Attached Link: Accused

Apparently, he's being sued by thieves who stole his work.

This turns my stomach inside-out.

 Charles,

Thanks for posting. Most interesting case. My guess it will be resolved very soon as stockart.com can't afford this sort of pressure.

a) I hate laywers, or rather, what I've seen them make the law and concept of justice, into.

Apologies to the honest members of that profession and the ones who've done great work against miscarriage sof justice and just representing Ordinary Joes, but I've seen much worse legaleze than this

b) Always keep back ups. It may help in such cases, while you can of course, alter dates etc, experts can surely give a degree or evidence ot improve your case from them.

c) Pond slime do exist. However, such are far far rarer than the many folk who love art and are responsible in business. Never get too up tight over such things.
"Media porn" is a serious issue now, by this I mean, the way sensational cases are hyped ot hell, making it seem like everyone out there is a serial killer or worse, when in fact such is very rare and most crimes are actually less common than in times past, we just catch them nowadays and have larger populations so therefor more criminals.

Not such an issue with this case, merely saying: "Don't get paranoid" ;)
 

  I sent this to him privately, but I think it's probably good advice for many:

Jon,

I am not a lawyer, but have experience in business working with lawyers. If you want to resolve this the quickest, without hefty lawyers fees, I recommend the following approach:

First, if you have a lawyer involved, ask if they'll take the case on contingency. Probably not, but it never hurts to ask. If so, then hire him and take his advice, if not proceed as follows. It sounds like you have the wrong lawyer helping you at this stage as he's gotten nothing done in nine months. If you're going to use a lawyer, you really need a lawyer who can get things done.

If you want to minimize how much you spend on a lawyer:

Do not talk directly with their lawyers. Call their offices on Monday and speak to their CEO or CFO. First rule: Business people talk to business people, lawyers talk to lawyers. 

Try to negotiate a settlement which works for you. I don't think at this stage you can prove damages unless you have a client who has fired you based upon the stockart accusations, but I'm not sure about this (IANAL).

My hunch is stockart.com is already aware NOW of this situation-- as it's all over the web. Very bad exposure for them as they depend on communications designers and artists for their very livlihood. I suspect they want to settle this quickly. Before contacting them, create a list of what it is you want from them. Here's a start:

Public letter of apology to you and your clients

Remove your artwork from their site

Provide you a hold harmless agreement

If they agree over the phone to some basic terms, follow it up with a non-binding terms letter (or email). This way you document the negotiation and not have to spend your own legal fees on the negotiation. If you need help with negotiations, talk with your lawyer, or other saavy business men.

Second Rule: Business people negotiate settlements, lawyers paper them. Only after you and they are agreed in the letter, then turn it over to the lawyers. If you're trying to save money, have their lawyers draw up the initial agreement, then have your lawyer go over it. 

If there is anything in the legal agreement which was not in your non-binding terms letter, explain to their CEO (or whomever you negotiated with) you have existing terms in place, and it is not the lawyers place to negotiate further. It's negotiating in bad faith on their part and is not a professional way to conduct business. The negotiations are already finished. Do not sign unless they stick to your original agreed upon terms.

You've done a good job putting the pressure on them. Good luck!

-Chipp 

Attached Link: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/05/125209