Teri S. Expresses Urgency to Settle

Very similar to Mr. Riddick’s style of urgent emails, Teri questions why there has been no response and urges cooperation. She apparently believes that Mr. Riddick will soon forward her case (among others) to his attorneys. This email also demonstrates that Teri is actively participating in this process and not a passive participant as she tried to lead me to believe.

=====

Subject: REPEAT – Information you requested and More
Date: Mon, XX XXX 2009 XX:44:11 -0500
From: Teri SXXXXX <teri@XXXXXXXX.com>
Reply-To: teri@XXXXXXXXX.com
Organization: XXXXXXXXXXXX
To: XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hello XXXXXX,

I am resending this last message that I sent on Friday, as I have not heard back from you.  I have not attached the image this time, but will send it again if for some reason you did not get that email.  It’s extremely important that you get back to me today on this. I’m not sure why I haven’t heard from you, but I hope it’s not because you choose to ignore this.  I will not email you again after this, as I don’t want to pester you.  But you must understand that working out a settlement through me is the only way you can avoid being taken to court.  Mr. Riddick is doggedly pursuing each and every infringement again his company and every case must be settled or turned over to the attorneys for litigation.  These cases are starting to be turned over this week and he has told me that the ones that do not cooperate will be at the top of the list.  So please, you need to decide what you are going to do.  If I don’t hear back from you today, I can only assume you don’t want my help.  And that’s fine.  This is not something I enjoy doing and it does take a lot of my time.  But you should know that I have already helped one designer to be totally released from two infringement claims and another is in the process of settling for a small fraction (cash portion) of the total claim.  There are ways to settle the claim without having to pay most of it in cash.  Again, I’m willing to help you, but if I don’t hear back from you today, then I will withdraw my offer to help as it will be out of my hands once it goes to his attorneys.

I have gotten the information you requested regarding the original Imageline image and the copyright registration of that image.  I have attached the original WMF file to this message.  It is registered with the US Copyright Office in the Imageline MasterGallery (VAXXXXXXXXXXX) filed XXXXXXX XX, 1996.  Here’s the direct link: https://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If that link doesn’t work, go to https://www.copyright.gov/ , then Search Records, then Search the Catalog, then put the number in and search by Registration Number. Does that help?

Also, XXXXXXX, I know you are upset with me for getting your email address.  I tried emailing you from your site and it bounced back.  I also emailed the address listed for your domain registration and it bounced back.  If I hadn’t gotten your email address, Mr. Riddick would have probably contacted your hosting company directly, or the XXXXXXXXXX folks, with a Cease & Desist against them as well and this whole thing could be much worse and much more embarrassing than it already is.  Remember, I do know how you feel.  But please know that I am only trying to help you out here.  The ONLY people I offered to help in this situation are fellow XXXXXXXXXX vendors, as I know we have all been thoroughly vetted and are upstanding, honest, hard working digitizers.  You are one of several at XXXXXXXXXXX who finds themselves in this position.  If you don’t want my help, that’s fine with me.  I don’t really  know you and you don’t know me, either.  But I can tell you that I have already managed to have one vendor totally and completely released of any infringement claims.  Another one is making a settlement that will benefit her in the long run.  You are certainly free to go the attorney route, but like me, you won’t win the case with the evidence they have.  Are you willing to risk thousands of dollars in attorney fees (both sides) and damages and court costs if you lose?  And how can you possibly win if you did not draw the design yourself?  It’s pretty obviously the same image that you used.  Only the lettering is different.  Not only that, but XXXXXXXXX can be held liable and your customers can also be dragged into this.  But that’s your decision and choice to make.  For me, it was stressful and difficult, but much preferable to settle than go the other route.  This company will not drop this claim.  They mean business.  If you did research on them today, you will see that they are very good at protecting their intellectual property.  I do hope you make the right decision here.  And let me know asap what you decide, as I don’t think you want to end up in that first group of cases going to the attorneys next week.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply