Okay, let's get realistic for a moment here. I offered this
somewhat humorously threatening sentence based on the premise that
Roger was simply going to ask these people to quit using his
photograph. I took as simply so much hot air and puffery all the
stuff about suing and recovering damages and did not believe
anybody took that notion seriously. No, this would not be an
appropriate expression of intent if anything more than putting
some fear in these folks and getting them to take down the
photograph was meant. It's way too aggressive for any situation
that may require some give and take.
I've been involved in the good old American legal system for many
years, and it is my learned opinion that suing these people for
money damages would be a fool's errand of historic proportions. I
would be more than astounded if there were to be found anywhere a
lawyer who would take this case on a contingency basis. There are
lots of greedy ones who will undertake even the most foolhardy
litigation if an idiotic, money-bearing client walks in who is
willing to pay their hourly rate, usually $150 an hour for the
bottom feeders and up to $500 per hour for the silk-stocking,
ostrich-skin briefcase crowd.
And consider what one might accomplish by suing these people. I
read recently where a photographer successfully sued National
Geographic for what he claimed was an unauthorized use of a couple
of his photographs. He was awarded, if I recall it correctly,
$60,000 per picture. Let's now compare National Geographic as a
defendant, with their millions in profits from, essentially,
selling photographs and a bit of prose, with what probably is a
mom and pop operation struggling to book the occasional tour who
pirated a picture to spruce up their little website. I think a
reasonable extrapolation from the $60,000 award against National
Geographic to the circumstances in what might be Roger's case
would, with the best of lawyers, on a clear day, with a tail wind,
be in the range of about $6.
Of course, this is just my opinion. And I have many.
Have a nice day, y'all. :-)
Walt
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Jon Mitchell" <jon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 16:09:18 +0100
><snip>
>
>>If you do choose to write them yourself, allow me to suggest a
>>concluding sentence that has always been a favorite of mine in
>>matters of this sort:
>>"Should you fail to comply immediately and to the fullest extent
>>with our demands, we shall take action that will astound you."
></snip>
>
>Whilst I totally agree with the sentiment, I learned a year or so
>ago that this kind of statement can get you two very different
>results depending on the mentality of the people on the receiving
>end !!
>
>I was in a battle to get back the money my ex-employer stole from
>my paycheck. My demands initially included statements of the
>sort suggested above. This felt good to me, as it allowed me to
>vent my anger and frustration. The response it got from the CFO
>of the company was one of "come on then, bring it on". Not in so
>many words, but in attitude. In the end it made for a much
>longer battle....
--snip--
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