Saturday, August 27, 2016

Attack of the 50 IQ Moron

(I'm just getting warmed up. I'm sending this by post first thing Monday morning.)

Jim Mallon, CEO
Consolidated Puppets Incorporated
(Formerly Best Brains, Inc)
11 10TH Ave S Ste D
Hopkins, MN 55343–7505

Dear Mr. Mallon:

            I’m writing to you not as a fanboy (although I’ve been a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 since the 90’s) but as a concerned fan.
            It had come to my attention some two plus years ago that the name, concept and even physical likenesses of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 franchise and its stars has come under assault in the form of several copyright infringements according to the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1996).
            The person committing these acts of copyright piracy is an American individual living in Tel Aviv, Israel by the same Joseph David Chadwick (pen name: Sugar Ray Dodge). Not only does he write, illustrate and publish his own failed attempts at humor using the concept, names and likenesses of those associated with the MST3K franchise, he’s even set up several crowd-funding campaigns (such as this one on https://www.patreon.com/sugarraydodge and this old campaign on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sugarraydodge/mystery-science-storybook in which he’d, somehow, raked in nearly $3000).
            I’d give you links to his various product pages on Amazon and Blurb but there’s a problem with that. You see, Chadwick made the mistake of violating someone else’s copyright, namely that of James Nguyen, the director and current copyright holder of the Birdemic series of movies. Mr. Nguyen somehow discovered (because Chadwick is quite an obscure writer of no talent whose picture books are shot through with very occasional literacy) that he’d devoted an entire chapter to parodying his first Birdemic movie. Not only did he threaten Chadwick with a $10,000,000 lawsuit for DMCA infringement, the director had even successfully gotten Amazon.com and Blurb.com to remove Chadwick’s product pages for at least the offending title.
            (However, if you’re so inclined, you can do a Google image search using the keywords “Mystery Science Storybook, Sugar Ray Dodge” to see at least a partial extent to which he’s been ripping off the MST3K franchise. In some cases, he’s even used Mike Nelson’s likeness as he also illustrates all his books).
            However, inexplicably (and I’m guessing perhaps this is because it didn’t reference James Nguyen’s copyright), the Kindle version of one of his other books can be found here (https://www.amazon.com/Night-Living-Storybook-Mystery-Science-ebook/dp/B01E6UHHF0) and you can plainly see in the subtitle a partial reference to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 franchise by name.
            I don’t pretend to be a lawyer but my guess is that when one uses a copyrighted name of a movie, book, television franchise or anything falling under DMCA protection and seeks to obtain profit from said copyright infringement, it is a violation of the DMCA.
            The reason I am approaching you with this, aside from your stake and standing in the franchise’s hierarchy, is personal as well as professional. As a self-published author, myself, I am very keen to spot any violations of copyright as that is one of the very few protections afforded the independent writer. It outrages me that Chadwick is making any amount of money by plainly and shamelessly ripping off a concept and franchise (including by name) of which I’ve been a fan for close to 20 years. I would think another independent author of even Chadwick’s middling abilities and obvious intellectual limitations would know better than to violate someone’s copyright for profit and even make a pretense of originating the MST3K concept.
            On a personal note, it ought to be mentioned here that this man, let us charitably call him, is a right wing stalker with a police record who has made my life a living hell. He has terrorized my fiancée with his sometimes alarming behavior, trolling and stalking (he’s visited my blog as many as 700 times a day). Finding that insufficient, he’s also gone to my Amazon product pages, had written bogus one star reviews of my novels that on at least three occasions Amazon had removed. He’s also gone to my alternate blogs, my Goodreads page and left a smattering of one star ratings in an attempt to tank my book sales. He is a right wing bully who can dish it out but cannot take it. As proof of this, he’s now begging for money from his readers because what he’s vainly been attempting to do to me has now happened to him.
            In summation, I should reiterate that Mr. Nguyen’s legal threats would seem to have merit in the very fact that he’s successfully prevailed upon Amazon and Blurb to take down several of his product pages. While this doesn’t necessarily rise to the level of legal consensus, it would seem to indicate that if you were interested in pursuing a parallel lawsuit, you might be able to derive some satisfactory relief from a court. Of course, doing so would be at your discretion.
            Very sincerely,

