Bad Guy V.I.I.P.E.R.--THIEVES!!

[drewby07]

FYI TrulyRare - non-profit doesn't mean that an organization doesn't bring in any money...it means they just SPEND all of the money they bring in....hence no profit.

 

[RobbiesCornField]

I know it's off topic, but...

Jenkins is an experienced snake owner. He had a 13-1/2-foot python that he would hand feed and even take to the beach on his bicycle.

Sorry, but wasn't there a guy arrested not too long ago for walking his 14 foot python? This really just doesn't seem safe to me. What if, while riding your bicycle, you're stopped at a cross walk, and the snake decides it wants to climb up the lightpost? Or snap at someone walking by? While I do agree that we should be able to take our snakes wherever we want to, the reality of it is... they're NOT "tame" animals, and quite a few people do carry a strong fear of them. While you could argue that "Oh, bringing them out like that helps me educate people!", how many people do you see cross the street to get around you? How many people stare and don't ask questions? If you ask me, he's doing it more for the shock factor than any education factor. If you want to let your snakes out, do it in the back yard like everyone else. Or the next headline we might see out of Virginia will be "Man killed on Sunday bike ride by pet python".

 

[VIIPER2008]

Image Usage

Chris and Fauna Members,


Hello. After ‘speaking’ with Amanda and a bit more investigating into this issue, this is what I have discovered:


 Mrs. Warren emailed Chris' image to me back in August 2008. I informed her that we would just make our own.

 The image was emailed to the printer.


 10 stickers (which I have confirmed) were made and printed the first week of September 2008.

 To my knowledge they were all sold to members with the exception of 1 or 2 at the Richmond Virginia Show.


Chris' image was used without his verbal or written permission. I would like to apologize privately and publicly for the usage of his image. I did not have the authority from him to have these made. I sincerely hope that you can forgive my misdoings in this matter.



Sincerely,



Bobby Jenkins
President
VIIPER
Virginians Interested In Protecting Every Reptile

PS: The 14 or so stickers that venomfairy has in her possession are not 'Hooker' stickers, but VIIPER logo stickers. Only 10 'hooker' stickers were ever printed.

 

[King_of_Colubrids]

Thank you, Bobby, for standing up, accepting responsibility, and apologizing. I accept your apology and as such, I have removed all referances to the group VIIPER from all of my public blogs about this incident. I am considering the matter closed.

I have contacted the Vice-President of the organization, and have offered to make these stickers available to your group in bulk-quantities at cost and at my shipping expense, should you decide you would like to offer the stickers to your membership or available for sale at future shows and expos.

Fee free to contact me in regards to future purchases in private. I would be more than happy to work out the details of a bulk arrangement, and make these stickers avaialable to your members in VIIPER, and your customers.

Thanks to everyone here for showing your support of this situation, and helping to get it resolved in a manner that is beneficial to myself, the group, and the herp community.

 

[VIIPER2008]

Thanks Chris!
Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

 

[Southern Wolf]

You wont do ANY good to lie about it. If its admitted right now, youd probably save alot of face for the group you are here to represent. Id play this game wisely.

Selling an item,created from a stolen image is copyright infringement. It isnt a "small little thing" when YOU try to make profit from it. It can be brought to court. and has before.

It sure is... and if it went to Court... she would loose.

BTW... I know of a copyright attorny

 

[King_of_Colubrids]

The issue has been settled. Bobby has taken public accountability for the action and taken the necessary steps to apologize publicly. I am satisfied with that outcome.

I did not want to sue anyone, but I will admit that I had 2 different attorneys waiting to hear from me after the Holidays. I contacted 2 family-friends that are attorneys and both were excited to take on the case, but that is no longer necessary.

The group, VIIPER, and I are satisfied with the outcome. I also believe that both Bobby and Amanda are satisfied with the outcome.

All parties involved are ready to move forward and on to bigger and better things.

 

[Southern Wolf]

Ok... apparently I missed something somewhere... But I will leave it at that.

 

[King_of_Colubrids]

Chris and Fauna Members,


Hello. After ‘speaking’ with Amanda and a bit more investigating into this issue, this is what I have discovered:


 Mrs. Warren emailed Chris' image to me back in August 2008. I informed her that we would just make our own.

 The image was emailed to the printer.


 10 stickers (which I have confirmed) were made and printed the first week of September 2008.

 To my knowledge they were all sold to members with the exception of 1 or 2 at the Richmond Virginia Show.


Chris' image was used without his verbal or written permission. I would like to apologize privately and publicly for the usage of his image. I did not have the authority from him to have these made. I sincerely hope that you can forgive my misdoings in this matter.



Sincerely,



Bobby Jenkins
President
VIIPER
Virginians Interested In Protecting Every Reptile

PS: The 14 or so stickers that venomfairy has in her possession are not 'Hooker' stickers, but VIIPER logo stickers. Only 10 'hooker' stickers were ever printed.

Above is the apology that Bobby posted here on the previous page. He also posted a public blog which both accepts responsibility and apologizes for the action at ReptileGeeks.com. This is the outcome I was truly hoping for.

I have accepted Bobby's apology, have removed all referances to the group, VIIPER, from all public blogs I have control over regarding this issue, and we have all decided to move forward from this point with the lessons learned.

This issue was a matter of principle and not reimbursement. I simply wanted acknowledgement of wrongful doing and an apology along with a stop to future production of the image. I have gotten what I wanted and what I feel I deserved from the issue. The matter is closed to a reasonable conclusions for all parties involved.

