Melaleuca Versus Ted Nuyten Lawsuit?

by Ted Nuyten on January 2, 2011

Ted Nuyten – Business For Home	Frank Vandersloot – CEO Melaleuca

On 16 December I published the post: Terry Dorfman versus Melaleuca lawsuit with pictures of the people involved: Terry Dorfman, Frank Vandersloot and Ken Dunn. I got an email from the Legal Department of Melaleuca in which they request me to take the website down immediately:

Dear Mr. Nuyten:

I am a legal assistant at Melaleuca, Inc. ("Melaleuca"), of Idaho Falls, Idaho in the United States of America. I am writing to complain about the the website 2010112/terrydorfman-versus-melaleuca-lawsuit-max-international-and-ken-dunn!> ("Website"), which you are hosting.

Melaleuca requests that the Website be taken down immediately because the Website displays an image that is the copyrighted property of Melaleuca without authorization.

In particular, the Website displays a copyrighted image of Melaleuca's CEO, Frank L. VanderSloot. Relevant details are set f0l1h in the Notice of Copyright Infringement that is appended below.

As you may know, under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, you can be held liable for copyright infringement if you fail to take prompt action in response to this request. Please let me know once the Website has been taken down, and feel free to contact me with any questions.

My answer to Melaleuca is: "No, I am not taking the website down, but I am willing to replace the picture of Frank Vandersloot, please send me an image." (Update 3 Januari 2011, a former Melaleuca distributor send me a photo, and the picture is replaced….)

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30 comments… read them below or add one

