Stolen Photo...
 

Well, looky what I just stumbled upon. Take a look at the photo in the banner for this site:


Now that a look at this photo (that I took):


It can be found from this page:


No one ever asked me for permission to use that photo. Isn't that copyright infringement?

Yes it is.
Contact them and tell them to take it down or pay you.

I would imagine you would have to have had the pics copyrighted before it's infringement.

No, you don't need to copyright family photos do you?

Get them to put a credit to the site.

I'd ask for cash. :cool:

Maybe Lou would be up for his first case? :)

Lou, can we get a statement from you regarding this?

The moment a photograph is taken, it is considered a copyrighted work of the photographer's.

I'm not going to make a big deal out of this, but I am going to contact them. They should have asked first.

Ohhh stop being a pussy.

I want a big deal made out of it.

Come on guys!

Big Deal!
Big Deal!
Big Deal!

Chant with me!

shit if he makes money off it, id say it should be a big deal

Im sure he isnt making that much money off it. He simply wants to get credited and maybe a talkingpoker link on the site somewhere or something.

thats just as good, it would bring more people here

No idea.

Contact them, see what happens... maybe he can get a few bucks out of it.

What I do know is that even IF they say "Fuck you, we're using the picture, so get used to it..." He's not going to bring a lawsuit, so it really doesn't matter.

TP,

That will be $800.00

Thank You
Lou, ESQ

And 10% for his manager. ;)

shoot 'em up

Right.... but I could send him a DMCA notice if I wanted to pursue it. If I got the FU response after that, I could forward it to his web host and get his site shut down.

There are plehnty of effective things I could do short of filing a lawsuit...

I emailed earlier today. No response yet.

"Call 1-800-Injury1"

"I am THE injury lawyer. I don't get paid unless you get paid..."

DMCA? Yea, like I said, I'm not familiar w/ copyright law, so my opinion isn't too useful. I'd love to hear the response you get - that is - if you even get a response.

If he doesn't get a response, I say turn it over to me.

Lead pipes, trenchcoats, those freaky masks from Point Break with Patrick and Keanau.

Yeah, they'd change their tune real quick.

I'll take care of the photo, but there is a local guy here who owes me $200 (from poker). I'll sell it to you for $160, giving you a cool $40 profit if you are able to collect. He hasn't answered or returned my phone calls for 4 months now.

You are shortchanging yourself there TP.
I used to get $90 on the $100, for debts such as those.
Of course the guys I dealt with added a "surcharge" of sorts ;)

I've never been in situation like that before! LOL.

I actually saw the best 'injury lawyer' ad ever the other day. There's one guy who's notorious for his self-perpetuated 'Strongarm' image (as well as numerous drunk-driving offenses, but that's another story). Well, someone else did an ad having 'clients' talk about him, and one line really stuck with me, went something like '..you don't have to strongarm anyone, you just have to DO YOUR JOB.' Ice burn. :D

For those of you who have been holding your breath to see how this all turned out, I got this response today:

-----
Hi Mark,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I have been out of
town. I apologize for displaying your image, I bought the site on Ebay
and had no idea the image had been taken from someone else. I'll
create a new one and get it up hopefully by Thursday. I am in the
process of creating a whole new site and will link to your site when
it goes online. Again, please accept my apologies.


Best Regards,
David Goats
-----

Works for me.

yep
 

I dont know what you wanted from this guy but his excuse sounds pretty good to me. Seems like he really had no idea that the picture was yours and If you want it off im sure he would take it off. Him linking to your site might be well worth all the trouble you went through to get in contact with him.

Sue him!!

Sorry, that was the lawyer in me talking... can't help it. ;)

Hey... our boy Aeq needs a job. Hook him up, will ya?

Fuckin right I do!

As far as the stolen photo: his excuse made me laugh... and isn't it funny how people are always "out of town" when something pressing is presented to them? Fuckin Ebayers. LOL.

I deal with a lot of i.p. infringement stuff... that's pretty much the standard answer of the infringer, 'gee, I didn't know I had to ask permission to use this.'

Aeq, stick to poker as a full time job... it's a lot more fun than the legal profession!

To be honest with you, I really can't wait to get a job and start my life. Poker, for me, is - and always will be - a hobby. I enjoy playing, but the fun left a long time ago. It's more mechanical and routine than anything.

Now, answering motions for summary judgment, THAT'S FUN!

:rolleyes:

Follow up...
 

I wrote back and asked who he bought it from, and received this response (that I'm not such a big fan of):

-----
I don't think I should say who I got the site from; he is pretty
well known in the business. He assured me there were no issues with
the images or domain when I bought the site, yet the head banner is
yours and Harrahs says the name infringes on their trademarks. Thus
the reason I am working on a completely new site.

I am new to the business, but worked hard generating a moderate
amount of traffic to the site and now have to give it all up and start
over. Live and learn I suppose.
-----

I'm pretty sure I know who he bought it from. I may or may not follow up with it.

He's not worried about YOU, he's worried about Harrah's. LOL.

Anyway, if you believe him when he says he actually "bought" the site, and you have an idea who he bought it from, who is it? A well-known seller on eBay, or someone in the poker industry who we would know?

Yeah, I can understand that. I'm actually lucky and have one of the more interesting lawyer jobs around (in-house senior attorney for the governing body of an international sports circuit)... unfortunately, a lot of lawyer jobs are much like you described poker for you, i.e., mechanical and routine. But if you're thinking about law school (or are already in or finished with law school) and have any questions, just shoot me an email.

That's pretty interesting. If I were you I'd spend some time (not a lot) seeing if you can find out who this supposed "well known in the business" person is and if he may have pirated some of your other photos and graphics from this site.

What I'm curious about
 

I wonder how much a poker site sells for on Ebay?

Apparently as high as $450,000. LOL. How funny his this?