A firestorm of controversy is heating up as copyright trolls attempt to silence online forums designed to inform the general public about the practice of Copyright Trolling.
A firestorm of controversy is heating up as copyright trolls attempt to silence online forums designed to inform the general public about the practice of Copyright Trolling.
Linda Ellis, purported author of The Dash poem, has accused Matthew Chan, moderator of the ExtortionLetterInfo (ELI) Forums, of stalking. Chan is expected to appear with Ellis at a court hearing in a Georgia Superior Court on Thursday, February 28th to aggressively contest and fight the charge. Chan founded ELI, one of the first online forums to expose the deceptive and extortionistic practice of copyright trolling. Chan states, "It is a ridiculous accusation. I have no criminal record and I've never ever met, written to, emailed, or spoken with Linda Ellis. How do you stalk someone you have never met, phoned, mailed, faxed, or emailed?"
"The Dash" is a bereavement poem often shared by grieving families on online blogs, newsletters, and funeral programs. The copyrighted poem went viral in the late 1990's and Ellis charges each unauthorized user with copyright infringement with a series of heavy-handed and intimidating emails and settlement demand letters. Chan, along with others in the ELI Community, has been highly critical of Ellis and outed her extortionistic tactics and her collection agent, John W. Jolin. Ellis's settlement demands range from $7,500 to $100,000 per post. Ellis claims the ELI forum contains death threats aimed at her family. No such threats can be found on the ELI forum site.
Chan started the ELI website after Getty Images claimed he infringed upon a copyrighted image. Chan fought Getty Images - a well-known supplier of media content and also well-known for using copyright trolling firms to search for unauthorized use of content. Chan won his battle against Getty and as a result became an activist.
HEARING DATE:
This Thursday
Feb. 28, 2013. 10am.
Muscogee Superior Court (10th Floor, Judge Jordan Courtroom)
100 Tenth St.
Columbus, GA
For more information on this issue click here:http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/linda-ellis-lindas-lyrics-dash-poem-letters-forum/ Supporting documents can be found at:http://www.scribd.com/doc/125745638/Linda-Ellis-Stalking-Complaint-Against-ELI-s-Matthew-Chan
