December 20, 2016
Joel Albrizio Final Demand Letters
In September of 2016, I received a frightening letter from Joel Albrizio. He claimed I had infringed on a copyrighted photo he says he owns. As of this date, he's not yet proven he even owns the photo, but that's a story on another day.
He's president of Adlife Marketing and Communications, Co., Inc. located at 38 Church Street, Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860.
About every month like clockwork, he sends out other letters titled:
- DELINQUENT NOTICE
- PAST DUE NOTICE
- FINAL DEMAND
The most recent letter came from the same computer-generated source at PO Box 19785 Irvine, California 92623-9785, but it showed a new "From" address of an attorney in Monticello, NY. The attorney's name is M.L. Zager, P.C.
All of the language in the letters is scary if you don't know anything about legal matters.
It's all rooted in deep psychology with Joel trying to push your scarcity button.
You see, scarcity is the most powerful psychological trigger of all. It's why we waterboard prisoners of war. We take away from them, or make scarce, the most valuable thing of all - the air of LIFE.
In your case, Joel is trying to take away from you your money, thus making it scarce in your bank account.
My advice is to just relax and do nothing.
Why do I say this?
If Joel is claiming you infringed on a copyright of his for a food photograph, guess what? There's a very good chance the photo(s) was / were available for FREE online for years at websites like iStockphoto.com. That's where I got my photo.
Joel tried to scare me trying to imply that I was guilty of "willful infringement" that carries a statutory penalty of $150,000.
Don't let that massive amount of money and unnerving language intimidate you. That's a penalty baked into the law for giant corporations that have deep pockets and have indeed stolen content.
But you and I didn't steal any of Joel's content or photos. We're not guilty of anything.
This is why you need to relax and above all, do not get out your pen to sign a check!
Joel thought that he could scare me into talking with an attorney in my city or town. I didn't have to do that because I've been through all of this before years ago in a similar trademark infringement legal matter.
I'm also a syndicated newspaper columnist and have had many in-depth conversations with intellectual property attorneys. While I'm not an attorney and can't offer you legal advice, I know enough about the law to suggest to you that you just need to calm down and keep reading here.
Here's why you need to STOP and take a deep breath before you do anything in case you've received a letter from Joel.
1. Since Joel put thousands of food images up on the Internet for FREE, that's the value he's placed on them. In other words, the images are WORTHLESS because he was giving them away for free. A jury or a judge would not award him thousands of dollars in damages because he's not been harmed by you. Remember, he allowed people to download and use the images for free.
2. Keep in mind that attorneys only make money by selling their time. Not all attorneys are ethical. What's more, to protect themselves in a malpractice suit, they need to do certain things to show they're being diligent. These *things* can end up costing you thousands of dollars and you don't need to waste that money.
3. It's VERY EXPENSIVE for Joel to file a lawsuit and PROSECUTE it. A plaintiff, that's Joel, has to move the ball down the field. A defendant in a lawsuit, that would be you and me, can drag their feet and even defend themselves in court without an attorney.
Think about it, even if Joel had the images on the Internet and was charging $30 for a perpetual license, that's all a court would award him in damages. Do you think he'd invest hundreds or thousands of dollars to get back $30?
And NEVER FORGET this: If Joel were to win an award of $30 in a lawsuit, guess what? You don't have to pay that day!!!
You can make Joel invest even more money with his attorney to collect the $30. All the court does is give Joel a *judgement* that you owe him $30.
Isn't that cool?
Here's all you need to do if you got a copyright infringement letter from Joel Albrizio:
Contact IMMEDIATELY the Rhode Island Attorney General and file an official complaint.
If you, and all the other grocers, printers, etc. that Joel is sending hateful letters to stop and file a complaint with the Rhode Island Attorney General, don't you think he, the AG, will put his head on a swivel?
Rhode Island is the smallest state in the Union. If the Rhode Island AG got hundreds and hundreds of complaints against a business, it would be record breaking and he'd undoubtedly know there's a severe problem.
CLICK HERE for the Consumer Protection Unit page of his website and read the information at the center of the page.
CLICK HERE for the official Rhode Island Attorney General online complaint form you need to fill out RIGHT NOW.
After you've filed your complaint, then go read my FREE Stop Copyright Trolls document.
CLICK HERE to access it.
Finally, I want you to go look up the definition of this word:
racketeering
Here's a definition I discovered: "dishonest and fraudulent business dealings"
Posted by Tim Carter at December 20, 2016 3:40 PM
