Messages

31

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Higbee client's lawsuit/ Failed settlement over confidentiality clause

« on: September 29, 2017, 02:27:20 PM »

That's good info. I'm a little confused/surprised with the defense attorney using an AOL email address. It just looks off, might not be practicing much.

Friend of the family perhaps? 

32

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Higbee client's lawsuit/ Failed settlement over confidentiality clause

« on: September 29, 2017, 02:26:29 PM »

This is a situation where Higbee seems to be a real stickler to keep people quiet. They appear to get a $1,000 check but it seems Reed/Higbee is forcing the issue. I think there will be unintended consequences for both sides.

I suspect I know why Reed/Higbee wants confidentiality. So people won't know that settlement amounts can be very low.  But it seems the defendants were willing to pay the $1,000...

Boom.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

For the plaintiff, this may just be a win on paper...

33

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Higbee & Assoc. Lists RM Media Ltd in Nick Youngson Template Lawsuit

« on: September 19, 2017, 09:38:09 PM »

"class actions" have been discussed many time here...not going to happen..

If enough people ended up in court behind this charade I could see it happening in the form of counter-suits..

34

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: How do Copyright trolls find their targets?

« on: August 17, 2017, 12:58:25 PM »

You may be right.

Way too many hail Mary passes being thrown... 

35

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Facts About Creative Commons Websites and Copyright Infringment

« on: August 17, 2017, 03:27:08 AM »

So check this out.

I was drafting a blog post and needed an image of "money" to accentuate the post. Nothing special, just a generic "money" pic would do.

So, I searched for a "Creative commons - CC0 no attribution required" pic of money...

Boom!

Found one that fits the bill: https://pixabay.com/en/dollar-bank-note-money-finance-941246/

At first glance everything looks legit. User seems credible. Site seems legit. 20k downloads.

So, out of curiosity I ran the image through tineye to see how many hits would come up and viola...

1184 matches:  https://www.tineye.com/search/979c2d9c8d191b7b27e9c8ffc26aba12efa2510f/?extension_ver=

I'm not surprised. Its labeled as "free to use".

However there was one thing that stood out to me.

In the returned results (in tineye) you can tick the box that says: show only the (1) result found in stock.

So I did and it returns a hit at shutterstock: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dollar-banknotes-1-currency-united-states-682215031?irgwc=1&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=TinEye&utm_source=77643&utm_term=

Out of curiosity I followed that link...

What I found next was very interesting.

The uploaders of the image appear to be 2 different people.

Different names, different countries...

Again, this goes to show you ~ you never know...

Who knows, 1184 people could be receiving extortion letters someday...

BTW: I ended up reaching in my pocket and taking a picture with my cel of a couple of bucks and then ran it thru some filters on Instagram and came up with a very nice high res shot...


Free of charge.

36

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: How do Copyright trolls find their targets?

« on: August 17, 2017, 03:02:19 AM »

I believe in addition to the "matches" that the Picscout software finds, it also identifies and extracts contact information from the site and then adds it to a database as well.

Then after a certain amount of data is collected the site probably then goes thru a manual review to verify the info (possibly by an actual person / minion / troll assistant) who then assembles an "infringement packet" and... away it goes.. (either via email, snail mail or both)

Once the accused responds ~ the games begin...   

37

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: NCS IP Solutions Email Getty Image

« on: August 09, 2017, 12:50:45 PM »

Additionally if you have purchased or acquired images from a subscription service or a website that provides templates you are still liable and responsible to ensure the imagery appearing on your website has been licensed properly....

I feel like this would be a hard push in court.

If you purchased a website template or images from a subscription service (and have a receipt to prove it) they'd be really hard pressed to prove that your infringement was deliberate.

On a side note all of the "(s)"'s in this letter just makes this letter seem all the more "form letter-ish" to me... 

Not legal advise ~ just my opinion here...

38

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Nicholas Youngson Photographer (Rep. by Higbee Associates) Copyright Abuse

« on: July 19, 2017, 02:10:09 PM »

The consensus has been to read the forums, get educated and then decide the best plan of action for your particular situation.

39

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Facts About Creative Commons Websites and Copyright Infringment

« on: July 17, 2017, 03:06:28 PM »

I'm gonna roll with Matthew on this one.

Knowing what I know now ~ Its just too risky.

I believe when you purchase a usage license you have a stronger argument if you find yourself on the receiving end of an extortion letter.

