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MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Hey everyone, it's been a while.
Wanted to share an interesting bit of news with regards to building and launching a website. Last Friday we received a letter from MyGirlFund's lawyers which while 3 pages long still amounted to a cease and desist letter. The thing that got them angry was a blog post we wrote way before we launched the site researching and reviewing their site. We wanted to see why they were popular and write up what we learned.
Anyway, I wanted to share the letters we received and our story in case anyone was curious. We documented everything in this post here:
http://extralunchmoney.com/blog/mygi...their-website/
Not sure if anyone else has had issues with writing a review about MyGirlFund, but we were a little surprised.
Be curious to hear your thoughts...
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Holy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit all of that over ONE post?
They want you to shut down ELM due to a post? They hunted down your real name? Since when are C&D letters that long?
I remember there was a post on icammodel criticizing them over one of their popularmodel's leaving - I can't find it anymore. Also werent they behind SMW abruptly folding? (allegedly)
Damn! MGF really brings the wahhhmbulance.Geez.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Yikes is all I can say! They seem a bunch of tossers. Hope you get sorted Benic
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
roast
Holy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit all of that over ONE post?
They want you to shut down ELM due to a post? They hunted down your real name? Since when are C&D letters that long?
I remember there was a post on icammodel criticizing them over one of their popularmodel's leaving - I can't find it anymore. Also werent they behind SMW abruptly folding? (allegedly)
Damn! MGF really brings the wahhhmbulance.Geez.
Yup, all over one post. The funny thing is that was our second letter. The first letter was a different firm that just sent us an email. They said we had used their images, but never told us what images to take down. I emailed them back the first time asking and they never responded...until months later after we had launched our site.
As for the letter being that long, I can only guess that it's because this law firm, Baker Botts, is a lot pricier than their previous law firm so you get what you pay for. I have to give them credit for doing their homework. They actually did read our terms of service and find out or info.
It's pretty likely that SMW was taken down because of MGF...if they got this mad over 1 blog post, I can't imagine what they would do for building a site functionally the same.
Again, I have no issue with MGF. I've never tried to bash them in order for us to get more users. For us actions speak louder for words and if we do the right thing, build a good product, then users, customers will come. If they aren't then we haven't done it yet.
As for the lawyers after us, we'll see what happens...
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MissKatie
Yikes is all I can say! They seem a bunch of tossers. Hope you get sorted Benic
Thanks for the support. Just wanted to put out the info so people can see what happens behind the scenes in launching and have a site.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
KitanaBlades
Not surprised. MGF does this to everyone. They HATE competition.
They like being the ALPHA and the ONLY ALPHA.
I definitely can see that now. I was surprised to learn about their non-compete clause in their terms of service...at least according to this blog post by Maggie Mayhem: http://missmaggiemayhem.com/2010/12/...l-fund-a-scam/
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ukmissy
Bad bad sports. SMH :(
Yeah, turns out I'm not the only one who's had to deal with potential lawsuits from...some other people had mentioned that they had gotten letters from MGF about blog posts. So the consensus seems to be that they use lawyers to scare bloggers and other businesses into removing negative posts about them. It's an interesting tactic. That must be why you don't find that many reviews about their site...
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
benic
Yeah, turns out I'm not the only one who's had to deal with potential lawsuits from...some other people had mentioned that they had gotten letters from MGF about blog posts. So the consensus seems to be that they use lawyers to scare bloggers and other businesses into removing negative posts about them. It's an interesting tactic. That must be why you don't find that many reviews about their site...
deleted.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
You are allowed to use copyrighted materials for purposes such as commentary, criticism, or news reporting; although the guidelines aren't very clear.
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
If you want to keep your post up, I suggest consulting with a lawyer that is familiar with copyright law.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
KitanaBlades
Like just REGULAR PEOPLE? WTF is that about?
Wow. I don't see anything derogatory about the things people are saying anywhere. I just see reviews. I think they are helping them with publicity to be honest.
Yeah....this is wild.
There's at least one other blogger / website owner who confirmed to me about MGF sending lawyers after him and his site after he published a story about a disgruntled ex MGF member.
You are right at some point any press is better than no press. And if someone doesn't like your website, that's fine. You can respond either in comments, or even write your own post.
Apparently these types of cease and desist letters are sent frequently by some companies to keep their image looking good (rather than just doing a good job). Here's a post about a a furniture company who used lawyers to try to get a review site to take down bad reviews http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/20...ublish-th.html.
