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.)