Someone, do you mind emailing me at the address linked to my name on this post?

I haven't heard from them since the holidays. I also deleted my entire website about the same time. It was a relief for me, so no biggie. Have not heard back. Like hell I am going to send them anything, even if I do.

Received a notice from them last week. Thanks to all who have submitted here previously. Any follow ups?

I deleted the original post in question, then later my entire site (it was defunct and no longer being published too anyway).

Also, the images in question were linked to their original source, which was a big name site.

I'm considering not doing anything at this point and seeing if they send another notice. The letter didn't come certified mail and seemed like total BS.

dorf,
I haven't heard from them in months. I did choose to respond initially. There are two main schools of thought. Some say to totally ignore it. Others say to respond but be quite forceful in pushing back. I chose the latter. I believe it was successful for me. I can go into more detail if need be. Feel free to email me.

Go fuck yourself faggots! I hope you all die a slow death. Lawyers are the scum of the earth.

Pic unrelated

These people are the WORST. I own a domain for one of my clients. He LOVES Rihanna and posted a pic (it looked like a promotional shot) on his blog with the embedded OFFICIAL video below it. 2 Years after the fact they start sending these threatening letters NOT TO REMOVE THE IMAGE, but to settle for copyright infringement. We reply in a timely manner, remove the image, they want $ for damages. I ask them to prove they own the image by showing a release from Rihanna or from the label, the say they don't need to and cite a copyright number. I check the number with the copyright office and nothing comes up. So I send them this today:

To _______

According to the Copyright registration Service at http://www.copyrightregistrationservice.com/cgi-bin/verify.cgi
it says that copyright number is not valid. And the reason that I requested additional information regarding an artist release is that I'm certain that that shot is NOT from a public location. It appears to be from a closed set of a video shoot. The image was used on Bryanoji.com to promote the OFFICIAL video. It was fair for him to assume that the image was an OFFICIAL image and that by posting it ONE time and ONE time only that it was within fair use, in that he was operating as an independent media outlet.

You MAY be reaching out on behalf of Def Jam Records or Roc Nation, but if this image is STOLEN from the set, I would be foolish to settle with you just for threatening me with litigation.

Please present the documentation that I requested so we can move quickly to settle this matter amicably.

-----end ---------

THESE PEOPLE ARE GARBAGE!

I'll keep you posted

Be careful what you admit, William. Just because something is official and not candid does not make it fair game. You were correct to request the documentation. However, I would not volunteer any information at all.

bjpentertainment@gmail.com

you are silly

?

bjpentertainment@gmail.com Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bjpentertainment@gmail.com
>
> you are silly

The contributory claims in this lawsuit are not valid because thumbnail hyperlinking has been upheld by the Court of Appeals in California for years as being inherently falling under USC 17 Section 107 concerning fair use, So that claim will go nowhere fast. Case law Google Vs Perfect 10 where Google was putting up thumbnail images linking to images on Perfect 10 own website. Google won the case as set the precedent for thumbnail image linking. If they are claiming this then there is a counter suit there for false representations of their claims.

If they could win on this BS Contributory infringement claim then entire internet would have to be shut down.

We have received a bunch of these complaints from these fools from various clients that they have and we have told them that if you think you can win a case then file it and stop harassing us with your bull.

We just received one the other day and it ended up where it rightfully belongs in file #13.

The fine folks at Sanders Law seem to be on a rampage. I think they got some new claims processing tools and a new bot to scour forums & websites for celeb images because I have had 4 letters delivered to my front door in the past month.

They seems to totally ignore my DMCA tools and go straight for letting me know they have my personal information and demand compensation. Removing the content seems to be irreverent to them as they are re-sending me settlement requests for content that was removed in over a year ago.

Requests to reach them via email and other methods is never returned.

if you hunt around, you'll find one or two sanders law copyright cases that went to court, however, they were a bit more extensive than user generated content photos on forum sites.

For Sanders Law, they do a lot more than copyright enforcement. I suspect that their tactics and approach will reflect very poorly on their firm and will likely result in an impact to their reputation. Just guessing.

