Dear George Riddick
Seems as though your days of extorting people with your nasty, vile, obnoxious, disgusting letters and emails are over.
You have finally been exposed on a wide scale. Hopefully this will stop you now?
Here is the link to the full story about Mr George Riddick:
http://extortionletterinfo.com/riddick-letters.htm
And here is just a taste:
Overview of George P. Riddick III of ImageLine Inc.
Of all the Getty Clones, to date, there has been nothing more outrageous than what has been brought to my and Oscar Michelen's attention than the questionable practices and threats of George P. Riddick III of ImageLine Inc. based in Ashland, Virginia.
Mr. Riddick has single-handedly and outrageously trumped the actions of Getty Images, Masterfile, and Jupiter Images combined! The utter lack of professionalism and distorted views from Mr. Riddick was so disturbing that both Oscar and I felt we needed to report and assist in this situation.
Unlike Getty Images, MasterFile, and Jupiter Images, ImageLine appears to be primarily a one-man operation. In fact, in all correspondence that has been forwarded to us, Mr. Riddick routinely initiates, responds, and follows up on all email correspondence. He signs many of his communication as Chairman/CEO.
Our email address (contact us)
A few readers have enquired about how best to contact us ...
If you are the victim of Mr George Riddick and his obnoxious, legally threatening letters, we would love to hear from you.
Our email address is:
georgeriddickimageline@googlemail.com
If you are the victim of Mr George Riddick and his obnoxious, legally threatening letters, we would love to hear from you.
Our email address is:
georgeriddickimageline@googlemail.com
Slashdot.org story about our mate George Riddick
"Pages at ireport.com and extortionletterinfo.com have been documenting and researching the activities of George P. Riddick III, previously known for his lawsuits against IMSI and Xoom at the turn of the century. In 2007 he issued a largely-ignored press release claiming the majority of clipart online infringes a copyright and has ranted about how Microsoft and Google are stealing from him. In recent months, he's apparently made a business model of going after web site operators who were using clipart they believed to be legally licensed or public domain, telling them they're infringing clipart collections he hasn't offered commercially in years and making outrageous settlement demands. He seems to have tested the waters on this some years back, but emboldened by the passage of the PRO-IP act, he's gone aggro with it. A few dodgy anonyblogs had popped up to "out" him as a copyright abuser, but these recent ireport.com and extortionletterinfo.com reports go much deeper in documenting and researching Riddick's recent one-man campaign to be the RIAA of clipart."
Here is the actual link to the story:
http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=3613299
Here is the actual link to the story:
http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=3613299
Copyright Protection Vs Legal Threats?
We have been advised of the following tactic that George Ridick of Imageline allegedly uses with his supposed "flagrant copyright violaters"
The owner of a small website offering "Freeware Graphics" for download contacted us recently. He recounted the story to us, of how George Riddick had sent him numerous legally threatening emails demanding that he provide Legal and Personal Contact Information so that he could commence legal action immediately.
And the charge laid against this website owner? Apparently, he put some images on his Freeware Graphics site that George Riddick alleges belong to him. The website owner countered that he found these images on the net completely innocently - and that most importantly, the images bore No Watermark or Discerning Feature To Advise Of The Ownership ... nothing!
Next, the website owner offered a solution to the problem: "please let me know exactly which images are yours, and I will remove them from my archive immediately". But alas, this apparently, was not good enough for our dear George. The wheels were already in motion. He would not respond to this request for information on the offending Graphics, that would have immediately resolved the situation. No ... his only reply was that of more legally threatening/harrassing emails again demanding personal and legal contact details so that he could commence legal action. He also offered (of course!) the oppportunity to "fairly settle this matter $$$ before it goes to the courts".
I will let the readers of this blog decide for themselves. You have the information presented before you.
Is this:
(a) someone mereley defending their copyrighted product via all legal means available?
or
(b) a form of intimidation, harrassment and even monetary extortion?
Let me know your thoughts.
P.S. This issue was also raised over on another forum. Follow this link here to read more.
http://copyrightscodered.blogspot.com/2008/12/george-riddick-lll-imageline.html#comments
All the Facts said...
A very large and rapidly growing network of Riddick victims are organizing and sharing information. A large compilation of his threats and extortion tactics, which he tries to keep secret, are being assembled.
We urge anyone that has received threatening emails from George P Riddick III to carefully document them and contact your local FBI office.
