allegedly signed the letter. She now practices law in a different state. She told me she did not send the letter, and she even put that in writing.

I dug further into the letter, a Word document, and was able to determine that it was Riddick himself who apparently edited the document last. No surprise there at this point.

I contacted the cities in Florida where Imageline was last said to be located, and where it is now said to be located. Neither city has any record of Imageline, nor does the State of Florida, according to officials in both cities.

So it would appear after talking to officials from two cities, the State of Florida, and two attorneys that fraud may well be involved here; at least from the perspective that Riddick apparently sent me a letter on a law firm’s stationary which was not authorized.

If you get a Riddick email, do some digging and ensure it’s from a real attorney, then call that attorney and confirm they sent the letter. Also check the document properties on any Word or PDF document sent to see who last edited the document. I suspect I’m not the only one who got a letter said to be from an attorney, that was actually from Riddick himself.

Needless to say, I’m not paying $2,500 to this one-man operation.

26
Riddick/Imageline Letter Forum / Re: Just received a Riddick letter
« on: December 14, 2009, 07:21:12 AM »
Thanks Oscar. I emailed you a copy of the letter and await your reply.

27
Riddick/Imageline Letter Forum / Just received a Riddick letter
« on: December 13, 2009, 07:26:51 AM »
I had the honor of receiving a Riddick letter this week. He wants the name of our attorney and says "Whether you knew you were infringing when you first used unauthorized copyright-registered and protected works belonging exclusively to Imageline, Inc. or not, you are liable for copyright infringement under the laws of the United States and Canada."

New to us. We have never heard of him before this, and he doesn't even indicate what images are alleged to be his.

I also see that he has filed several federal lawsuits against companies selling his images. We don't sell images.

Anyone else received such a letter recently?

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