laras4labs

Hey you guys and gals. I just wanted to post this to warn everyone about something. I have been advertising my sign business by putting business cards everywhere and I received a phone call from a girl that wanted some lettering done for her race car. I met with her and she seemed like a good person and I did the job, she paid me and everyone was happy, until me, today. One of her "sponsors" was DeWalt and she wanted a DeWalt logo on the car, 1 x 6 inches. Dumbass me found the logo online and cut it. Guess what, she works for some investigation company and I am now being sued for $4750 for damages to Black and Decker for copyright infringement. It's my own damn fault for even doing it, but I am warning all of you to watch out and don't get sucked in. I'm pretty new at this, and even though I know better, I was just putting it on a racecar for the bitch. I called an old friend who does this too and that same thing is happening to him with a chevy bowtie logo that he cut for somebody's back window of a truck. After doing some investigation of this company that got me, they are watching sign shops and websites. Just thought I would warn all of you. Lara p.s. I am accepting donations. LOL! Just joking on the donations. I am screwed tho. Watch your backs. Fox Racing logos are quite popular and alot of people have those on their cars and trucks, so I am sure that is next.

Hey everyone. Is there a way to set Signcut to pause between cutting tiles? For example, I am cutting a decal that is 52 x 72 inches and I have a 24 inch cutter with 24 inch vinyl and I would like to stop between each tile and cut if off and realign the vinyl. Signblazer will do that and give you a chance to realign the vinyl as we all know how easily it becomes unaligned. Thanks Lara

I bought one and I don't like it at all. When I pull the tape, the whole roll comes off and lands on the vinyl and jacks everything up, because it sticks to it. Then usually the applicator falls and crashes down to the floor and the last time that happened it hit my old dog so I don't use it. Not recommended here. Sorry USCutter. I have been happy with everything else from you tho.

Hey everyone. Sorry it took me so long to reply. We went out of town then I got sick and ended up having my ruptured appendix removed and I've been too tired to even get on the computer. Not much said from the lawyer. Black and Decker keeps trying to settle for tons of money so we have decided to keep fighting and take it to court. We just can't justify settling for $2500 for something so small. Like I said before, I would rather pay a lawyer to fight than pay Black and Decker anything, especially after being setup.

Not any yet except they want to settle and my lawyer thinks that the whole thing is nonsense. He has a conference call scheduled with them sometime this morning, but he does believe that this is foolish and that they really don't have a leg to stand on and they didn't provide me with a warning, which according to his research, they have to issue a warning before they can legally sue a person, but they are in Indiana and we are in Missouri, so he is researching their laws and will speak with them today. By the way, after taking advise from all of you and my family, he and I settled for a set fee of $1000.00 whether this goes to court or not, so he really would like to keep it simple, obviously. I can't decide if I should countersue for entrapment or not. Not sure if I have the "fight" in me or not. More updates to come....

laras4labs, I wouldn

Watch Amazon too. The more I read and the more research I do, the more I freak out. Now, I am sweating about the Taz t-shirt I made for my grandon. Geez. I swear, it's not like we make counterfeit money or anything. We are just trying to make a living. How many of you do only this and how many of you have other jobs? I'm just curious because some weeks I want to quit my other job and just do this but this week has been a drag. I am a medical transcriptionist and work at home and do the signs and lettering in the evenings and weekends Some weeks there aren't enough hours in the day and this week I have been twiddling my thumbs and actually this week has been the slowest I have ever been. Wouldn't that just figure just when I have to dump a load of money to get myself out of trouble.

Dang, I have alot of work to do now to figure out what is in this house by Black and Decker. My toaster is history already. I sure am gonna miss my morning rasin bagel tomorrow. Thank heaven for Krispy Creme.

Great idea on the set price! I had to give him $250.00 just to get started. I better call him first thing in the am. I am willing to take a beating for my being wrong. I am NOT willing to sit back and take it in the a@@ for being misrepresented and lied to, which is why I am so upset. I can promise every single one of you, I won't even consider cutting a corporate logo without permission and I will NEVER print a detailed receipt again which is my kiss of death in this whole case because it makes it look like I sold the decal. And I will not ever buy in my entire life buy anything from black and decker. I am listing all of my dewalt junk on craigslist to get it out of my house. Switching to Kobalt and craftsman. With all of that being said, the funny thing is that my lawyer has already called me and has come up with a bunch of stuff on that Continental Enterprises. I can't wait to see what he has. According to him, it is a legal scam of some sort but I don't know what he means by that. It was on my voice mail, so I will find out in the morning.

That is something he is looking into to see if B&D hired them or what or if they are just "whistle blowers" as he put it and if they get paid to bust people who sell conterfeit items.

