Unfortunately it's time we must address some illegal use (multiple copyright infringements for commercial/financial gain) without permission of one of our pictures.

Mr. RD (Don) Finley (AKA Sandaway in this forum), owner operator of Gold Strike Colorado Prospecting, Gold Strike Colorado Gold Adventures, and GoldStrike Colorado Paydirt, is here by publically notified of his infringement and is requested by the copyright owner (ColoradoProspector/Denise and Myself) to remove all copies of the Vic's gold panning picture he has currently in use on his websites clearly in violation of our ownership exclusive rights and laws pertaining to them.
You are also publically notified/requested to remove all slanderous material (out right or implied) from your webpages concerning Colorado Prospector club and or website.

Demonstrations of some of the violations/infringements and slander found and recorded on 4/3/2012 are as follows..........

Original work/picture from the Colorado Prospector website.
Vic's Gold Panning page on Colorado Prospector website since 2003

Slander (part A) of the Colorado Prospector club - August 5, 2011 on Gold Strike Colorado Gold Adventures


Slander (part B - same page) of the Colorado Prospector club - August 5, 2011 on Gold Strike Colorado Gold Adventures



Copyright violation/illegal use (Colorado Prospector copyrighted photo used without permission for commercial/financial gain) - Nov. 6, 2011 - GoldStrike Colorado Paydirt (Vic's paydirt)



Copyright violation/illegal use (Colorado Prospector copyrighted photo used without permission for commercial/financial gain) - GoldStrike Colorado Paydirt (Homepage)



Copyright violation/illegal use (Colorado Prospector copyrighted photo used without permission for commercial/financial gain) - Feb. 19, 2012 - Gold Strike Colorado Adventures



As I read up on copyright law, I find that there is a time frame of 3 years for civil and 5 years for criminal proceedings to be intiated.
We will keep litigation under consideration depending on your cooperation henceforth as per requested above.

I'm quite sure in time you'll find that you should not have been jerkin' on the Colorado Prospector club/website's chain!! It's attatched to the CP train which is steaming ahead!

To anyone else reading this posting.....I'd be very careful spending any time or money with someone who's so completely unprofessional, unethical, immoral.......etc etc. As you can see from past actions of his own, this is his character/nature he operates his businesses under!
WARNING.....XXXX XXXXXX XX X XXXX XXXXXX XXX XXXXX

Colorado Prospector club and website has NO AFFILIATION with this person or any of his businesses!!

This post has been edited by ColoradoProspector: Apr 7 2012, 12:03 PM

And here is a copy of your personal notification Mr. Finley.
You have been officially notified of your violations.

Dan im sorry to see that someone has taken advantage of you and the CP site! i hope this person complies with your very civial request before it has to go any further! thankyou for standing up for your rights! and P.S. thanks for the warning on this guy!i sure wouldnt want todo business with him and ill pass this info on to our clubs also!

I'm sorry to hear of this Dan & Denise.
This club has been nothing but good to me since I joined as beginner. I knew nothing of gold prospecting when I first joined and remember an early thread I started asking how to season a pan, lol... now I am the proud owner of a productive claim which I staked myself thanks to this club and the people here. I have learned SO much at this site and have many here to thank.
This person's propaganda is slanderous and wildly incorrect. And not only has he used CP Club copyright-stamped images.... he didn't even bother to crop out the CP copyright insignia? Excuse my pun, but that's like something you'd see on TV's "Worlds Dumbest Criminals" or similar show.
Thanks for the heads-up on this person and associated companies Dan. Like russau... I will forward this information to others as well.

also....
Is this the same "Sandaway" person who tried to spam stuff here a while back? If I recall there was a thread where you guys asked him politely to stop and he got disgruntled and disappeared or something. If that's the case... maybe this is his way of vengeance or spite, like he has an axe to grind? Like... "let me network and advertise, and/or link my products and services at your site for free or suffer my wrath"?
That might make sense.... if you look up the word "sociopath", that is. Please do Mr Finley if you are this "Sandaway" person.
If this is the case I can only suggest that you rethink your actions, stop your behavior, and apologize to Dan & Denise... as well as this club and members.
If you cannot grasp the nature of your actions (as well as potential legal consequences)... I may have to call Dr Phil on you.

D&D, iffn ya need help, should you decide to move forward with legal action.... just whistle.
Dan, I admire you for addressing this tactfully and rationally, most would not.

Keep up the great work with this club, we appreciate it.