            Robert Crawford
(Update: Looks as if the Internet's best-loved stalker got his book jerked off a third site and, yes, James Nguyen is behind this heinous act of censorship and assault on Chadwick's "First Amendment right to free expression." Here's my response:


"(T)hinking that people had better things to do with their time than hassle me for wanting to sell my own art."
"Looks like this guy is not going to go away quietly."

Sucks when it happens to you, doesn't it, Chapped Dick?

Btw, I not only emailed James Nguyen on Saturday offering my help, I also alerted Jim Mallon of Consolidated Puppets, Inc. in a letter today to your countless copyright infringements of the MST3K franchise and suggested he might want to begin a parallel lawsuit of his own. I know my literary 
abilities, by your unimpeachably sage and august judgment, is seriously lacking but I think I made myself understood to both.)

6 Comments:

At August 30, 2016 at 2:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just thought you should know that Jim Mallon and Best Brains do not have a stake in Mystery Science Theater 3000 any longer, they sold the rights last year to series creator Joel Hodgson and Shout! Factory. Jim Mallon has nothing to do with MST3K any longer and has taken up a new life as a psychologist. MST3K is in full production of a new season that will be released on Netflix later this year.

 
At August 30, 2016 at 3:39 PM, Blogger jurassicpork said...

OK, didn't know that. Good to know. Perhaps Mallon can pass the word on to Joel. Wasn't that new season of MST3K the one that was financed by Kickstarter?

 
At September 2, 2016 at 2:35 PM, Blogger jurassicpork said...

Anon:

Thanks to your kind correction, I've written to the webmasters at Shout!Factory using the same letter I'd sent to Jim Mallon this past Monday and I'll let their legal Best Brains do with it what they will.

 
At September 5, 2016 at 11:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good! I really don't like that this clown is making any money off a franchise he doesn't own, particularly this one. He's an untalented hacking leeching off the hard work of others. As a hardcore MSTie, I find his "books" personally offensive. What's your contact info, we should talk about this more.

 
At September 5, 2016 at 1:16 PM, Blogger jurassicpork said...

Post your email address here and I'll write to you. Shout!Factory's legal team is already reviewing my letter to them. We're staying in touch on Twitter.

 
At September 5, 2016 at 2:33 PM, Blogger jurassicpork said...

No need to worry because I have comment moderation turned on. No one sees anything until I approve it. Email on its way.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home

KindleindaWind, my writing blog.

All Time Classics

  • Our Worse Half: The 25 Most Embarrassing States.
  • The Missing Security Tapes From the World Trade Center.
  • It's a Blunderful Life.
  • The Civil War II
  • Sweet Jesus, I Hate America
  • Top Ten Conservative Books
  • I Am Mr. Ed
  • Glenn Beck: Racist, Hate Monger, Comedian
  • The Ten Worst Music Videos of all Time
  • Assclowns of the Week

