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Geek Wins Copyright Lawsuit Against Corporation

Posted by kdawson on from the david-1-goliath-0 dept.

Chris Gregerson writes "I work as a stock photographer/web developer. I saw a photo of mine used in Vilana Financial's full-page phone book ad. They wouldn't pay the licensing fee, and I wrote about it online (mirror). They sued me for defamation, producing a sales agreement signed by one ' Michael Zubitskiy' (who they said took the photo and sold the rights to them). I sued them for copyright infringement, and they added claims against me for trademark infringement, deceptive trade practices, and tortuous interference. There was a trial I'll long remember on the 5th of November, and the judge recently issued her verdict (PDF; mirror). She ruled Vilana Financial forged the sales agreement and willfully infringed my photos, and awarded me $19,462. All claims against me were denied. I represented myself during the litigation."

5 of 616 comments (clear)

  1. No you didn't. by davidwr · · Score: 5, Funny

    The story's author did, for having the balls to stand up to a thief by himself.

    If I told you what I think you were, this post would be modded down as flamebait.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:No you didn't. by RazzleDazzle · · Score: 4, Funny

      Who do I trust? A typical Slashdot user (even one modded up for some reason) or dictionary.com?

      The below is taken from dictionary.com

      piracy /parsi/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pahy-ruh-see] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
      -noun, plural -cies.
      1. practice of a pirate; robbery or illegal violence at sea.
      2. the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented invention, trademarked product, etc.: The record industry is beset with piracy.
      3. Also called stream capture. Geology. diversion of the upper part of one stream by the headward growth of another.

      I guess I will go with FSM. So far he has not let me down on the topic of pirates and global warming.

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  2. Picture by cdrdude · · Score: 5, Funny

    Could you post which picture it was? Preferably with any watermarks removed, and in the highest resolution you have, just for...informational purposes ;-)

    --
    This sig is neither interesting, nor humorous. Including meta-humor.
  3. Re:Grab their profits too? by Dachannien · · Score: 5, Funny

    After reading your disclaimer, I think I may be experiencing severe side effects such as headache, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and death. Must be reacting with my MAOI inhibitors or something.

  4. Re:THis is Good, but file sharing is Good too? by moderatorrater · · Score: 5, Funny

    There is more than one person posting here. I don't know about you, but I'm just a CmdrTaco shell account that posts random shit from Wikipedia. I thought everyone else was, too, and we were all just trying to make it look like we're on a successful site so that CmdrTaco can earn lots and lots of money from an evil corporate overlord while being able to DOS people and not get blamed/prosecuted.