Ok I just got back. I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is the fact that I technically "sold" the decal. The good news is that based on this company, Continental Enterprises, are gravy sucking pigs and he is willing to fight it. The best thing I have done according to my lawyer is to be honest and tell the story. It is also good that I was never given a C&D, no warning whatsoever. He is going to dig deep into the company regarding entrapment and especially on sponsor logos. Court papers have been filed from Continental but he is going to get that continued to give him some time to investigate. He asked me if this went to trial if I want a judy trial and I said yes. I think I have a better chance against someone like that with a jury so that I can tell my side of the story. He is trying to figure out why one decal made for a racecar damages a company for $4750.00 and he thinks that based on that, they should pay someone for advertising. Sounds stupid but that is why I like this guy. he thinks outside the box. As of right now, court is set for August 17 after he asked for a continuance with me sitting there in the office. Basically what he told me to do, and I am telling you, if we get customers who want copyrighted corporate logos cut, all we need to do is call that company and ask for a written letter of permission. He has seen something similar before and he states that some companies will gladly issue that and some others won't. Some of them do look at it as free advertising but others are stingy. All we can do is ask and he also stated to be aware that alot of companies are losing money like crazy right now and they are looking at every way they can to make money and as of right now, we are easy targets. So, that is where I stand right now. I appreciate all of your help and if you come up with anything, let me know and I will do the same. My phone number is 816-564-0516 as sometimes it is easier to talk than type.

I printed off some stuff off of that hall of shame website that sarconastic and cybersultan found so that I can show him.

Be careful with 4shared.com. No experience myself with it but I read about it somewhere although I can't remember where that they are a setup for piracy as well on bootlegged copies of shutterstock, istock, and tons of music and software.

You all are great! Thank you for researching this stuff for me. I never got any c&d from anyone and I am also thinking this is a scam. It will be worth the attorney fees to slap this company in the face. I have always been sceptical about harley, fox racing and any nascar drivers, but who knew on dewalt. I will let you know what my attorney says today. This ought to be interesting. Thanks everyone! I'll talk to you soon.

I'm also gonna write up some sort of disclaimer for us all to use and have my lawyer check it. Could save us all some hassels on down the road. I'll post it after he checks it. All of your suggestions are great!!

I will let you guys know what my lawyer comes up with and keep everyone posted, especially with the misrepresentation part of the deal. One thing that I might be screwed on is the fact that on the receipt I itemized every piece of vinyl that I put on that car. I did a barbed wire design with blood drips, drivers name 2 layers, crew names, door numbers for each door in 4 layers, 1 number for the fuel cell 4 layers, one for the front nose piece 4 layers, the dewalt sticker, a flaming lizard for each door, various stripes, and I itemized each item and only charged .95 cents for the dewalt decal. I did that because she wanted a detailed invoice because according to her, several people were helping her pay for the lettering. SUCKER!! It's pasted right across my forehead. My boyfriend just noticed that on the file in Illy, I didn't exactly replicate the decal. The dewalt logo has a stripe across the top and one across the bottom. My file in Illy only has the stripe across the top. Maybe that will help me.

You are so right. Thank you

Basically this letter that was attached to the lawsuit paperwork says: The Black and Decker Corporation is the owner of many valuable trademarks, among other intellectual property. Black and Decker has invested vast resources to establish its intellectual property portfolio and the goodwill associated therein. These marks and the Black and Decker brands that they represent are famous throughout the world. Continental Enterprises has been engaged by Black and Decker to help protect its valuable intellectual property. Continental has learned that you are involved in the distribution of merchandise violating the intellectual property rights of Black and Decker. The merchandise bears brands that are either identical to or clear imitations or derivations of Black and Decker

Yes, that is what I am going to ask my lawyer about. I meet with him at 11am tomorrow. It should be legal but the girl is the one who ratted me out, so who knows how it will turn out. I am gonna peel the Harley Davidson sticker I made for the back window of my Harley Davidson F-250 off, just in case. I'd hate to tangle with them, even tho I didn't sell it. My gawd, this is just really aggravating. I wish so much I had that girls address, she brought the car to me to do and paid with cash. I never thought twice that she was a snake. I have called all of my racing friends and ask them if they have seen her race anywhere and none of them have. I haven't seen her where we race either. This was a total set up.

Hey Round.. that's a good idea, especially on something like a racecar or flower van, ect. If you really think about it, there is sort of a fine line. Think if Napa or someone like that wants you to cut stickers for them to sell, what's to say some stuffy executive up the pipeline doesn't get testy about it. It's a bunch of crap. The way I take it and Black and Decker is suing me for $4750 for "damages" are they basically stating that the sell their own decals for $4750? I would be more than happy to give them the .07 cents that it cost me to make the dang sticker. By the way...haumana, you are welcome. We have to spread the word. This business can work for all of us, but we have to stick together and warn each other. There are so many temptations to make money, but it sure isn't worth the risk. I just learned that today.

down here, you could have sued them for damage to your truck. as for the peanut butter...well that's about a month's worth for me. Me too. With smuckers strawberry!!

Not to scare you Nancy, but mine was on May 18th. Just don't do it again, seriously, I think these people are private shoppers or something. Don't worry too much until the mailman shows up wanting you to sign the certified letter slip. I would have rejected it but I am waiting for temporary custody papers for my 16 month old grandson and that's what I thought these were, so I happily signed my name and accepted it. Wasn't what I was expecting.

Thanks guys!! You're making me feel better. I'm telling you, this day and age, you can't trust anybody. Hey Rodg....that's alot of peanut butter!

Well, my lawyer chuckled at me and said "Good one Lara. Is your house in your name only?" I promptly said, yes and he said, well, bring everything in and let me take a look at it and see what I can do. (He is used to only having to fix my speeding tickets, but never anything major). These jerks can't try to take my house over a stupid little sticker, can they? This is complete crap. I wish I could hunt that girl down and...... well, I guess now that would be really stupid.