New Tedd's Catalog; I have been "violated"!

[pisten-bully]

In most cases the website where the photo first appeared can be considered to be the publisher of the photo. Not 100% certain how forums such as this are treated, but an internet publisher should have copyright protection for anything that appears on their site, so if someone takes a photo off of a website without permission AND does not credit the photo to the original publisher then they are in violation of copyright laws. Having said that, it happens all the time and never gets to the point of lawyerin' up, either because it's too expensive and difficult to pursue, OR, more likely the original publisher requests that the copy-cat remove the pirated material and the copy-cats take it down or give credit to the source (as long as the original publisher gives them permission.)

[harleytoprock]

It's very sleezy and pathetic that Ted claims to perform this service and yet has no pictures of their own work.

[T. Cotten]

Harleytoprock!

They even show a photo of my ancient Sunnen in my shop, with my one-of-a-kind torqueplate.

Their Sunnen is probably better!
(Unless they use a brake hone on a drill?)

....Cotten

[harleytoprock]

Maybe they use an emery roll on a stick. LOL

[46EL]

Maybe instead of now dragging him through the mud and letting everyone here take cheap shots at him contact him and at least give him a chance to possibly rectify the situation.
Slander and defamation of character at this point on this or any other forum is no way to respond to what happen.
Especially if you want to show you have a real and legitimate concern about your business and how it has affected you. .
And if you do not like his parts for some reason I do not ever remember him or anyone else I have bought parts from twisting my arm and forcing me to buy anything from them.
Also remember you might be dealing with a fellow AMCA Club Member and we all should try to have at least a little bit of respect for one another.
I'm not trying to minimize what happened but there are level headed ways of dealing with it and mob mentality on any forum isn't one of them. Jp.

[rousseau]

Cotton
I found you some attorneys.

[wideglide38]

Cotton,
I agree with most regarding a law suit (expensive & time consuming) and also agree with you - it's a matter of principle!! Maybe a better approach would be negotiate with Ted to send you all the carbs their rebuild service generates since he is using your photos! If this fails, then pay a lawyer a $100-$200 to write a 'cease & desist' letter. Hopefully their is a club member who is a lawyer who can help you!
Best of luck, William

[T. Cotten]

Well, William,...

For one thing, I am already booked solid, re-doing plenty of competitors' handiwork as well (particularly floats and manifold seals), and trying to fight the Schebler Wars at the same time.
Tedd's will be just that much more anyway, if they don't trash the bodies at the idle bleeds!

Have I mentioned lately that Liberty is still looking for somebody to take over?

Mostly I need a strong advocate to write the first letter.

It is quite likely that Tedd's management isn't even aware of the plagiarism: Some underling key-pecker probably slipped it in to his/her own advantage.

Its a big organization, I hear.

....Cotten

[sirhrmechanic]

http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/exe...t-lette-41919/

Cotton... Cease and desist letter is the first step. Just do it yourself. There are a ton of templates out there. One I attached above. Modify it as appropriate to fit your own business and your own violation. You can represent yourself on a cease and desist letter. In the Demand section... order them to recall or destroy all catalogs. That should get their attention. I've read your posts. You are easily erudite enough to make a template like that work. Don't under-rate yourself or over-rate Lawyers. They fill in blanks all day long for $300 an hour.

I think you are right that some key pecker did it. Therefore, they will be motivated to make you go away for a 'painless' amount... maybe money maybe a heartfelt apology. Who knows. Start with a cease and desist. If they tell you to PUAR... (that's piss up a rope for those who don't Habla)... then it's game on. But you can start this w.out an attorney.

BTW, an AMCA member attorney alone won't help. You will need an attorney who is licensed in your state or in the state of the violator.... Which kind of limits your choices. Moreover, as much as I love AMCA guys.... I would look for the best ATTORNEY... not the best AMCA member Attorney. Who cares if the guy/gal rides an old bike? If sharks don't attack said attorney out of professional courtesy... that's your lawyer. Don't limit yourself to the fine members of our club... get yourself a Weapon in Wingtips. If he enjoys spending holiday weekends running down motorcycle riders in a pimped-out AMG Mercedes Gelandewagen... but wins every case for his clients... Hold your nose and hire THAT guy. It's about you, not the MC hobby.

Hope this helps. Geez I'm a cold SOB sometimes.

Cheers,

Sirhr

[Chris Haynes]

I believe that unless your photographs were copyrighted you don't have a leg to stand on. Anything uploaded to the internet is public domain. That being said I wish you well.