February 4, 2009 7:48 PM
The owner of a small website offering "Freeware Graphics" for download contacted us recently. He recounted the story to us, of how George Riddick had sent him numerous legally threatening emails demanding that he provide Legal and Personal Contact Information so that he could commence legal action immediately.
And the charge laid against this website owner? Apparently, he put some images on his Freeware Graphics site that George Riddick alleges belong to him. The website owner countered that he found these images on the net completely innocently - and that most importantly, the images bore No Watermark or Discerning Feature To Advise Of The Ownership ... nothing!
Next, the website owner offered a solution to the problem: "please let me know exactly which images are yours, and I will remove them from my archive immediately". But alas, this apparently, was not good enough for our dear George. The wheels were already in motion. He would not respond to this request for information on the offending Graphics, that would have immediately resolved the situation. No ... his only reply was that of more legally threatening/harrassing emails again demanding personal and legal contact details so that he could commence legal action. He also offered (of course!) the oppportunity to "fairly settle this matter $$$ before it goes to the courts".
I will let the readers of this blog decide for themselves. You have the information presented before you.
Is this:
(a) someone mereley defending their copyrighted product via all legal means available?
or
(b) a form of intimidation, harrassment and even monetary extortion?
Let me know your thoughts.
P.S. This issue was also raised over on another forum. Follow this link here to read more.
http://copyrightscodered.blogspot.com/2008/12/george-riddick-lll-imageline.html#comments
All the Facts said...
A very large and rapidly growing network of Riddick victims are organizing and sharing information. A large compilation of his threats and extortion tactics, which he tries to keep secret, are being assembled.
We urge anyone that has received threatening emails from George P Riddick III to carefully document them and contact your local FBI office.
February 4, 2009 7:48 PM
George Riddick’s Accomplices and Known Aliases
Recently, a reader of this blog provided us with some very timely information. Apparently, our dear friend George Riddick of Imageline, masquerades under various guises from time to time.
Here are but a few of his (known) Accomplices and Aliases:
George Paine
gpaine3@yahoo.com
Gary Gray
ggray528@yahoo.com
Leigh Gray
Dawn Larson
Annie Stark
http://www.gotomarketbrands.com
http://www.islandview2.com/
Readers, we encourage you to please get in contact with us should you discover more to add to this list. With this information, we can hope to be better prepared to deal with any possible underhandedness.
Here are but a few of his (known) Accomplices and Aliases:
George Paine
gpaine3@yahoo.com
Gary Gray
ggray528@yahoo.com
Leigh Gray
Dawn Larson
Annie Stark
http://www.gotomarketbrands.com
http://www.islandview2.com/
Readers, we encourage you to please get in contact with us should you discover more to add to this list. With this information, we can hope to be better prepared to deal with any possible underhandedness.
Friends of George Riddick
Ahh ... the infamous George Riddick of Imageline! Where do we start in our examination of this delightful fellow ...
In the list below, we gather links to some of his closest and dearest friends on the net. Read all the kind words that people have said about Mr George Riddick:
http://george-riddick-is-an-ass.blogspot.com/
http://copyrightscodered.blogspot.com/
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/clipart/2008-September/008758.html
http://www.slashlegal.com/showthread.php?t=159375
http://mashable.com/2008/07/07/plentitube/
http://library.duke.edu/blogs/scholcomm/2008/01/11/too-easy/
http://seekingalpha.com/article/48337-microsoft-banks-170-million-in-first-day-of-halo-3-release
http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/2008/06/icann_hit_with_phishing_attack.php
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/6/how_much_money_can_youtube_make_mark_cuban_vs_mark_mahaney
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2007/10/01/microsoft-a-halo-from-halo-kaufman-boosts-xbox-360-sales-forecast-sees-new-trouble-for-sony-playstation-3/
P.S. More to come!
P.S.S. Send us your George Riddick sitings, and we'll post the URL here!
In the list below, we gather links to some of his closest and dearest friends on the net. Read all the kind words that people have said about Mr George Riddick:
http://george-riddick-is-an-ass.blogspot.com/
http://copyrightscodered.blogspot.com/
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/clipart/2008-September/008758.html
http://www.slashlegal.com/showthread.php?t=159375
http://mashable.com/2008/07/07/plentitube/
http://library.duke.edu/blogs/scholcomm/2008/01/11/too-easy/
http://seekingalpha.com/article/48337-microsoft-banks-170-million-in-first-day-of-halo-3-release
http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/2008/06/icann_hit_with_phishing_attack.php
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/6/how_much_money_can_youtube_make_mark_cuban_vs_mark_mahaney
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2007/10/01/microsoft-a-halo-from-halo-kaufman-boosts-xbox-360-sales-forecast-sees-new-trouble-for-sony-playstation-3/
P.S. More to come!