OK, so I received an email from Sanders on August 28th, citing 9 infringements. In actuality, there were only four pictures posted in five places, but they'd screen shot some of them several times. Anyway, they requested I take down the pics and threatened legal action if I didn't pay up.
I smelled a rat but took down the pictures and contacted them to tell them the pictures had been removed. The pictures, by the way, were labeled with an image source. I source ALL my pictures.None of the pictures were marked with any copyrited watermarks, etc.
After telling them that I'd removed the pictures they responded immediately saying that they would contact me to set up some type of payment.
I must add that they didn't have my name correct and they had an old address as well. Even though my name is clear in my email and you can take a few seconds to google me to find out my address, they continue to have my info listed incorrectly.
I received an email on Sept. 2nd telling me to contact the office to resolve the matter. On the advice of some lawyer friends I didn't respond. Then on Sept 22nd I received another email, which was very threatening in nature, saying that they'd take me to court and I'd end up paying as much as $150K. I didn't respond to this email either. So today I receive a copy of the complaint the "plan to file by the end of the week" and more threats. This document contained, in some cases, inaccuracies, and in others, lies. It appears that they have a blanket file they send out to everyone because many of the statements in this document in NO WAY could refer to my site.
I'm writing for a few reasons. I want to know what my actual rights are as a small time blogger. I do this for fun. I don't make any money off of it. I would never intentionally steal anything. I source all of my content. But it stops being fun when I have to deal with stuff like this. I've had scammers approach me in the past and have been able to easily deflect them. But since this is coming from what seems like an actual law firm I'm more nervous than normal. Any advice, thoughts, anything? Thanks!
Lo

What do you mean when you say that you "source" all of your content?

Unless you know for certain that these images were truly free or you asked for permission to use them, it is very likely that you have violated someone's copyright.

An image does not have to show a copyright notice to be copyrighted. All images are considered copyrighted the moment they are created. However, one can also register an official copyright, which allows the owner to seek even higher damages in the event that someone is caught violating the copyright.

If you have not done so already, completely remove those images from your site.

To date, it does not look like any of the lawsuits filed by Sander's have been ruled officially. It seems to me that most people who get hit with one of their lawsuits end up settling out of court. Look up more information about them before making your own choice.

I would like for everyone on this website to help me shut down Sanders Law, PLLC and I feel it can be done with a complaint to the Disciplinary Committee in New York City. If they receive numerous complaints outlining the extortion tactics this firm uses then maybe we can get an investigation of their business practices where this is concerned. It could possibly lead to the entire firm having their license to practice law revoked. At the very least it might make the Bar take a long hard look at these trolls.

You can send in a written complaint to the address below and it must be in writing.

Departmental Disciplinary Committee
Supreme Court, Appellate Division
First Judicial Department
61 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10006

The DMCA law is against the small website owner and any counter notices are usually usless because of the way the law is written in favor of the complaining party and the huge lie that the Hosting company/ISP is neutral in all complaints. Maybe we can attack them in this way the same way they are using DMCA to attack us.

It does not hurt to try at the very least and I hope all the website owners that have commented on this forum will join me in writing a complaint.

I would but I'd have to put my name on it and it may interfere with my valuable masturbation time.

idontlikebeingrightaboutshitlikethisbutiam



Edited 21 time(s). Last edit at 5/31/1967 05:57AM by WingNut.

Last edit at 11/30/2015 01:37PM Last edit at 5/14/2015 03:52PM Last edit at 1/28/2014 05:57AM Last edit at 11/29/2015 01:10PM Last edit at 3/14/2011 11:52PM Last edit at 7/20/2012 04:07AM
Last edit at 6/29/2013 11:18PM Last edit at 3/19/2011 01:02PM Last edit at 3/26/2012 09:07PM



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2015 08:22AM by WingNut.

I was initially contacted by Sanders in July about a photograph of a Major League baseball umpires that we used had previously used on our local umpire association website, they of course claiming copyright infringement. Initially, we negiotated a lesser amount and had until Nov 15th to pay. Since then we have found countless pages that talk to their fraud and we didn't pay. Nov 10th they send a reminder and then got another notice today that they haven't been notified of our attorney's address, etc. I want to continue to ignore them and hope they go away but they do have an official looking website and phone they answer. Should I continue to ignore them????

