Quote:
Originally Posted by FightThisPatent
The COPYRIGHT OWNER has every right to stop people from using their images.. which can go from a lawsuit for damages to having your hosting, billing, and even google listings it seems, terminated.
The DMCA law gives the COPYRIGHT OWNER some pretty strong backing to have companies take down content.
Perfect10 has every right to file the DMCA notice to google to have whatever actions it feels necesary to cease someone's illegal activity of copyright infringement.
The reason i am capitalizing COPYRIGHT OWNER is because Perfect10 has taken upon itself to "represent" all content producers in the filing of the DMCA notices and the various lawsuits.
Perfect10 does not have any legal right to do so, and courts seem have sided with the defendants in many cases.
It would appear that rather than risk litigation with perfect10 (and dont' forget google is a publically traded company where day traders don't like litigation expenses), could have just done their actions to appease Perfect10.
For the companies that had their websites delisted for using Perfect10's content, sorry, but google and P10 was justified in their actions, and being blackballed from google just goes to show how they violated google TOS.
BUT, if non-perfect10 content got you delisted, then Perfect10's DMCA notice filings to google was not legal or valid, and you would have recourse action against both google and P10..... you had better be sure that you had full rights to reproduce images from content producers (whether you licensed them directly or had a specific agreement that allowed you to use copyright images.)
Many sponsor programs gave away content for affiliates webmasters to use, but many did so in violation of copyright infringements.. most just don't realize it, and everybody did it as common practice, and that's why you have these copyright lawsuits that can have field day picking apart affiliates and sponsors for the copyright infringement.
So as i have read this and the other thread, if you have been touched by P10's DMCA notice for images that were not P10 images... and you have definite proof that you had the rights to use the images that got you "banned", then you do have a very interesting legal case where you could be awarded alot of money in damages.
I have met with Zadeh in the past and he is absolutely right in his conviction to protect his content and his fight to keep websites from stealing his content for TGP, free sites, P2P, newsgroups, etc.
What he does not have the right to do, is make representative claims of infringement for other content producers unless they gave him specific authority to do so.
Perfect10 has in the past and it sounds like even now, gone over the line in trying to pursue others who infringed on other content producers beyond their own.. and for that... those actions are clearly wrong.
You will probably need to have an attorney take this up on contingency... probably will ask for like 40-60% of the settlement.. but if you are "clean" in your use of images, you can probably find a firm that will take you up and help to take on google.... but you need to be very honest with yourself and with the attorney about the documentation of images... there is rampant copyright infringements due to the way sponsors were/are handing out images, so you may think you are right.. but you could be in the wrong..
Fight the perfect 11!
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Do not forget that the images were purchased with the CLEAR INTENT of building/taking subsequent action against affiliates, and Google. The crime was masterfully crafted, before it actually happened. There was a specific premeditated intent in constructing this situation, and use it to his own advantage. He did not have any intention of protecting anyone's rights, trust us. I'm pissed off that he tried to play us too. I find it offensive. In my first polite response to him, I explained to him, in clear terms, that we're in I'm grateful that we did not fall for it, but he did not care for a second about our rights. He's feeding his own scheme by putting out monetary baits, and waiting for someone to fall for it, by selling him photos that he already carefully selected, based on the fact that they're already being used on Google. He is on a mission, and he's playing website owners, and affilates to accomplish his goal.
We were not told in clear terms, hardly even in vague ones, what he wanted to do with our photos, in case we agreed to selling ourselves to him. He was told in clear terms what our job is, which is the success of the site.
Quote: "We have, on this issue, a different approach. I'm more lax, and permissive. The sole focus of my attention is the website's success, and I'm hardly left with time to eat, sleep...".
He goes after websites that own pictures, but do not register the copyrights, like we've been doing. He's worse than the Lawyer waiting for a victim in the emergency room; this goes a step beyond that. Again, I'm grateful that we did not fall for the bait.
I did not know much about the guy, but he was ready to walk all over us to get where he wanted, which is, as everyone already knows, hoping to get a load of money from Google, and he had no problem when Google crashed his victims. This defines him. I hope we will have a chance to tell this to his face. In the meantime, we're just glad we dodged his bullet. I have a real problem with someone that thinks he can outsmart us, play us, use us. I'm glad we were smarter than him, and turn his fake offer down. I don't know how many other sites found themselves in this situation with him, and like us, made the right decision to stay away from him, but I don't think there's many. It would be interesting to know what was his initial number of possible guinea pigs. I will not forget how he would have damaged us, had we agreed to take those few dollars he offered us.
This is not about copyrights, this is about a lot more than that: loyalty, integrety, greed, and an endless list of other topics.
Again, I will not forget, and hopefully, we will be able to reciprocate the nice try. We have one more name on our blacklist.