admin January 2, 2011 at 11:23 am: Never a dull moment
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rene January 2, 2011 at 1:45 pm: Just take the photo's of the site. Problem solved.
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Mark January 2, 2011 at 2:10 pm: Sure, replace the picture, why not? Notice they didn't ask you to replace the picture, but to take down the website. I'm sure the real issue for them is trying to get rid of the page exposing this gross lawsuit involving Ms. Dorfman. On a slightly unrelated note, if I am looking for a good MLM opportunity, I would probably not join a company that spends so much time and money suing other companies, former distributors, and going after unbiased, third-party websites, like this one.
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kate January 2, 2011 at 2:13 pm: It is not necessary to publish photos. In fact, being in a lawsuit, it always serves you best to remove such things even if you are right - I know this from experience. It does nothing but fuel the fire. They are not worth the energy.
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Bart January 2, 2011 at 2:30 pm: Which brings me to an interesting thought: So far for the positivism surrounding the MLM Industry... ;-) LOL. Being sued with "copyright infrigment" Ted? WOW! Melaleuca is definitely not on my favourite list of MLM companies to deal with now.
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Bob January 2, 2011 at 2:30 pm: Leave the post up, comply with necessary requirements so you are not involved in any legal action. Your site is a great source of information and we feel it is very credible and informative. Thanks, Bob Chapman CEO GoCaboodle.com
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Stephen Bourne January 2, 2011 at 2:41 pm: I am sure that most MLM companies that have problems would like to shut your site down - they do not like their dirty washing being seen in public! Your site is one of the best on the internet because you keep us up to date with what is happening in our industry in a totally unbiased way - I would certainly put my name behind you if you needed it in support of any (threatened) action Melaleuca might take. I wish you and your website great success in 2011. Stephen Bourne Amaranth Orchid FM Group
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Robert January 2, 2011 at 2:48 pm: I am sure that there are hundreds if not thousands of former Melaleuca distributors that have non-copyrighted photos of themselves with Frank Vandersloot that would gladly offer them for cropping and use on your website. After a decade of personally seeing many individuals build very successful businesses with Melaleuca only to have them taken away unjustly it pleases me to see Frank Vandersloot and his company brought down a notch or two. Kudos to Ms. Dorfman for her courage to stand strong against Frank Vandersloot and his greedy fear- based tactics.
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Gea January 2, 2011 at 3:02 pm: I agree with Rene: just take the photo's of the site. They don't make themselves very populair this way...
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John January 2, 2011 at 3:41 pm: Of course - take the site off line and allow the poor dear to continue to harass and threaten people in the dark and let's protect him from any inconvenient publicity. In case you missed it, that was heavy sarcasm. It's amazing to see how fast this type of individual sqeals 'foul' as soon as they face being exposed for the overbearing manipulative bullies they are. Nobody expects everyone in business to be an angel but the quicker this type of 'businessman' find another industry to damage the better frankly. Regarding the photograph, I guess having added Terry Dorfmans commissions to his coffers, Vandersloot has more money than you so to save yourself the legal fees you might like to replace the picture with something more appropriate - I leave it to others to suggest a suitable replacement???
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Ray Higdon January 2, 2011 at 3:47 pm: You crack me up Ted, get em brother!
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Viktor January 2, 2011 at 4:17 pm: Dear Ted, whatever you do, don't put the future of your fantastic site at risk! Don't let anyone intimidate you; take off the photo, make Melaleuca happy - let them win the battle, you win the war. Melaleuca should be ashamed - and trained about how to handle sticky PR-situations. Keep up the good work, Ted!
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Charles Emeka January 2, 2011 at 5:00 pm: Ted, I think most people ahead of me in this post have already given you sound sage advice.Win the war sir not the fight. As distributors, we need this site. Even though I have chosen my company,I want the industry of MLM to keep doing well and threats and bullying like this makes people feel that we operate with a gang mentality. Ted,take the picture down and continue the great work that you do sir. In all you do,be the best and never forget that you were born to win. Regards, Charles Emeka
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Robert Elsinga January 2, 2011 at 5:25 pm: Ted, its amazing that a company like Melaleuca finds a site like yours so important to send a letter...good publicity for you now you see what effect your site has on the big guys! Change the picture for one that makes no "infringement" on their copy rights, or get one from another disappointed distributor I I am sure the company has many) and let the actual battle to them, remember the Roman empire? It started by disharmony WITHIN the empire and the result was a complete collapse from a world empire...wonder if this is the first "sign" of that! Keep up the good work and never allows anything to bring you down! WE appreciate all you do and applaud your recognition of our company GWT as the NO 1 business opportunity in the world for 2010/20111!!
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Carlucci January 2, 2011 at 6:08 pm: If this image has a copyright, you need to take the picture down and replace it with one that has no copyright (if you can find one), as you don't want to have to face litigation over this. Copyright images require permission from the subject to publish that image anywhere. You would most likely lose the lawsuit and have to pay this jerk damages. The fact that a letter was sent demanding that you take the whole website down tells me that these people believe they are in charge of the Internet. I agree with you - offer to replace the photo with a non-copyright photo, but I wouldn't count on getting one from Melaleuca. You should be able to find a link to one on the web somewhere. You could also do a caricature of this worm featuring devil horns and a pitchfork. Don't take the website down, though. People need to know just what kind of company Melaleuca is and how they treat their distributors. I am so turned off by Melaleuca after learning about their tactics from your site. I wouldn't purchase their products much less recruit distributors.
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contrails January 2, 2011 at 6:33 pm: Having been in the industry for 40+ years I have to say I have heard more termination and "I quit" stories from successful distributors in Melaleuca than the entire rest of the industry combined. It seems that Mr. Frank can't get it through his head that we work these businesses to achieve time and money freedom, not to become his corporate slave. To paraphrase an interview I heard with Mr. Donald Trump, "all publicity is good publicity". i would interpret that to mean it is good for Ted and not so good for Frank. So my advice is take the pic down and let the game roll on. Keep up the great work. Craig Kintzel.
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Cheryl Alimena January 2, 2011 at 6:35 pm: Ted, seems like a pretty simple answer, just take his picture down. There are plenty of pictures around that aren't copywrited. In fact, I could send you one, if you need it! Was done on my camera, so I own it! hahahaha! As for the truth you are posting on your site, LEAVE IT UP! I'm glad the truth is getting out about how this company treats its distributors! I heard thru the grapevine that you aren't the first to be threatened with a suit, they have also threatened others when something negative gets published about them. Too bad! If they don't like it, maybe they should treat their distributors with respect. Terry has a good suit against them. Natalie has won every motion they have brought against her. Others, like us, can't afford to fight them for the wrong they did to us. The networking world needs to know the truth. Thank you for your courage to post!