 

[Southern Wolf]

As long as your happy with the outcome... then thats what matters

I guess what threw me off was

I have contacted the Vice-President of the organization, and have offered to make these stickers available to your group in bulk-quantities at cost and at my shipping expense

As a small time Semi-Pro photographer...after what they pulled... the last thing I would do is offer to let them have continued use... or ME pay for shipping to them. They lied.. then tried to cover it up. You have a case that every photographer dreams of if their copyrights are infringed upon. You have the proof of infringement... and admittance of guilt.

Like I said... this is just me.... and as long as your happy... then that is all that matters.

 

[LauraB]

I agree Kevin ... as long as Chris is happy, then that's what is important. Obviously Chris is a man of integrity, honesty and even tolerant to a point. Probably a better person than I

Frankly, Bobby's apology falls a bit short for me .. first claiming he did not know where the logo or slogan came from, feigning total innocence and ignorance and willing to let Amanda take the complete fall.
Then when Amanda throws him under the bus, he comes back with this?

After ‘speaking’ with Amanda and a bit more investigating into this issue, this is what I have discovered:
 Mrs. Warren emailed Chris' image to me back in August 2008. I informed her that we would just make our own.
 The image was emailed to the printer.

What was there to 'speak' to her about? What was there to investigate? What was there to discover? He never actually takes responsibility at all in that "apology". WHO emailed the image to the printer, Bobby?

Amanda stole the image and sent it to Bobby. Knowing full well it was the intellectual property of someone else, Bobby emailed it to Custom Graphics for a tiny bit of alteration and reproduction because Bobby was to cheap to actually PAY for someone else's product.

Here's an idea for you guys ... why not just alter a couple paragraphs of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, an appropriate title, (in case you never heard of him, he was a Russian dude, dead since the late 1800's, so he'll never know) and just re-publish it as your own? LOL

As I stated, Chris is obviously a much bigger person than either of you, Amanda and Bobby. You would do well to accept his very kind offer of allowing your group continued use of his stickers, but pay him full costs and shipping, as he is rightfully and lawfully entitled to.

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

You have a case that every photographer dreams of

All I dream of is the perfect snake strike shot.

Then again, I'm hardly a Pro.

 

[King_of_Colubrids]

I've talked to the printer on the phone, and I know, for a fact, that it was NOT Bobby that sent him the image file. I also know, for a fact, who DID send the image file...But I don't care. The copy that the printer used has been deleted. No further printings of the image in any form will be made available from this printer. No more stickers, and no use of the image for other products.

Ultimately, if Bobby is willing to take the blame, jump "under the bus", and allow himself to be the brunt of the mistake...so be it. I don't care.

To me, the entire ordeal was a matter of principle. It was my image. I wanted it to be known that it was my image and that it was used without permission. By getting and admission of wrongdoing and a public apology, I have satisfied my sense of principles. It doesn't matter if it is the "absolute truth", as long as there is no more "he said, she said". It doesn't matter if Bobby sent the image to the printer or Amanda, as long as they let the sleeping dog lie where it is.

What matters is that the PRINTER understands the situation, and has deleted his copy of the image. What matters is that the public apology is out there, and anyone familiar with the group and myself can easily see that the image was created by me, and used illegally by the group. What matters is that I continue to produce merchandise with the logo, and everyone viewing it knows that it is MY logo, not theirs.

Everything else is pointless. I don't care. Could I pursue it in court? Sure. Would I win? Not a doubt about it. But I don't want that. I got what I wanted. Is the apology 100% the truth? No...but I don't care. If Bobby is willing to take the fall because Amanda doesn't have the ethics or backbone to take responsibility for her OWN actions...so be it. That's his choice. As long as the two of them don't come back here and start the whole fiasco over again with their back-and-forth accusations...I don't care.

The bottom line is this...it is now known that Amanda Warren cannot be trusted with her word. It is now known that Bobby Jenkins is a standup guy, willing to take the fall to protect his group. It is now known that I am a man of principles, and that I am always willing to standup for myself and fight anyone that tries to keep me down.

That's the important stuff. Those are the things that are important to me in this incident. Not making a few bucks from a mistake. Not forcing a group of generally good people doing generally good things for the herp community to disband and cease activities because of one dumb mistake made by one individual with no ethics.

Suing because of this incident would cause the needless dismantling of a group of individuals that overall want to HELP, not hurt, the community. I support what they do in their local communities. I only hope that this incident has taught them a lesson about who to trust, and the proper way to go about doing these things. I wish the group the best of luck.

Amanda Warren?? Well...she's a piece of...work. I couldn't care less if she lives or dies. She knows she has no ethics. She knows she has no backbone. She knows she isn't worth spit. She's the pimple on your ass that won't pop or go away, but she isn't worth the trouble of pursuit.

 

[LauraB]

I stand corrected and apologize to Bobby for assuming he sent the photo off to the printer, based only on what Amanda had said previously. To me, it looked like (and obviously I was wrong) both were trying to cover their own butts.

Thanks for setting me straight, Chris. Nuff said .. case closed

 

[HerpVenue]

Okay apology from bobby. That is good.

Only three more things missing

1. Amanda admits she is a LIAR
2. amanda Apologizes for being a LIAR
3. Amanda does not "temporarily" get suspended.... but rather get PERMANENTLY suspended.

that is what would make me happy. But then again, as long as Chris is happy