I respond rarely to posts however I feel this needs my personal attention. This libel attack on Don Finley's character is a statement made with actual malice. The defamation of Don Finley as if it were true is going to cause him emotional and financial harm and I urge you to stop! Those of you reading this post and vowing to join the "Train" need to question your actions you are about to take. These statements in fact are not true! I know and work with Don Finley on a daily basis and consider him to be an asset to our non-profit group (Gold Unlimited) and all prospectors in the State. He also has a successful paydirt business that I helped him start. He may have made a mistake using a picture from CP but when notified the pix was removed. He has also posted on his blog, some very nice "free" prospecting sites and has insisted that Recreational Prospectors venture to these areas located all over the greater Denver area. Since the formation of the our non-profit group, "Gold Unlimited" Don has spent many thankless and exhausting days if not months working on the behalf of the urban and recreational prospector to secure these "free" sites from our cities and counties. I hope you are all aware that Federal land rights are of no use in this arena, just take a look at the BLM 2005 map for the shock of your life; there is absolutely no land left that has not been given away or "Surrendered" to a county. WE ALL, as prospectors, need Don Finley working on our behalf. His dedication to recreational prospecting in the Denver area is absolutely essential to preserve historical sites and secure open access to local areas. This forum would be better off served to work together with Don's agenda then against. Thank you, RED

Screen shots don't lie, Dan doesn't make things up, nor is he a liar... I and others saw Mr Finley's comments (as shown above) on his actual website(s) before he removed them as per legal request. This is not a fabrication and the proof of Mr Finley's character is exhibited in the legal documents above.
Dan, owner of CP and this club and members were obviously attacked by Mr Finley. This club or forums has never discussed or attacked his outfit nor had reason to flame him (other than username: "Sandaway's" attempt at spamming against site rules a few months back). I'm not even sure if that spammer "Sandaway" was the same person but it appears to be obviously so.
For you to suggest Mr Finley be portrayed as a "victim" in this respect is absurd... he drew first blood and used illegal weaponry as his attack. Not sure why he attacked this club and propagated misinformation. From what I can see reviewing both sites... Dan (Colorado Prospector) is in rightful defense and performing damage control to protect his legal interests at this point.
I understand your interest and concern for your friend, Mr Finley. I can personally attest that you (Red) make excellent products and videos which are advertised and linked on his sites. Your business practices and products are among the best. I have purchased your products and like them. I have also recommended them to others and linked them to your site.
Mr Finley's a big boy and can speak for himself.... no?
I noticed that you failed to praise both parties (Mr Finley AND Dan) for their mining-related efforts and accolades in your posting. You only cited your friend Mr Finley as being worth mention in that regard when Dan has done so much over the years (consider the 2004 Miner's Rally which he sponsored and organized as just one example). Why is that, just curious? Is it because the CP club is not a sponsor of your retail products or do you also have an axe to grind because they won't let you advertise for free? This isn't a 'Gold-Only' site.... it is more broad than that and rules are rules. We are also a collection of rock/fossil/lapidary nerds and many could care less about Gold grubbing tools. I view you as an upstanding member of the mining community and would be disappointed if you are merely biased and decided to make a stand based on..... ????
I am personally appalled at Mr Finley's business practices in regard to this issue, as I am a small business owner as well and would never attack another company like that. Would I defend MY business like Dan did? You bet, only I wouldn't be quite as kind. The legal hammer would have been swung by now. There would be no open discussion of the matter.

Red,

You say Don Finley has nice things to say about Dan (CP). Why is it last night, when I went to his site, specifically to his blog, did I saw a "Public Notification of Ceast (should be spelled Cease) and Desist" and it wasn't a nice portrayal of CP. Regardless of who threw the first "punch," like Rodney King said "why can't we all just get along." Let his comments on his forum paint a pretty picture of Dan, and the same on this forum. Derogatory comments are approved and edited, when necessary on both forums, aren't they? Let's agree to disagree (as long as no legal issues crop up), and not make posts on either forum, period. To say he and his business will suffer "emotional and financial harm," is a crock. Only a court of law can decide that. Let's tuck our tails between our legs, and get on with it. Have him listen to Taylor Swift's song "Mean", and Dan will do the same.

Correct Swizz, he could answer for himself, despite the recent posting on Mr. Finley's blog site claiming he's been banned from posting here. He's never been banned from posting here as of today.

Gold Strike Colorado Prospecting blog postings - 4/5/2012