[sirhrmechanic]

Chris:

Good thought, but not true at all. Internet is just another publishing media. Not everything is public domain by any stretch... or the little half-wits downloading their hip hop and pop songs would not be criminals. Remember, that the penalty for downloading Michael Jackson is currently greater than the penalty for Killing Michael Jackson. Just ask his former doctor who got less time than Napster devotees.

There are exemptions for fair use (ie. a student who quotes something for a paper or a journalist who uses something for a story... but in a catalog for a large competing for-profit business... No way fair use applies. And the only reason tons of stuff changes hands and gets promulgated w. no citations or credit or royalties is that it's not worth pursuing some wingnut for re-posting that motivational poster you created featuring three ferrets, a roll of shrink tubing and a vat of olive oil. It's your intellectual property, but prove that ferret picture it's worth anything to you.

The Internet is covered by all same the copyright protections of any other medium. Cotten's previous publications of these pictures do offer him copyright protection. Where he gets whacked is proving damages... particularly damages that will outweigh the legal fees required to collect those damages.

It sucks... but the problem isn't proving you are right. It's proving that you are right *and* that you are owed enough compensation to make it worth pursuing. It's also the problem with getting emotional about the violation. You can lose a lot of $$ to feel vindicated.

One solution is to watermark all your photos with C. Chris Haynes, YEAR. You get the idea. But thanks to the miracle of cropping tools... that doesn't help either. Again, you may be able to show you watermarked your photo. But are you going to collect anything MORE than the cost of hiring some attorney at $300/HR? There are also some tools that let you make a photo 'non-save-able.' People can't copy it... when they put cursor on it and hit "Save" it won't save.... But those tools are also a PITA and when your are posting pictures for good/noble purposes (such as sharing them with your fellow club members)... then using those tools defeats the purpose of your generously sharing your knowledge. For example, Cotten's pictures are the sort of thing that I would like to print out to use in my shop sometimes when I do my own work... the definition of fair use. I'm not publishing it... but if he does some pictures of steps that will help me... I may want to save them in a binder or with my service manual... especially if his info is really good. So in trying to stop infringers, someone like Cotton who is sharing valuable knowledge with his fellow enthusiasts... would hurt the very people he is generously trying to help.

No easy answers... all I can say is that hopefully for people like Cotten, the goodwill and good feelings he gets helping people out (along with his fine reputation for sharing info) mean more to him than the 'hurt' caused by idiots who steal from him. I'd further hope that, for the most part, the people who matter to him as customers (and fans...) recognize his generosity and patronize him and stop doing with those so lazy or incompetent that they take advantage of him. Unfortunately, it's hard to be generous and share without, to some degree, risking having your generosity taken advantage of... .

Just my two percent of a dollar... YMMV, As Seen on TV, offer not valid in Ulan Bator...

Cheers,

Sirhr

[wideglide38]

Sirhr makes very good points. I am not sure you can post a “C” (copyright symbol) on an image without registering the image at the Copyright Office and have a legal leg to stand on. See two links below for the Government’s Copyright web page and their new pricing schedule. It’s pricy to copyright a lot of images. If you did use a “C” watermark, you would definitely deter peckerwoods from using your image(s).

http://www.copyright.gov/
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/sl04.pdf

If you have a friend with Adobe Photoshop (PS) or Lightroom (LR), they can add a watermark to any image. Watermarks can be set at any angle, size, color, opacity and still not detract from the image. After inserting the watermark, the image is flattened (a Photoshop term) where the watermark in embedded into the file and cannot be removed. See the example. If you do not know anyone with PS or LR, I can add watermarks for you.

William

[rwm]

what if tedd has permission? the photo is posted on the amca website. they host it. somewhere it probably says we have the right to use all photos and content from our site. tedd may have gone to the club and got permission to use photos from their site (i don't believe he did this but you never know). thousands of dollars have been wasted before on principal alone. t.c. i hope you don't go broke fighting this one. it will be a bitch when you need to go to china to fight this one. the legal system protects those with money. not those with principal.
watch the movie about the guy who invented the windshield wiper switch. he lost it all on principal.

FLASH OF GENIUS that's the movie

[T. Cotten]

It is ironic, Rob,...

That the conditions for use of the AMCA online library stipulated that any commercial use of the materials constitutes grounds for expulsion.

Tedd's has already contacted me, and I expect a friendly resolution soon.

....Cotten

[wideglide38]

.

FLASH OF GENIUS that's the movie

Robert Kerns, the inventor was finally awarded 10.1 mill (from Ford) and 18.7 mill (from Chrysler) by jury trial. . . . however, only after mental break down & hospitalization, losing a wife and numerous years of litigation where he represented himself.