August 24, 2014
Dear Mr. Manevitz,
You have ordered me to reply to you within 14 days of your letter dated August 11, 2014, and as I returned late last night from an upstate arbitration, I am posting my letter and yours so that we all know I replied in a timely manner to your demands, which in my opinion are reckless, unthethical, and legally unsound. I will explain.
You sent your demands for money to a private Foundation, The E-Accountability Foundation, a non-profit which assists people who have been wronged by corrupt politicians, judges and lawyers, or....anyone. We do not have a website. The Foundation, of which I am President, has no legal attachment at all to a blog called New York Court Corruption.
As you seem to be linking the Foundation to the blog's use of a photo that has no link whatsoever to the Foundation or to Parentadvocates.org (the Sadowski photo of Attorney Wally Bock is not on the website), you obviously are reckless in your search for money from anyone and decided it should be me..
Again, the E-Accountability Foundation has no connection or liability for anything posted on the blog New York Court Corruption.
Additionally, Parentadvocates.org. is not the website of the E-Accountability Foundation. These are two completely different entities.
Finally, your reckless actions can be seen on the fact that the picture by Christopher Sadowski of Attorney Wally Bock leaving court is, as I stated above, not on the website Parentadvocates.org. There is no connection between the website Parentadvocates.org and the blog New York Court Corruption .
I am the Editor of this blog and Parentadvocates.org and I am an investigative news reporter. As such, I post news stories under "Fair Use". Please see the disclaimer on Parentadvocates.org. As a news reporter, I can, and do, use my rights to publish newsworthy articles from news organizations, TV, magazines, etc., on the internet. As you know, Mr. Sadowski's picture of Wally Bock was published by NBC News on 9/1/2010 by Bill Dedman. I re-posted the article on my blog as a news article of interest, particularly because Wally Bock was the Attorney who did my mom's Will in 1989, and encouraged the Associate Pastor and the music Director of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, John Weaver, to get the Will written and stored at his office, filed, before I filed the last Will of my mom in March 1998. Four years later you are threatening me with a lawsuit, and, you will have to prove that my copying of NBC news led to a loss of income to Mr. Sadowski. I have never been paid a penny for any article on this blog or on my website. I hope you have the data you need to pursue this, if you decide to do so.
Of course I will sue you back as well as Mr. Sadowski for the damages incurred by the writing of the letter published below, your reckless behavior, and demand for money. I was never given any notice about my infringement and I am not an attorney.
I have removed the photo on my blog as a courtesy for now. Anyone may go to the link on my blog to see the original article published by NBC and photo of Wally Bock. Should I find out that your demands and your ordering me to give you $450.00 is indeed arbitrary and capricious, not only will I put the picture back up but I will take legal action against you and Mr. Sadowski.
Thank you for your attention and consideration.
Betsy Combier
Editor and news reporter for New York Court Corruption.
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| Attorney Ben Manevitz |
MANEVlTZ LAw FI RM LLC
805 Clifton Avenue
Clifton, NJ 07013-1815
tel: 973-594-6529
fax: 973-689-9529
August11, 2014
The E-Accountability Foundation/ParentAdvocates.org Attn: Betsy Combier
315 East 65th Street Suite 4C
New York, NY 10021
by: USPS Cert/return receipt
Re: Unauthorized use of photographs; Reference number
39140-1156
To Whom it May Concern:
This firm represents the professional photographer Mr. Christopher Sadowski.
It has come to our attention that you are using an image or images owned
by Mr. Sadowski on your website, without
authorization and without
having licensed same. Attached for your reference is a copy of the image in question as used
on your
website, found at the url(s):
I
griffin.html].
As you may be aware, your use of Mr. Sadowski's creative work without
a valid license is a clear
copyright infringement in violation of United States
Code Title 17 (The Copyright Act). Statutory penalties for copyright infringement (where available) range from $200 to $150,000 per work infringed , and under normal circumstances are rarely less than $750 per work infringed. Of course, under certain conditions
damages for copyright
infringement can run to amounts significantly higher. Further,
where statutory damages
are awarded, the courts also have the power to order that you pay Mr. Sadowski's legal fees as well.
(a)
You must provide proof to these offices of a valid license of the image or images in question,
by emailing proof of same to PhotoLicense@manevitzlaw.com. Please make sure to include your company name and the reference number above in the subject line.
(b)
If you cannot provide such proof of a valid license, then you may continue to use the images by immediately remitting
the ongoing license fee of $1125. The license is for exactly the use that you are currently making
of the image, and is not transferable or subject to sub-license. We will provide
you with the appropriate settlement
and release agreement
at your request.
(c)
In the alternative, if you cannot provide proof
of a valid license, and you do not wish to continue
to use the images, you must
immediately cease and desist use of the images. In addition, you must
remit the termination-license fee of $450. Merely ceasing use of the images does not eliminate liability
for payment of fees due. We will
provide you with the appropriate settlement and release agreement
at your request.
Mr. Sadowski's livelihood is based on his offer of these images for license, and your infringement is causing him direct and immediate harm. The license
fees quoted herein
are calculated based on Mr. Sadowski's normal charges for a license
for your type of use and the number of images you have improperly used.
In anticipation of some of the common objections and responses this firm has encountered, it may be worthwhile to make clear certain points of law:
•
Under the relevant statute,
copyright infringement is a strict liability offense,
which is to say that it is not a defense to say that you infringed
the images "by
accident," or by automated system, or without knowledge.
• Resizing the picture does not make your use "fair use."
•
Neither correct
attribution to the photographer nor linking back to the original source lessens the severity of the copyright
infringement. In fact, it may serve to demonstrate your knowledge that the
image was not rightfully yours to use.
•
The fact that the image is only linked
from your site and is not stored on your server is not a defense.
•
An image is not in the public domain
merely because it is on the internet.
If you feel that you have received this letter in error, please
contact me by email at PhotoLicense@manevitzlaw.com. Please make sure to include your company name and the reference number above in the subject line. Nothing
in this shall be deemed a
waiver of any of Mr. Sadowski's rights or remedies
in connection with this matter, whether at law or in equity,
all of which rights and remedies are hereby expressly
reserved.
Sincerely
Sincerely
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has completely and totally subverted each and every single Court in New York State at the behest of Sheldon Silver and his foreign cronies, including the NY Family Courts, NY Civil Courts, NY Criminal Courts, and NY IDV Courts, as well as all of the Judges he approved or handpicked to run those Courts. Chief Judge Lippman even changed the NYS Constitution illegally and he needs to be arrested for treason and treated as an enemy of the United States of America. Also the money trail should be traced to those Judges who took benefits, promotions, awards, or other accolades for "towing the line" in favor of those lobbying groups and NGOs such as Safe Horizon and Sanctuary for Families which have terrorized the citizens of New York in these courts for decades, building up in crescendo over the past 10 years under the watch and tutelage of Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman and their other partner in crime, Governor Andrew Cuomo who willingly assisted and sabotaged the Moreland Commission on Ethics last year, which was the only hope New Yorkers had to escape the yoke of slavery and tyranny that these bastards foisted upon us in their corruption and pursuit of ultimate power at the taxpayers' expense.
ReplyDeletelay off, he is a great lawyer, and how would you feel if he was on your side?
ReplyDeleteMS. Combier,
ReplyDeleteI just came across your post as Mr. Sadowski has contacted me for the same reason he contacted your almost 3 years ago. He has had lawyers calling and e-mailing me regarding this matter when as you stated it was fair use, we made no money, .....
Any advice?
Thank you
Daniel