Messages

1

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: ELI is 9-years old!

« on: July 15, 2017, 05:47:27 PM »

Happy belated birthday to ELI and many thanks to Matthew and Oscar and the rest of the gang who provide information and opinions that have helped thousands of us trudge our way through the various extortion letter schemes that continue to plague the web.

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Legal Controversies Forum / Copyright Controversy of the Year?

« on: July 15, 2017, 05:35:42 PM »

I'm going to drop out of lurk mode for a moment to share a link that I know some of my buddies here on the forum will enjoy reading as much as I did:

https://petapixel.com/2017/07/14/photographer-broke-due-copyright-lawsuit-monkey/

Due to lack of time, I did not initiate a Kickstarter campaign for this poor photographer, but, mercy, I was tempted. I mean, honestly, given how many times the image in question has been shared on the web the photographer should be compensated with enough bananas to last for life.

As a teaser, here's a quote from the article that motivated me to share this link: “I’m bewildered at the American court system. Surely it matters that the right monkey is suing me.”

You just can't make this stuff up when it comes to copyright law in the digital age, eh?

3

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Masterfile threat - should I continue to reply?

« on: August 14, 2015, 11:25:52 AM »

If they had a real case against you that they thought they'd win, wouldn't they have taken you to court two years ago? Perhaps they're taking one last chance at scamming you out of some money before they give up on you and move on to the next gullible victim?

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UK Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Science Photo Library

« on: May 21, 2015, 04:50:46 PM »

I hope this illustrates the absolute bullshit that Creative Commons is; their system is fundamentally broken because people who lack morals or ethics will share material which they know to be protected by copyright, thus creating a ball-ache for everyone esle

Creative Commons is a flawed but worthy attempt at dealing with copyright in a digital age. With more then 40,000,000,000 images reported online in 2008, the true "ball-ache" comes from the limp dicks who make either part or all of their living sending out their threatening letters demanding payment or "else."

The current copyright laws are truly broken, as are the individuals who twist, pervert, and use those outdated laws to extort outrageous sums of money from individuals who are most likely guilty of nothing more than a de minimis violation.

To jerk out a big flow of bile on Creative Commons the way you did, Goliath, shows where you're coming (so to speak) from.

As for those who lack morals or ethics, I'd point my finger (the middle one) at individuals who use "a compliance officer," "a copyright cow," or "a Joe Blowme, Esq. with 28 lb. stationary and a cool legal-looking letterhead" to demand absurd sums of money for alleged "copyright violations."

I may be naive, but, Holy Tinkerbell in a Porn Shoot, it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that more than one photographer who lacks morals or ethics seeds the net with images he/she made and then sends out demand letters after they use Picscout or TinEye to track down those nasty copyright violators who most likely used the seeded images innocently!

After playing the copyright game with Getty and McCormack the past several years and reading posts by those who earn all or part of their income by copyright trolling, I've come to realize that, sadly, there are no morals or ethics involved. It's all about money. That's it. Laws, ethics, right and wrong, innocence or guilt, none of these really matter with those sending out demand letters. The only thing that matters is the amount of money that can be squeezed (or "negotiated") from people who are easily scared and ignorant about the true workings of the various settlement demand scams.

5

ELI Responses: Media Coverage of Chan v. Ellis Case / Re: Georgia Supreme Court hands unanimous win to Matthew Chan & ELI

« on: April 04, 2015, 10:08:00 AM »

Matthew, congratulations to you and your legal team for this very important victory for free speech and the right to express what's on our minds.

All of us online can breathe a little easier, knowing that at least in Georgia we can now legally poke fun at copyright trolls and collection agents like Timothy "Boy, I Sure Screwed the Pooch and Revealed How Little I Know about Law When I Failed to Present a Rational Argument Before the Georgia Supreme Court and Ended Up Looking and Sounding Like Daffy Duck Overdosing on Nitrous Oxide" McCormack.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: This is OUR Oscar Michelen at his finest!

« on: March 05, 2015, 09:58:54 AM »

Oscar, what Greg and Matthew say, goes double for me.  Thank you for all your help!