The opposition would have a hell of a time trying to convince anyone of your intent to recklessly download someones copyrighted material and use it without permission when you have a purchase receipt.

That receipt pretty much puts you into the "innocent infringement" category.

Which, as we know from the ELI forums, is not worth pursuing.

The truth is long as these shady extortion business models (and the firms that practice them) are around I strongly believe you are rolling the dice when you use any image that's advertised as "free to use" online.

$.02

40

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

« on: July 15, 2017, 07:57:41 PM »

Happy Belated ELI!

 

41

Getty Images Letter Forum / Facts About Creative Commons Websites and Copyright Infringment

« on: July 14, 2017, 06:25:55 PM »

After reading a lot of threads here on ELI and doing some independent copyright law research on my own I have come to the conclusion that basically using anything from the web (unless you have a proof of license purchase) is generally a bad idea.

To my understanding, purchasing a usage license from a reputable website (and having supporting documentation to prove it) is one of the few real ways to demonstrate "good faith" in court should a  copyright holder decide to threaten to take legal action against you for the [illegal] use of their work.

That being said, are there any Free / Creative commons sites that are safe?

Or are they all just a bad idea?

How about sites like Pixabay?

Also, does the DMCA (and/or having an agent) allow Pixabay and other Creative Commons websites to operate in a way that promotes a good service but a potentially bad legal situation for its users while exonerating them from litigation?

Share your thoughts, please.

42

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty extortion letter ruined my memorial day

« on: June 29, 2017, 12:44:19 AM »

In answer to Clist's question, yes, my full contact info was on my website including home address and telephone number.   When I first built my site, I was told by an acquaintance who worked for Microsoft that websites had to have a physical address on them somewhere.   That rule may only apply to businesses, but I'm not really sure.  But if you aren't a business, it might be a good idea to remove your physical address.  It would certainly make it harder for this sort of situation to occur!   Maybe someone else on here knows the "legal" requirements regarding having addresses on webpages?

This is exactly why you have received an email and a letter via mail.

If there was no contact info on your site, $5 says they wouldn't have cared to pursue you. But since you were low hanging fruit - you gave them an easy opportunity. To my general understanding, once the trolls have to do some work (eg:spend money) to hunt you down the extortion scheme loses its zest.

Regarding having your info on your site: I believe if you have ads (google ads for example) you are required (in their TOS) to have a privacy policy containing a physical mailing address. Aside from that (and having a physical business) I don't believe you need to having any mailing info on your site.

43

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty extortion letter ruined my memorial day

« on: June 27, 2017, 04:59:01 PM »

I guess you could completely ignore them from the get-go also.  It hard to say really.  You could be right!   What upset me was that I didn't just get an email from them, I got a physical letter in the mail.  I knew nothing of the Getty extortion when I replied to them, and I assumed I was dealing with reasonable people.  I also assumed that since I wasn't a business or corporation, but just a teacher with a webpage, and let them know that the image in question was no on the website any longer, and also where it originally came from, I'd be fine.  In retrospect, would it have been better to have just ignored them and not to reply?  I have no idea?  I do know that in part because I along with thousands of other people have filed complaints against GettyImages with the BBB, they have a F (Yes, F!) rating.  I also filed a complaint against them with the Washington State Attorney General's Office for what its worth.   But now I don't communicate with GettyImages anymore.  I've really done all that I can to reason with them, so any further communication would be pointless.  I would add that had I only gotten an email from them and not a physical letter, I probably would have not replied to them at all.

I hear you.

If you were dealing with ethical people...well, you probably wouldn't be on this forum! 

Let me ask you this:

Was your contact info available on your website?

44

Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Getty extortion letter ruined my memorial day

« on: June 27, 2017, 12:44:18 PM »

I don't expect to have to actually go to court, but if I get any sort of attorney letter from them, I will simply forward this to them. 

Do you think this is wise?

I've seen quite a few people on the site make statements similar to this but I think this may not be the right way to go.

I mean, think about it, why would you show the opposition your cards?

Trying to reason with (or talk to) the opposing lawyer just sounds like a bad idea to me.

I'm pretty sure if you talked to an attorney they'd probably advise you to have minimal (if any) direct contact with them.

Or am I wrong here?

45

Higbee Associates Letter & Lawsuits Forum / Re: Beware of Photographer Nicholas (Nick) Youngson of NYPhotographic.com

« on: June 19, 2017, 11:28:28 PM »

...5 bucks says RM = "Rights Managed"....