Why does this tactic work? Most people are scared by lawyers. Even when I first got the letter I was scared... And when your scared the easy thing to do is to just comply so there's no threat of any legal action hanging above you. That's what they bank on. But my fear has turned to anger.
Here's the kicker. Prior to this I had no bad feelings about their business. I figured they must be doing something right because I've heard many people say good things about them. However, this incident has a left a sour taste in my mouth.
I'll let you guys know what I end up responding to their lawyers with. Thanks for listening to me rant.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
eagle2
You are allowed to use copyrighted materials for purposes such as commentary, criticism, or news reporting; although the guidelines aren't very clear.
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
If you want to keep your post up, I suggest consulting with a lawyer that is familiar with copyright law.
I agree that the use of screenshots of their images is a grey area. The funny thing though is their lawyer says that MGF doesn't own the content to what people upload (the original uploads still own the rights). When they upload they grant MGF the rights to use that image. We have the same terms on the website.
But here's my question. Let's say for example you upload some pictures of yourself onto ExtraLunchMoney.com Then say another person reviews our website and screen captures your images and posts it. Can I say he violated my copyrights? When the fact remains that it's your content and not mine?
That's where the lawyer would definitely come in handy. Rather than deal with the images I replaced them with more suitable images. You can view the new images here:
http://extralunchmoney.com/blog/mygi...eep-with-them/
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
thanks for sharing this info benic. i will admit i've posted skeptically/critically of elm in the past but this is awful and i'm really sorry they're hitting you with this. i'm glad you're fighting back, and i'm grateful for the info you've shared and the link to another review of mgf.
personally i'm beginning to get really weirded out by their cutthroat business practices (in addition to being really irked that they don't state up front but apparently only accept girls with certain body types). overall it's depressing. the site has a great premise but the way they do business is really disappointing. i hope this gets sorted out.
eta: and i will say despite my previous skepticism about traffic at elm - y'all are one of the most up-front, accessible sites i've ever seen, and i love that you are so open about who you are and what you do. and that even though you do come here for ideas, you don't troll and you do your own research, and you give back to the community here. it's refreshing to see a site owner who operates so transparently and ethically.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
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Originally Posted by
tinydancer23
thanks for sharing this info benic. i will admit i've posted skeptically/critically of elm in the past but this is awful and i'm really sorry they're hitting you with this. i'm glad you're fighting back, and i'm grateful for the info you've shared and the link to another review of mgf.
personally i'm beginning to get really weirded out by their cutthroat business practices (in addition to being really irked that they don't state up front but apparently only accept girls with certain body types). overall it's depressing. the site has a great premise but the way they do business is really disappointing. i hope this gets sorted out.
eta: and i will say despite my previous skepticism about traffic at elm - y'all are one of the most up-front, accessible sites i've ever seen, and i love that you are so open about who you are and what you do. and that even though you do come here for ideas, you don't troll and you do your own research, and you give back to the community here. it's refreshing to see a site owner who operates so transparently and ethically.
No worries about the being skeptical or critical about ELM. Honestly if I were in your shoes I'd be too. I know from reading stuff here and interviewing people that there are quite a lot of shady businesses and shady business practices. For us I'll be the first to admit that we aren't pulling in millions of traffic. If someone asks me how much money they can make on our website, the first thing I'd say is don't quit your day job if you have one. That being said we are steadily growing and building a good community.
I know MyGirlFund has done well for some...it wasn't until recently I heard how they only allow certain models onto the site. That's their choice of course. For us we let the market decide. If you want to sell and you are who you say you are, go for it.
When we started ELM we wanted to do things ethically and as open as possible. I figure if we are doing things the right way there's no reason to hide. A lot of mainstream sites you know who the founders are or you can find out. However, we noticed with more adult sites it's never very clear. We want to be different...not just talk, but action.
Again appreciate the comments and feedback. I have a feeling MGF is not going to like the response I sent them. Will post up later.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
MGF really is intense to work for. I can't post a blog in the custy-forum. It always gets flagged and pulled. I basically keep it on for here or there but its easily the most over-protective cam-site I've ever worked for, in terms of it's extremely jealous content policies. I've stopped really trying to network thru that site. Its practically unreasonable, outside the few random strikes of gold. Its also extremely low-maintenance. I appreciate it's vanilla aspects and I consider it sort of "camming lite". I tell ultra-newbs or friends just dabbling in camming about it and they end up loving it. I'll have an account for as long as they'll let me. I don't get the logic of their business model, though.