Yes, absolutely. Oscar restores my ever-shrinking belief in the goodness of people on a regular basis, and I'm very thankful for that.

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ELI Responses: Media Coverage of Chan v. Ellis Case / Re: Oral Argument video for Chan v. Ellis Posted by Georgia Supreme Court

« on: October 17, 2014, 11:05:40 AM »

Matt, thanks for the reply. I'm sorry it's going to take so long to get a ruling, but I'm happy that the presentations went so well and am personally confident that the decision will go your way.

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ELI Responses: Media Coverage of Chan v. Ellis Case / Re: Oral Argument video for Chan v. Ellis Posted by Georgia Supreme Court

« on: October 16, 2014, 01:48:56 PM »

When will the justices present their decision on this case, Matthew?

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ELI Responses: Media Coverage of Chan v. Ellis Case / Re: Oral Argument video for Chan v. Ellis Posted by Georgia Supreme Court

« on: October 09, 2014, 04:29:53 PM »

Matt, thanks for posting the video, which made for remarkable watching. I'm pretty cynical about the American judicial system, but I certainly felt that the justices on the court were in tune with our First Amendment rights as I understand them.

If the court doesn't downright reverse or dramatically amend the restrictions of the original decision in your favor, I'll be stunned.

Congratulations to Oscar and Eugene Volokh for their crystal clear presentations of your case and for so competently defending the First Amendment.

10

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Canada and Copyright Trolls

« on: September 17, 2014, 10:12:06 AM »

These are very interesting points, and I'm sure folks in Canada who get hit with a Getty letter will find them quite useful. Thanks for sharing them.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Schneider Rothman IP Law v. Getty Images & Zemanta Lawsuit

« on: September 13, 2014, 10:24:24 AM »

I think it is safe to say that Oscar has support from many people beyond the ELI Community. I wonder what kind of backroom shenanigans they might try to pull with so many eyes on the case.

I suspect Getty will do its best to negotiate a lucrative financial settlement, a settlement that requires signing a confidentiality agreement that'll make all this simply disappear and go away.

If I'm right with this prediction, I hope Oscar and the Schneider Rothman IP Law Group will stand firm and instead of accepting the money and savoring a legal victory, do what needs to be done to publicly expose Getty Images' settlement demand scheme once and for all.

Of course, it's easy for me to straddle my high horse and write the above since I don't have to ante up to get in this game.

And, honestly, I'm not sure what I'd do if I had the chance to be on the receiving end of a lucrative settlement from a huge corporation like Getty Images in exchange for a confidentiality agreement.

I like to think principle still matters in this world.

Somehow, I like to think principle occasionally even triumphs.

Unfortunately, however, objective reality has confirmed for me far too often that expediency usually takes the prize, especially when the prize involves pots of gold.

In any event, this whole deal will be interesting to watch, and I wish Oscar and Schneider Rothman IP Law Group all success.

12

ELI Responses: Media Coverage of Chan v. Ellis Case / Re: Press Release (7/15/2014) Chan v. Ellis: Appeal Transferred to GA Supreme Court

« on: July 17, 2014, 12:19:01 PM »

This is good news, indeed.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Fair Market Value of Images vs. Licensing Fees set by copyright holders

« on: July 15, 2014, 02:25:36 PM »

Great find, Matt. Thanks for posting it.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Announcement: ELI website sold to new owner

« on: April 02, 2014, 12:12:53 PM »

Robert's uncle? Shoot, my informants said the site was purchased by an attorney in Seattle.

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Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Ron Raffaelli v. Getty Images Settled

« on: March 20, 2014, 05:11:49 PM »

Getty has become a lawsuit magnet of late, they settled this case, they just lost the Daniel Morel case along with AFP to the tune of 1.2 Mil, they are being sued by sports photographers for thousands of images used without permission and they were just sued for patent infringement.  There are also at least two other cases ongoing right now as well.

I don't know how much more of this Getty can absorb before the whole company collapses in on itself.

Karma at work. If a company ever deserved to get treated the way it treats people, Getty Images is close to the top of the list...