  • Links to the first 33 Assclowns of the Week.
  • Links to Assclowns of the Week 38-63.
  • #106: The Turkey Has Landed edition
  • #105: Blame it on Paris or Putin edition
  • #104: Make Racism Great Again Also Labor Day edition
  • #103: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Toilet edition
  • #102: Orange is the New Fat edition
  • #101: Electoral College Dropouts edition
  • #100: Centennial of Silliness edition
  • #99: Dr. Strangehate edition
  • #98: Get Bentghazi edition
  • #97: SNAPping Your Fingers at the Poor edition
  • #96: Treat or Treat, Kiss My Ass edition
  • #95: Monumental Stupidity double-sized edition
  • #94: House of 'Tards edition
  • #93: You Da Bomb! edition.
  • #92: Akin to a Fool edition.
  • #91: Aurora Moronealis edition.
  • #90: Keep Your Gubmint Hands Off My High Pre'mums and Deductibles! edition.
  • #89: Occupy the Catbird Seat/Thanksgiving edition.
  • #88: Heil Hitler edition.
  • #87: Let Sleeping Elephants Lie edition.
  • #86: the Maniacs edition.
  • #85: The Top 50 Assclowns of 2010 edition.
  • #(19)84: Midterm Madness edition.
  • #83: Spill, Baby, Spill! edition.
  • #82: Leave Corporations Alone, They’re People! edition.
  • #81: Hatin' on Haiti edition.
  • #80: Don't Get Your Panties in a Twist edition.
  • #79: Top 50 Assclowns of 2009 edition.
  • #78: Nattering Nabobs of Negativism edition.
  • #77: ...And Justice For Once edition.
  • #76: Reading Tea Leaves/Labor Day edition.
  • #75: Diamond Jubilee/Inaugural Edition
  • #74: Dropping the Crystal Ball Edition
  • #73: The Twelve Assclowns of Christmas Edition
  • #72: Trick or Treat Election Day Edition
  • #71: Grand Theft Autocrats Edition
  • #70: Soulless Corporations and the Politicians Who Love Them Edition
  • Empire Of The Senseless.
  • Christwire.org: Conservative Values for an Unsaved World.
  • Esquire's Charles Pierce.
  • Brilliant @ Breakfast.
  • The Burning Platform.
  • The Rant.
  • Mock, Paper, Scissors.
  • James Petras.
  • Towle Road.
  • Avedon's Sideshow (the new site).
  • At Largely, Larisa Alexandrovna's place.
  • The Daily Howler.
  • The DCist.
  • Greg Palast.
  • Jon Swift. RIP, Al.
  • God is For Suckers.
  • The Rude Pundit.
  • Driftglass.
  • Newshounds.
  • William Grigg, a great find.
  • Brad Blog.
  • Down With Tyranny!, Howie Klein's blog.
  • Wayne's World. Party time! Excellent!
  • Busted Knuckles, aka Ornery Bastard.
  • Mills River Progressive.
  • Right Wing Watch.
  • Earthbond Misfit.
  • Anosognosia.
  • Echidne of the Snakes.
  • They Gave Us a Republic.
  • The Gawker.
  • Outtake Online, Emmy-winner Charlotte Robinson's site.
  • Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo
  • No More Mr. Nice Blog.
  • Head On Radio Network, Bob Kincaid.
  • Spocko's Brain.
  • Pandagon.
  • Slackivist.
  • WTF Is It Now?
  • No Blood For Hubris.
  • Lydia Cornell, a very smart and accomplished lady.
  • Roger Ailes (the good one.)
  • BlondeSense.
  • The Smirking Chimp.
  • Hammer of the Blogs.
  • Vast Left Wing Conspiracy.
  • Argville.
  • Existentialist Cowboy.
  • The Progressive.
  • The Nation.
  • Mother Jones.
  • Vanity Fair.
  • Salon.com.
  • Citizens For Legitimate Government.
  • News Finder.
  • Indy Media Center.
  • Lexis News.
  • Military Religious Freedom.
  • McClatchy Newspapers.
  • The New Yorker.
  • Bloggingheads TV, political vlogging.
  • Find Articles.com, the next-best thing to Nexis.
  • Altweeklies, for the news you won't get just anywhere.
  • The Smirking Chimp
  • Don Emmerich's Peace Blog
  • Wikileaks.
  • The Peoples' Voice.
  • Dictionary.com.
  • CIA World Fact Book.
  • IP address locator.
  • Tom Tomorrow's hilarious strip.
  • Babelfish, an instant, online translator. I love to translate Ann Coulter's site into German.
  • Newsmeat: Find out who's donating to whom.
  • Wikipedia.
  • Uncyclopedia.
  • anysoldier.com
  • Icasualties
  • Free Press
  • YouTube
  • The Bone Bridge.
  • Powered by Blogger