Palmer Biggs threaten legal action counterfeit fabric? eBay

[BankFodder]

Also, please will you post up the letter you have received in PDF format – having removed all the personal contact details.

 

Please be aware that we had a lot of this kind of thing complained about in the past. Don't start panicking

[BankFodder]

Which companies it that's after you?

 

There are quite a few of these around seem to see themselves as Enforcers and want to make a fast buck.

 

Who are the copyright owners? What is their authority to act? How do they calculate the amount of money they are claiming?

 

Someone above has advised that because you are an innocent party, that there is no basis for any action against you. I'm not entirely sure that this is correct. However, I don't think that you are in the danger that you think you are and I don't think that the claim against you is at all reasonable – and so I don't think you should give in.

 

Quite a lot of these companies rely on causing fear and anxiety in the people there against.

 

Who is it who has written to you? Please will you post the letter in PDF format – as requested above. – Hang on a minute I've just noticed that you said it was 80 pages. Is that really right?

 

I certainly don't at all suggest that you sign it.

 

You say that they bought some of the fabric from you – how much did you sell to them? You said that the issue was about 8 m of fabric. Is this correct?

[BankFodder]

I think we need to see at least the first couple of pages of the letter – and the last page – the bit that they are asking you to sign. We don't need to seal the pictures et cetera.

 

I've asked you several times which companies it and you haven't responded.

 

It's difficult enough doing things on a forum at a distance like this. It makes it much harder work if we have to ask you repeat leave the same information. You not helping yourself and you are likely to make people less enthusiastic about helping you.

 

Also, I'd like to know exactly how much profit you made out of it.

 

In other words, how many metres did you have? What you pay for it? How much do you sell it for?

 

I quite agree with you that you shouldn't sign anything and you probably we will have to write a letter but until we know more about it I don't think we can really advise you about what to write. Also, I'm not sure that your best interest served in writing to the company that is chasing you. It might be worth writing to Cath Kidston instead.

[BankFodder]

… – And the letter please.

 

If you're not able to take a very good photograph and then upload in PDF format then I suggest that you buy a scanner. You can buy an excellent one from PC World for less than £50 and it will last you a long time.

 

I'm sorry to be tough – but we help you for free and you get the equivalent of thousands of pounds worth of free advice here – but we expect you at least to have the tools to use this kind of forum.

[BankFodder]

Have a look at the links below: –

 

https://cse.google.co.uk/cse?cx=partner-pub-0964707606882478:652l7hswbgv&ie=UTF-8&q=palmer+biggs&sa=Search+CAG#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=palmer%20biggs&gsc.page=1

 

 

https://www.google.fr/search?ei=kc47WqrzOsysU7CTnYAK&q=palmer+biggs+solicitors+threat&oq=palmer+biggs+solicitors+threat&gs_l=psy-ab.3...30159.31439.0.32087.6.6.0.0.0.0.71.359.6.6.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.5.307...33i160k1j33i21k1.0.OquXjAJr5oU

[BankFodder]

Thank you so much for your help!!!

Do not send the above recommended letter. I'm very sorry to say but the advice that you're being given is wrong. I'm out at the moment and when I get back I will give you more detail.

Just keep on reading around and also I still want to know how much money you have made out of this full stop this is very urgent.

[BankFodder]

I'm doing this on my phone

 

but very briefly if the seller does not have the right to the fabric then the seller to certainly doesn't have the right to give you permission to sell or not to sell

 

However let me say it is almost impossible to put a restriction on reselling on a private buyer does buying outright and not simply owning a licence

 

Also I'm afraid to say that selling infringing copies is very strict and that means that you can't excuse yourself by saying that you didn't know

 

However, if you didn't know then that would reduce any award of Damages against you if it went to court.

 

I'll try to answer more detail later

[BankFodder]

Well you have done broadly the right thing. This is roughly what I would have advised. However, you should have waited for a response here for more precise advice.

 

I still would like to see the first and last pages of the letter please. I don't understand why this is a problem for you. I'm sure that you have a telephone with a camera on. I'm afraid that it is all a bit like pulling teeth.

 

Still, the letter is not bad. If I were you I would now put the email that you have written into a letter and send it to them with a cheque for the money. Keep copies of everything of course.

 

You could also include an apology with the letter and tell them that you appreciate the damage that the counterfeit industry can cause to businesses such as theirs and that this is not something that you would ever have done knowingly.

 

In terms of the solicitors, I'm afraid that these people have a reputation for precisely looking around the Internet, finding people who either deliberately or accidentally are dealing with infringing works and then sending them letters which demand large sums of money and which frighten the people because they don't know their rights.

 

I can tell you that in your circumstances – as long as you can convince a judge of your innocence in this matter, you would simply be ordered to pay over the money you had made out of the situation and I doubt whether there would be anything else.

 

The solicitors I'm afraid are acting in an opportunistic way. I suppose they make a lot of money out of it but I don't think it's very good for their reputation. This kind of activity is very similar to the kind of activity you find with private parking companies – which try to find people large amounts of money for a five minute overstay, people who are silly and to shoplift very small items which are then returned to the shop but are then faced with the so-called "civil recovery" companies which once again threaten them with court actions if they don't pay up certain amount of money et cetera.

 

I suggest that you write one letter to the solicitors – and no more. Tell them that you have received their letter. Thank them for alerting you to the fact that the fabric you have been dealing with maybe counterfeit. Tell them that you have contacted the designer of the fabric and you have sent them a cheque for the full amount of money that you have made.

 

Tell the solicitors that you have no intention of paying them any money and that you don't intend to contact them again. Tell them that if they want they can begin the pre-action protocol and that you expect that when a judge hears the story and understands what kind of company the solicitors are, the court will consider that the whole thing was an unnecessary action and was simply a bit of a money grab.

 

Don't contact solicitors again after that. Come here if you hear anything more.

[BankFodder]

why are you doing any of that. ALl you need to do is ignore it. Youre marking yourself as 100% gullible simply ebcause theyre scaring you.

 

Youre even offering to give them money for absolutely no reason whatsoever

this is broadly right – I wouldn't ignore them completely. However, the way you're going about this gives people the impression that you are on the run.

 

 

But I feel like I still need to contact the solicitors (there's an email address on the letter) and I don't know what to write... How can I ask for more time? And if they give me more time, what should I be doing...

 

don't send them an email. Send them a letter. Please follow the advice you are given here – otherwise quite frankly don't bother to ask for it. It's just a waste of everybody's time. Make sure the letter is sent recorded delivery. Same for the letter and the cheque that you send to the designer.