P.S.S. Send us your George Riddick sitings, and we'll post the URL here!
George Riddick - Copyright Infringer ?
George, please defend yourself against these scurrilous accusations that you yourself are in fact guilty of "wilful and flagrant Copyright Violation"??
Here is some interesting reading that we found on George Riddick of Imageline:
George, you little scamp, you really have been a very naughty boy again!
IMAGELINE, INC. TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT #2
Please don't tell us you didn't know the Sydney Opera House is protected by the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia, including copyright law?
Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the Sydney Opera House.
Here's what Caroline Ang, Corporate Counsel at the Sydney Opera House has to say (quote):
“The SOH brand is a very powerful brand and is well recognised all around the world. This means that the brand is one of the most important assets of the Sydney Opera House Trust. The Sydney Opera House Trust manages the use of Sydney Opera House’s image and brand on behalf of the New South Wales Government. The Trust vigorously protects the commercial exploitation of its intellectual property and does not approve use of the SOH brand in commercial contexts where there is no association between the relevant business and SOH.
The Trust does this for two reasons - first - to protect the integrity of the brand and second, to protect its commercial value. As a non-profit arts organisation, the Trust is heavily reliant on sponsorships to support its operations and it offers brand association to sponsors of a certain value. In all cases however a sponsor is only permitted to link its product with the SOH brand in a manner that is approved by SOH and which aligns with SOH brand values.
We hope that you can appreciate that our image and exclusivity are our most valuable assets commercially, so it is important that we protect them for ourselves and our valued sponsors.
Images of SOH may be used by the media but not for advertising or other commercial uses.”
So George, are you absolutely SURE the image you've produced has never been sold for commercial use? In fact, there isn't one single mention of commercial restriction within the Imageline, Inc. Terms of Service. We don't even see an image licensing agreement. How odd!
Would it be fair to say that SOH have the absolute right to know ALL your customers and licensed distributors worldwide, audit ALL your accounts and claim compensation settlements of say, $3000 for each and every image you've sold of their property?
Maybe we'll just ask Ms. Ang. We're sure she'll be interested.
Here is some interesting reading that we found on George Riddick of Imageline:
George, you little scamp, you really have been a very naughty boy again!
IMAGELINE, INC. TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT #2
Please don't tell us you didn't know the Sydney Opera House is protected by the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia, including copyright law?
Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the Sydney Opera House.
Here's what Caroline Ang, Corporate Counsel at the Sydney Opera House has to say (quote):
“The SOH brand is a very powerful brand and is well recognised all around the world. This means that the brand is one of the most important assets of the Sydney Opera House Trust. The Sydney Opera House Trust manages the use of Sydney Opera House’s image and brand on behalf of the New South Wales Government. The Trust vigorously protects the commercial exploitation of its intellectual property and does not approve use of the SOH brand in commercial contexts where there is no association between the relevant business and SOH.
The Trust does this for two reasons - first - to protect the integrity of the brand and second, to protect its commercial value. As a non-profit arts organisation, the Trust is heavily reliant on sponsorships to support its operations and it offers brand association to sponsors of a certain value. In all cases however a sponsor is only permitted to link its product with the SOH brand in a manner that is approved by SOH and which aligns with SOH brand values.
We hope that you can appreciate that our image and exclusivity are our most valuable assets commercially, so it is important that we protect them for ourselves and our valued sponsors.
Images of SOH may be used by the media but not for advertising or other commercial uses.”
So George, are you absolutely SURE the image you've produced has never been sold for commercial use? In fact, there isn't one single mention of commercial restriction within the Imageline, Inc. Terms of Service. We don't even see an image licensing agreement. How odd!
Would it be fair to say that SOH have the absolute right to know ALL your customers and licensed distributors worldwide, audit ALL your accounts and claim compensation settlements of say, $3000 for each and every image you've sold of their property?
Maybe we'll just ask Ms. Ang. We're sure she'll be interested.
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