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josh January 2, 2011 at 6:42 pm: Just stop posting this stuff. It just brings about negative thoughts regardless of what company your with. So yes i am in favor of it being removed. We receive enough criticism from without.
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Derrick January 2, 2011 at 8:00 pm: Josh, I am sorry to disagree with you. The networking industry is exploding and we are beginning to attract people that never would consider us in the past. We cannot afford for companies like Melaleuca to tarnish the good work and attractive culture that makes network marketing so wonderful. Everyone in our industry has heard the rumblings from distributors at Melaleuca for years. We've heard how litigious their owner is and many of us have known to stay as far as possible from them. If you follow the blogs the criticism is not about the industry it is about this particular company that has the potential to ruin it for the industry. We need to put a stop to this and help clean up the network marketing name. We cannot do that while companies run around suing everyone and THEY are bringing the negativity - not blogs like this. Most people who join their first company have no idea about policies and procedures and may see Melaleuca as "normal" when in fact it is not. I, for one am happy that this is finally making it to the public forums. I have been in network marketing for 25 years and have hated to hear their distributors talk about how they are not part of network marketing...as if they are better than everyone else! I have friends in Melaleuca that tell me they disagree with what Frank does and in fact, hate the direction but are afraid to speak out as they might get terminated for voicing their opinion! Finally, they can't hide it anymore and maybe this will take them down a notch or two. Let’s get everyone responding and maybe those that do a bit of research before joining their first company will be better prepared and know what to avoid....Maybe we should recommend that everyone type into google their prospective company and “lawsuits” to get a better idea what kind of company they truly are. I don’t believe anyone would join Melaleluca if they did just a little digging. Terry Dorfman is not the first victim but maybe we help her be the last one. Josh let’s protect this industry by exposing those within it that are creating the negativity!
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Marion Mehrer January 2, 2011 at 8:14 pm: Ted, First I'd like to add that I don't think the letter sounded very professional, and that I think what they're asking is to take down the specific page and not your entire site. I agree with others in that I would ABSOLUTELY remove the picture. You really don't need the picture.
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Inge Kruijshaar January 2, 2011 at 8:18 pm: Dear Ted, It shows how important your site is valued! Great work! I would take the picture off and change it for another one or even leave the post without a picture. The picture is not that important in my opinion, the facts are. Thanks Inge
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Nat Foeller January 2, 2011 at 9:17 pm: Thank you Ted for your great site! Please do not take this site down as it is invaluable, especially to those of us who have been victims of a lawsuit. Sites like yours will help educate people and make new prospects far more aware of what to look for and what to avoid. I am so pleased to see the support Terry Dorfman has received...she deserves it!
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Howard Mosse January 2, 2011 at 9:19 pm: Ted, this is a world of free speech. Ie, weaikilinks or however you spell it. I wouldn't take anything down. If you are publishing the truth then let them live with it. To many people gave in to fast. If the owner of melaleluca can't stand the heat tell him to shut down his company.
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Gennis January 2, 2011 at 9:23 pm: Hi Ted, I have to say it was a priviledge and an honor to meet you at our GWT convention this past year. After meeting you and speaking with you, I know that you are a man of honesty and integrity. You have proven that over and over again with the information you are providing to all of us leaders in this most exciting industry. Show Melaleuca you are the bigger man and remove the picture and continue to lead the way with grace and integrity.
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Stephanie Blackbird January 2, 2011 at 9:43 pm: Very interesting - they actually want you take down your whole site? Really? Here are a bunch of images of Frank from Google Images - are those copyrighted? http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1117&bih=508&q=frank+vandersloot&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
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Carlucci January 2, 2011 at 10:19 pm: I just occurred to me that the letter is from a "legal assistant", whatever that means (to me it means a clerk or secretary). Hmmmm......obviously Melaleuca is firing the first shot to test the water using a "legal assistant". Apparently they are too cheap to hire a lawyer on the first go round. LOL - !!! I would be willing to bet that if you posted another photo of Mr. Vandersloot, they would come back with a "all images/photos are copyrighted" letter. Another thing that is interesting is that the "legal assistant" put a statement of "under penalty of perjury" for her signature, but without using a notary public to do so. This sounds like a mickey mouse way for Melaleuca to play a game to see if they can scare you into taking the site down. I don't know - if I were you, I might just keep it the way it is and see what they do next. If a letter comes from an attorney, then you'll know they want to play hardball.
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Robert Cousins January 2, 2011 at 10:23 pm: Dear Ted. Keep up the good work and don't ever jeopardize your site. We need you. Just report the facts which are legally available. Let others make personal remarks in your "respond" section (I have learned alot about the MLM industry while reading comments). Those companies that don't have ethics or morals will usually not survive as long as we have people like you who keep us informed. I am a business partner with 2 MLM's and would never steal someone from one to join the other. When you let greed or power start to corrupt your business then you should get out. My 1st priority is to use a companies product or service because I believe in it and it is good for me. 2nd, get others to feel the same way. 3rd, work together on the business. Best part of an MLM is you get rewarded for your efforts. Work hard, earn hard. Best wishes to everyone in the New Year.
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Jerry January 2, 2011 at 11:18 pm: This is hilarious! It’s funny how people try to save face by hiding behind legal tenants that make no sense. I love the internet! And I love the free expression of ideas. Any organization which tries to limit this freedom will face fierce backlash. I sure hope Melaleuca realizes that this just puts them further into the hole. Admit your mistakes, pay for the consequences and move on!
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John Gaydon January 2, 2011 at 11:28 pm: HI Ted, when will mlm companies stop trying to sue people who expose what is happening. Xocai went after me for using the phrase "healthy chocolate" on my web site. Apparently they ahve a trade mark and theirs is the only healthy chocolate on earth!
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chris January 2, 2011 at 11:42 pm: You made my day Ted ....can't stop laughing Just imagine building your biz with company like this. They are living in the La La Land that’s for sure
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Melaleuca Versus Ted Nuyten Lawsuit?

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