Mandolin Cafe threatened with lawsuit
We received an inquiry from a member a few weeks back asking us to remove a couple of threads, said he was being threatened for them being on this forum and would we remove them? After a few back and forth emails we said, "this is not your problem so have these folks contact us." And thus the fun began. They sent us what appears below and after a bit of research we responded. Ultimately I found a different email address for the store owner who was supposedly being represented--I heard from him today and this was all news to him, and he said he's no longer in business so this was all an attempt to strong-arm us out of some money it appears. Didn't quite work out, but was a fair amount of fun.
Thought it worth sharing.
First, we received this email from a general GMail address with some odd domain names copied that didn't make sense to us and a picture of someone that was supposed to be a lawyer but was actually a picture of a Tibetan lama taken in 2005 in Germany. Hard to make stuff up this good.
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[Name of music store removed]
Los Angeles, CA
November 6, 2017
To whom it may concern,
This law firm represents [Name of music store removed]. If you are represented by legal counsel, please direct this letter to your attorney immediately and have your attorney notify us of such representation.
We are writing to notify you that your unlawful copying of [Name of music store and their supposed copyright instrument removed] infringes upon our client’s exclusive copyrights. Accordingly, you are hereby directed to
CEASE AND DESIST ALL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.
[Name of music store removed] is the owner of a copyright in various aspects of the trade name Bandola Expandido. Under United States copyright law, [Name of music store removed] copyrights have been in effect since the date that the name Bandola Expandido was created. All copyrightable aspects of [Name of music store removed] Bandola Expandido are copyrighted under United States copyright law.
It has come to our attention that you have been copying The name Bandola Expandido on MandolinCafe.com. We have copies of your unlawful copies to preserve as evidence. Your actions constitute copyright infringement in violation of United States copyright laws. Under 17 U.S.C. 504, the consequences of copyright infringement include statutory damages of between $750 and $30,000 per work, at the discretion of the court, and damages of up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement. If you continue to engage in copyright infringement after receiving this letter, your actions will be evidence of “willful infringement.”
We demand that you immediately (A) cease and desist your unlawful copying of the Bandola Expandido trademarked name and (B) provide us with prompt written assurance within ten (10) days that you will cease and desist from further infringement of [CLIENT]’s copyrighted works.
If you do not comply with this cease and desist demand within this time period, [Name of music store removed] is entitled to use your failure to comply as evidence of “willful infringement” and seek monetary damages and equitable relief for your copyright infringement. In the event you fail to meet this demand, please be advised that [Name of music store removed] has asked us to communicate to you that it will contemplate pursuing all available legal remedies, including seeking monetary damages, injunctive relief, and an order that you pay court costs and attorney’s fees. Your liability and exposure under such legal action could be considerable.
Before taking these steps, however, my client wished to give you one opportunity to discontinue your illegal conduct by complying with this demand within ten (10) days. Accordingly, please sign and return the attached Agreement within ten (10) days to
If you or your attorney have any questions, please contact me directly.
Sincerely,
[Name removed]
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To which we replied, including a link to the Tibetan lama whose picture appeared on the GMail account:
Thank you for your inquiry.
The Mandolin Cafe is protected by and is a member in good standing with the United States government's DMCA copyright protection program which I'm sure you are intimately familiar with. We provide strict enforcement for the content that appears on our site. It's for that reason we provide the following information to assist in making sure your inquiry is a success:
Please refer to our official DMCA statement at https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/faq.php. You will need to send a certified or registered letter on your law firm's letterhead stating the nature of your concern to our official agent of record as listed with the United States DMCA government office along with printouts and/or URLs (web addresses) of the pages that are of concern to your client. We are not aware of any issues regarding your inquiry and have not been provided such information so cannot further assist.
We cannot accept email inquiries from generic email addresses that are not representative of a law firm and for the protection of the parties you deem to be representing, we need to ensure you are in fact acting on behalf of those you have named. It's for this reason that all of the information that follows also also be a part of this package.
In the generic form letter you sent us below stating your client's case, copied verbatim (including formatting) from the following web site - https://jux.law/cease-desist-letter-...e-sample-form/ - please note that web site states important information which should be part of your inquiry:
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The following is a Cease and Desist Letter template for those who are looking for a sample form to use as an example. This Cease and Desist Letter is solely for use with copyright infringement (it could be modified for other purposes), and is from the perspective of a Minneapolis attorney writing on behalf of a client whose copyrighted works were being infringed.
Warning: You should not use this Cease and Desist Letter without consulting first with an attorney to ensure that it complies with the law in your jurisdiction. Also, Cease and Desist Letters are best sent by attorneys because they carry more weight when a lawyer writes a letter threatening legal action if someone doesn’t cease and desist illegal conduct.
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Since it appears both your law practice and your client are based in California you should research the proper verbiage and dollar amounts that fit with the laws of your state, not those of Minnesota. In addition, the form was not filled out correctly as you omitted some client information. Finally, there was a Copyright Infringement Settlement Agreement sample statement in the information from the web site above you indicated was attached in your initial inquiry. It was not, and will need to be a part of the package mailed to us and should also be on your law firm's letterhead along with a stamped envelope with your law firm's address.
In your letter please include the copyright number on record from the U.S. government for the term "Bandola Expandido." We did an initial search and could find no such copyright so your assistance in bringing this information to our attention will be appreciated.
Our attorney has also asked for a detailed written statement outlining the history of the term used, and estimated financial damages your client has suffered as a result of this information appearing on the internet.
respectfully,
Scott Tichenor
Mandolin Cafe
Since 1995
http://www.mandolincafe.com
Addendum: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...a_rinpoche.jpg
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Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton
I've only heared from one of his representatives. 
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