Retired Forums > Riddick/Imageline Letter Forum
Riddick and Imageline sued in Federal Court
tansmitty:
So there was supposed to be a hearing on the 28th. Anyone know what happened?
Matthew Chan:
SG,
The news media hasn't picked up on it because they tend to focus on something more "tangible" as a lawsuit. Threatening to file a lawsuit is not the same as threatening to beat up someone although psychologically may have the same impact. I also think that the news media hasn't yet picked up on it because it has not yet critical mass and it has to hit the "right person".
It is sort of like Righthaven hitting Brian Hill who is mildly autistic, hobby blogger on disability. The media loves to report stories when a big corporate bully tries to disproportionately and overwhelmingly attack or beat down a weaker and much less sophisticated opponent. It is a rallying cry and call to arms.
Getty Images has been careful so far to not go there. Riddick himself really is a low-capitalized, under-funded small-timer trying to talk a big game.
Regarding you being like me on fighting back? LOL. I guess I will take that as a compliment. I really don't like conflict but I learned many years ago that not everyone plays by the same rules. Hence, learning the art of the defensive fighting is an important skill. I agree with you. Even if I lost the fight against Getty (had that come to be), they would have worked very hard for it and there would be scars and fallout of all kinds.
Last thing, you say we are popular. It is not hard to be popular when you are the only organized game in town with real names and faces attached to it. :-)
Matthew
--- Quote from: SoylentGreen on August 12, 2010, 12:10:11 AM ---
I'm surprised that some of the news media hasn't picked up on the "extortion letter" schemes yet. I'm tempted to approach a few news-magazine style shows, and I'd love to see some cameras and a reporter stop by the offices of Getty, Masterfile, or whatever dank swamp Riddick lives in.
I'm a lot like you, I think. I can tell you that when a situation like yours arose, I fought them every step of the way like an immovable object. Of course, there's always a possibly that they could have won, but they would have had to go through every single step of a very annoying and torturous route, and I made that clear. I'd never just "give" them anything just because I got few letters and calls. They should "prove their case", and if they can't actually go to court, then they can't be very confident in their position.
You and Oscar have definitely set up a great resource!! There's nobody else to turn to; nobody else took the time to do it. How many people have stopped having so many sleepless nights after coming to the site - we may never really know. But, it's probably a significant number of people. No wonder the site's so popular. Thank you!!
S.
--- End quote ---
stevep:
In a Final Default Judgement signed by the Federal Court Judge on June 28th, Riddick has lost the case. It is stated that he owes damages to Bernia (to be yet defined), must pay Bernia's costs and attorney fees, and most interestingly states "Imageline, Inc. does not have any protectable rights in any of the underlying images contained in the Copyright Registrations. Furthermore, the Copyright Registrations are invalid copyright registrations." !!!
Matthew Chan:
I think this is one of the situations where Imageline did more damage to the stock photo industry through setting a new precedent than help.
This sends a clear message to would-be-plaintiffs that they better have their paperwork in order before they make these claims. Both Righthaven and Imageline has shown that judges will not be fooled or tolerate bogus copyright transfers simply for the purpose of filing lawsuits. Also, they expose themselves to countersuits, repayment of defendant legal fees, and other potentially punitive measures.
Matthew
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