Claus-Dieter Zink takes measures against Lowlands Cup team

I contacted Mr Zink to assist with the cause, and his reply reveals him
to be a quite reasonable man that is not doing this out of spite.

He simply reacted as any reasonable person would that is trying to
protect their lively hood.

He would probably have forgiven the infringement, but due to the fact
that there are legal fees that he has incurred to investigate the
matter puts him at a loss for this infringement, which would not be
fair to him at all.

I think it is only right that he be reimbursed for his incurred costs
due to some wrong performed by others....he should not be made to pay
the price for anothers wrong.

Everyone knows that copyright infringement occurs when the owner does
not approve the publication of something they do as a living....it is
very clear!

You should have waited for approval, and assumed it not approved until
he has emailed you to confirm it.

How would you like it if someone stole things that you use to earn your
livelyhood and gave it out for free?

Im sorry but I believe you have made a mistake and need to be
responsible for your actions, even though it was not intentional and
pay the price.

He is a reasonable man and would likely deal with you directly if you
are honest and upfront with him...avoiding any additional lawyer fees.

Ray Buhr

jb92563 schreef:

He simply reacted as any reasonable person would that is trying to
protect their lively hood.

He would probably have forgiven the infringement, but due to the fact
that there are legal fees that he has incurred to investigate the
matter puts him at a loss for this infringement, which would not be
fair to him at all.

Maybe you can also explain why in this case legal fees where required
at all ? There was no need to investigate anything, as *I* spontanously
contacted *him* after I found out about the source of the images (I
did, before we ever contacted by him, his lawyer or Mr Pfohl). A simple
'no" to my requests to maintain the banner and/or sponsor the event
would have seemed a lot more reasonable than having his lawyer send
€1.400 invoices, with liability claims in excess off €10.000.

Then also consider he sent those not to me, but to innocent young
people that had no responsability in this matter at all. That put me in
the situation of not being able to defend myself against these claims,
but having to choose between either paying (what i consider a grossly
unfair damage claim) or having friends face possible trial. Thats not
my idea of reasonable either.

I think it is only right that he be reimbursed for his incurred costs
due to some wrong performed by others....he should not be made to pay
the price for anothers wrong.

You may want to read the entire text on the LLC site, even though i
know its long. I did offer to pay for his damages, but he won't
negotiate.

You should have waited for approval, and assumed it not approved until
he has emailed you to confirm it.

How would you like it if someone stole things that you use to earn your
livelyhood and gave it out for free?

That might be a somewhat fair comparison if:
1) I, or anyone else made any money with this
2) actual damages would have occured to Mr Zinks business. No one can
seriously believe if I had known the source and price of the images, i
would have considered spending €600 on them. instead, I would have
used other ones that are free, with no impact on my "business", nor on
that of Mr Zink.
3) I did any of this in bad faith (like stealing a car). Believe it or
not, with maintaining the images while offering credits / links, i
actually thought to be protecting Mr Zinks business and provide a
win-win situation for all of us.

He is a reasonable man and would likely deal with you directly if you
are honest and upfront with him...avoiding any additional lawyer fees.

Again, read the documents I have published. We tried dealing with him,
through email, phone, fax. We have been upfront and honest, all we got
was frivolous claims from his lawyer. If he is reasonable, he still has
to show it to me.

VT

but due to the fact
that there are legal fees that he has incurred to investigate the
matter puts him at a loss for this infringement, which would not be
fair to him at all.

- "...fees he has incurred to investigate...." Investigate by
employing the lawyer and filing a claim?
What a BS...

This is one very nasty situation. Mr. Zink should not hire any lawyers,
if he is so pathetic about his "rights" ...well, he can keep his
calendars for himself. Hopefully nobody will buy his "art". I don't
think we need people like him involved with anything related to soaring
or aviation in general. I really feel sorry for the victims of his
"business practice". Sounds to me like "sovietizing"...I wonder, maybe
Mr. Zink is behind Russia cutting natural gas supply to Europe? Just a
thought....

If memory serves me right (after living in the US for 18 years now),
this scheme is a time honored tradition in Germany as well as in the
US. Just try and put a product on the market that rhymes with WalMart
or Sony and wait what happens. This is just another form of ambulance
chasing that lawyers initiate to make a quick buck.
I would not be surprised if Zink had turned over this entire business
of fighting unauthorized usage of his pictures to lawyer that can't
hack it in business law or other more mainstream councel activities.
He may even have signed away his right to interfere with the
enforcement process once the lawyer determined that money might be
extracted.
A more benign point: Just because Zink doesn't speak English he should
not be considered a mindless redneck by this international and no doubt
multilingual forum.

Herb

wrote:
This is one very nasty situation. Mr. Zink should not hire any lawyers,
if he is so pathetic about his "rights" ...well, he can keep his
calendars for himself. Hopefully nobody will buy his "art". I don't
think we need people like him involved with anything related to soaring
or aviation in general. I really feel sorry for the victims of his
"business practice". Sounds to me like "sovietizing"...I wonder, maybe
Mr. Zink is behind Russia cutting natural gas supply to Europe? Just a
thought....