Oh, look, another message from Gertrude.

Another message from our favorite fake attorney.

To Whom it May Concern:

Please be advised that the book cover you have posted in the URL below must be removed within 72 hours:

https://lousybookcovers.com/

‘The Hitman’

My clients – well-known Hollywood film celebrities, would like the cover immediately removed from lousybookcovers.com as it depicts them when they were young and just starting out.  Permission was never granted with regards to the use of their likeness.

As such, you have 72 hours to remove this cover from lousybookcovers.com or this office will take action.

Sincerely,

Gertrude Silverstein

Because obviously “Gertrude” isn’t listening to me, I didn’t point out that:

1. She’s not claiming to legally represent any named entities, thus giving her the right to make demands in their behalf (she doesn’t even put “Esq.” on her name).
2. But that’s okay, because there’s no “Gertrude Silverstein” listed as an attorney anywhere in the United States anyway.
3. The cover for The Hitman: Inseparable (the only “Hitman” title on LBC) does not contain any “well-known celebrities.”  It does contain a couple of stock models, including one (the male) that I recognize from a bunch of other covers.  Obviously, as Gertrude doesn’t specify who they are, or if she represents one or both.
4. Whether they were “young and just starting out” is irrelevant. What would be relevant is whether they signed an appropriate model release with the photographer, who then appropriately licensed it to a stock photo service, who then appropriately licensed it to the ebook publisher.  It’s hard to establish that “permission was never granted” when you don’t even name the clients who supposedly never granted that permission, or who they supposedly didn’t grant it to.
5. Again, I have no idea what “this office” is, or what action they hope to take. There’s no reference of a particular attorney’s office, or where they’re located, or where the attorney is admitted to the bar, or…
6. (Or, alternatively, 2a.) While googling “gertrude silverstein attorney” didn’t yield any evidence of legitimacy, it did lead me to one of those “complain about unsolicited phone calls” sites, where someone reported that a caller identifying her as “Gertrude Stein” called, alleged an impending lawsuit, and asked for a credit card number.

But, as I said, “Gertrude” obviously isn’t listening.  So my actual reply was:

We’ve been through this before. Peddle your fake-attorney bullshit somewhere else.