We received this letter today from the lawyers representing the retail website (we are not allowed to mention their name) reported in our story "A Real Story About a Fake Paddington" and were asked to take it down. It is, in our opinion, a disservice to the shopping community but unless there are lawyers out there willing to help us with the fight, we regretfully have to obey. We are excited, however, that we have become big enough to attract so much attention. Next week, Hermes will call to make us take down our bag logo. Maybe everyone on our Shit List will call and we can all go out, get drunk and go shopping together.
There are discussions about them at the Purse Blog Forum if you are interested.
NAGLE & HIGGINS, P.C.
Attorneys & Counselors at Law
December 15, 2005
Re: BAGSNOB.COM
To Whom It May Concern:
We represent "not allowed to say", LLC, an Illinois limited liability corporation. "Not allowed to say" operates a business selling designer handbags and accessories via the Internet at www.not allowed to say.com ("not allowed to say”).
"Not allowed to say" recently discovered statements on your website, www.bagsnob.com (“the Bagsnob”) that dispute the authenticity of handbags sold by "not allowed to say". The authenticity of the handbags sold by "not allowed to say" is an essential and material condition of the goods. The statements made by the Bagsnob are false and defamatory in nature.
By posting the statements on your website, you have published to the world at large. The statements are harmful to the reputation and goodwill of "not allowed to say" and interfere with its business. You may be under the assumption that the statements posted are merely opinion and you are not liable. However, opinions are actionable if they imply that defamatory facts exist to support the statement. Your statements regarding the concerns that the Paddington bags sold on "not allowed to say" were “fake” and your conclusion that they were “not the real deal” are presented as facts.
In addition, you have misappropriated and mislabeled images from the "not allowed to say" that are authentic photographs of the handbags from Chloe, the manufacturer.
Accordingly, we demand that you (1) immediately remove all statements and references to "not allowed to say" from your website, (2) cease posting or allowing others to post statements or making any references to our client whatsoever, and (3) remove the Chloe photos that were taken from "not allowed to say" from your website. We hope that this matter can be settled amicably. However, if you refuse to cease and desist from this publication we will take legal action. We trust that it will not be necessary to do so. We shall await your response.
Sincerely,
"The Lawyer"
they don't have a legal leg to stand on, your statements were made in good faith and you had photographic evidence to support what you believe to be the truth. libel is only libel if you know your statements to be patently false.
There is a phone number you can call to report fakes: 1-866-NOTFAKE. This hotline is for the international anticounterfeiting coalition (ACC) in order to report manufacturers, sellers and distributors of fake designer bags. The source of this number comes from a Harper's Bazzar article in the January 2005 issue. It is a crime to manufacture and/or sell fake designer bags. I just called the number and reported the site in question. I would encourage the bagsnob to do the same since you have legitimate reasons to call the site's bag's authenticity into question!
According to those in the know over at The Purse Forum, the website-that-will-not-be-named is no longer carrying Chloé bags...
Not only is she not selling Chloes anymore, her site, phone numbers, and emails are all taken down...
Humm
F the designers and F being a conformist and having style dictated to you.