Sorry they're down your throat. They're just so aggressive to deal with that I can see where you're coming from, on principle. I disagree with a few points (yes, displaying any images, screenshots or otherwise, of theirs is copyright infringement) but I hope you come out of this, relatively unscathed. Is filing any of this paperwork becoming a financial burden to you?
Good luck.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
benic
Hey everyone, it's been a while.
Wanted to share an interesting bit of news with regards to building and launching a website. Last Friday we received a letter from MyGirlFund's lawyers which while 3 pages long still amounted to a cease and desist letter. The thing that got them angry was a blog post we wrote way before we launched the site researching and reviewing their site. We wanted to see why they were popular and write up what we learned.
Anyway, I wanted to share the letters we received and our story in case anyone was curious. We documented everything in this post here:
Not sure if anyone else has had issues with writing a review about MyGirlFund, but we were a little surprised.
Be curious to hear your thoughts...
In your blog post you admitted that you chose a fake girl's name to reply to them initially.
So did you also post on SW pretending to be a girl?
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hey Ho
and you are ..........????
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
who is Just4aMinKTHANKS ??
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
catgirl
and you are ..........????
Someone who knows how to use the search function.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hey Ho
Yup, I freely admit that was me. In hindsight I'm not proud of it....but when we were starting out we weren't sure how to proceed or even begin marketing. But as we went along I realized if we want to be legitimate and real I needed to "come out" and represent the company. Long story short. We posted as "Michelle", but then stopped cause it just wasn't honest. I apologize for that.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
KitanaBlades
Good luck with clearing that up Benic. :)
Removed my post because I don't want this to turn into a drama-fest for you. :)
I just don't deal well with it anymore. Hitting the ignore button and moving on love.
xoxo!
No worries. I appreciate that. Like I said. I got no beef with models liking working for MGF. If you are willing to work on there then they must be doing something right. Results speak for themselves.
I really just don't like how they've been dealing with us as a business. I'm not out there trying to steal their models or customers. I figure people can make up their own minds. We'll take care of it. We're preparing for the worst. Like I might have mentioned I don't believe they will like the response I sent.
Bottom line. We're trying to do things differently than the other companies out there. Thanks.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by
vivianbear
MGF really is intense to work for. I can't post a blog in the custy-forum. It always gets flagged and pulled. I basically keep it on for here or there but its easily the most over-protective cam-site I've ever worked for, in terms of it's extremely jealous content policies. I've stopped really trying to network thru that site. Its practically unreasonable, outside the few random strikes of gold. Its also extremely low-maintenance. I appreciate it's vanilla aspects and I consider it sort of "camming lite". I tell ultra-newbs or friends just dabbling in camming about it and they end up loving it. I'll have an account for as long as they'll let me. I don't get the logic of their business model, though.
Sorry they're down your throat. They're just so aggressive to deal with that I can see where you're coming from, on principle. I disagree with a few points (yes, displaying any images, screenshots or otherwise, of theirs is copyright infringement) but I hope you come out of this, relatively unscathed. Is filing any of this paperwork becoming a financial burden to you?
Good luck.
It's hard for me to comment on whats it like working for MGF since I've never worked for them. But from what I've read from comments and even reading their terms they seem really strict. For them it works. For us we want to approach things differently. For one I don't want to spend a lot of time policing the community and looking for every single violation. I'd rather spend that time building a better product.
The whole thing with the images as copyright is an interesting point. In the lawyers letter they said that they don't own the images that users upload. So if you upload a profile picture of yourself, you still own those rights but license them to use that image. However, what's interesting is I take a screenshot of your profile picture. Since technically they say they don't own the image do they have the right to claim copyright? (that's at least my interpretation of the law, but I'm no lawyer). Technically you could go to me and say take that down cause you are the actual copyright holder.
Right now they haven't formally filed a lawsuit against us, but there's always the chance. The fact of the matter is they never gave us a way to comply with their demands. They never said take down this blog post. Their demand was clear, take down your website. I can only interpret that as trying to shut down a competitor through threat of lawsuit. The ball's in their court now.
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Re: MyGirlFund Sent Their Lawyers After Us Over a Blog Post
Wow. The reasons I quit MGF was for things like that. They are so ridiculously overly dramatic and possessive. I have never once complained in my MGF blog about money or anything stupid like that, but yet it always got "flagged." Weird. Reading things like this just backs up my opinion and makes me glad that I deleted my account there. Ew. I am never going back. Thanks for the info.