I run a dc comics fan site. One of my writers did a story about reverse flash (from the tv show) he posted a paparazzi like photo of reverse flash. They sent me a letter (no DMCA) just like the one in this thread. We got the story from comic book movie and source to them. The image is all over the net. What should I do>?

If sanders law firm is claiming their client owns a copyright image, and they actually don't own the copyright, and their asking for money. Aren't they acting in a criminal matter? I know little about law, just common sense. If you researched the image and found its owned by someone completely different, I'd go to the da's office. Sounds like fraud and extortion.

Bob A Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was initially contacted by Sanders in July about
> a photograph of a Major League baseball umpires
> that we used had previously used on our local
> umpire association website, they of course
> claiming copyright infringement. Initially, we
> negiotated a lesser amount and had until Nov 15th
> to pay. Since then we have found countless pages
> that talk to their fraud and we didn't pay. Nov
> 10th they send a reminder and then got another
> notice today that they haven't been notified of
> our attorney's address, etc. I want to continue
> to ignore them and hope they go away but they do
> have an official looking website and phone they
> answer. Should I continue to ignore them????

What kind of "agreement" or "negotiation" did you make?

IF they sent you a legal document and you signed it, you may be bound by it and it could have weight when it comes to collections.

idontlikebeingrightaboutshitlikethisbutiam



Edited 21 time(s). Last edit at 5/31/1967 05:57AM by WingNut.

Last edit at 11/30/2015 01:37PM Last edit at 5/14/2015 03:52PM Last edit at 1/28/2014 05:57AM Last edit at 11/29/2015 01:10PM Last edit at 3/14/2011 11:52PM Last edit at 7/20/2012 04:07AM
Last edit at 6/29/2013 11:18PM Last edit at 3/19/2011 01:02PM Last edit at 3/26/2012 09:07PM

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I started that thread.....it was titled "Jessica
> Simpson + 50 Pounds"
>
>
> http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/40/94
> 6735/1259410.html
>
>
>
> Looks like Cary deleted the thread, which means
> the threat of legal action from some copyright
> trolls worked.
>
>
> Cache:
>
>
> http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cac
> he:hZFGiN7j56gJ:www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/r
> ead/40/946735/1259410.html+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=
> us

FYI -- because this blog shows up on page 1 of Google queries for Sanders Law, I just wanted to keep people posted -- Sanders Law is still actively sending out threatening letters (they use exactly the same form letter posted at the start of this page).

Their practice is typical of a copyright troll - they send a letter demanding money and threatening to sue, claiming you could get nailed with damages of $150,000 plus attorney's fees, etc. The worst part is that they typically do not bother sending a DMCA removal notice first (because they don't care about getting anything removed -- they just want your money).

Some advice -- DO NOT RESPOND TO THEM. Trolls like this look for low-hanging fruit; i.e., people who may be willing to pay a small nuisance settlement rather than pay a lawyer to fight a lawsuit. When you respond to their demand letter, you are making things much easier for them by: 1.) confirming they have your correct contact information; and 2.) showing that you are concerned about their threats. DO NOT HELP THESE GUYS!

NOTE -- I am an attorney with significant copyright law experience. I am also the registered DMCA agent for several website clients.

Over the years, I have received lots and lots of legal demands, but the ones from Sanders Law have been unique in one particular way -- these scumbags did not send their letters to my office address. Instead, they did some digging and found my home address (which I have never used in connection with any website clients).

Trust me -- as a lawyer, sending a letter to someone's home address when they have a clearly posted office address is a seriously sleazy thing to do. It's a form of threat. If a lawyer tried sending something to a judge's home address, they'd almost certainly get sanctioned/disciplined for it.

I just mention this because it shows what sort of people you're dealing with.

P.S. Sanders eventually DID sue one of my clients, and I defended the case for about a year. What I saw was shocking -- lawyers from Sanders Law appeared in the case (without being licensed or admitted pro hac vice in the state where the case was pending), and basically all they could talk about was how much my client was willing to pay. Several lawyers came and went, often without any explanation -- they just disappeared. I got the impression this firm was running a "chop shop" with low-grade inexperienced lawyers whose only job was to extract payments from their victims.

Sad.