Read the real life stories and experiences of freelance writer Mike Gagnon.

So, it's been 22 days since the false allegations were made about me through a respected comic news website. It featured an article claiming I was infringing the copyright of a small press comic creator and continuing to sell his books well after we ceased to work together. It's been 17 days since I found out about it and 15 days since I publicly posted all of my documented evidence that disproved these false allegations.

In the process a news site I once respected had this feature article live for 5 days before I knew about it. In those 5 days I was unable to make any type of defense against these allegations.

In those five days several people I had once considered friends did not even consider to approach me and ask if these claims were true. Instead they jumped online and starting a schoolyard-gossip-style conversation about my horrible actions, openly crucifying me for public consumption. Several websites I had been working with to begin publishing new columns also decided that I could no longer write for them because of these allegations.

The most sickening thing about all of this is that in the 15 days since I made public the documents disproving the allegations, not a single one of those so-called "friends" have offered an apology, nor has the author of the article. Attempts to obtain a public apology or retraction have also been blocked with lame excuses, pointing the finger at the comic creator who made the false claims.

It's quite obvious that basic standards and procedures used by legitimate news sources, such as basic fact checking, were not used in this case.

It has totally undermined my confidence in the news site that carried the story, and makes me wonder how many of their stories may be totally inaccurate. How many other comic news websites are out there using the same low standards that we don't know about? It's totally undermined my confidence in the comic news media. The accuracy of the news we are receiving is a tough question that should be considered by anyone who gets their industry news through these websites.

I am still in legal limbo as to how I will proceed regarding civil action. Only the unfolding of events over the next few weeks will determine that.

On a much more positive note I was pleasantly surprised by the e-mails I received from other publishers, comic creators, fans, even a lady who used to be a member of an old e-mail newsletter I used to do about indie comics.

It's situations like this where you really find out who your friends are.

People I hadn't seen in years have e-mailed me offering support and reassurance. Strangers e-mailed me asking my advice on how they should go about getting into publishing. Even though I quit publishing other people's work months ago other publisher's have offered legal advice and shared their own legal horror stories. It's really quite amazing that so much warmth and reassurance can come out of something so malicious and negative.

It proves that despite the negative comments posted online after the article, that the majority of people saw through the claims for what they really were.

One of my editors offered a wise response to all of this. In paraphrasing he said that anyone joining in and publicly bashing me over the flimsy claims being made were not worth worrying about and that any client, be it website or magazine, that would not let me write for them over such a poorly constructed attack is not worth writing for.

I'm inclined to agree...

Posted by: lightning at 18:00 | link | comments

And one last, final note with documentation

Public material that would seem to suggest that H.C. Noel and Newsarama writer Ryan McLelland may actually be buddies can be found here http://www.hcnoel.com/events.html if anything should happen to this page or it is altered contact me at mgagnon@bmts.com for details.

 

I feel that this illustrates that McLelland may have been biased in his coverage of Mr. Scootles and that he may have been lax in the verification of facts that should have been conducted.

 

Posted by: lightning at 15:44 | link | comments

Final notes on all this

To close on a last few points:

If I were trying to profiteer illegally on Noel's work, why wouldn't I have tried to sell, or offer a comp copy to Ryan McLelland in order to generate publicilty and sales when he first contacted me?

If I was guilty of these accusations and the creator was so apalled and concerned with the situation why would he not have me legally charged along with a law suit. Especially when he claims this illegal activity has carried on for over seven months and continues to? Because there is nothing to these claims, that's why.

When I discovered the original article on Newsarama I sent the following e-mail to Mr. Noel.

Posted by: lightning at 18:47 | link | comments

Additional Documentation in my Defense

I recently e-mailed Robert Randle regarding the situation with documentation for Mr. Scootles. His response:

"Hi Mike,

Yes, I remember you and I remember the submission packet for Mr. Scootles.

In these sorts of situations, Diamond’s policy is to remain neutral in all disputes between creators and publishers, however I would be happy to furnish you another copy of the rejection letter for that title if you cannot locate you one we sent you.

Thanks.

 Robert Randle

Purchasing Brand Manager"

On the morning of Wednesday, January 10th at 8am I received the following document via fax.

HERE

 

This document clearly shows Mr. Scootles was rejected on the basis of artwork and story and directly disputes the claim made by Mr. Noel that the book was rejected due to the size or by an unprofessional approach to Diamond on my part. Note that the section regarding format is not marked on this form.

Posted by: lightning at 11:34 | link | comments (2)

The other disapointment about this whole situation is that it sends the message out to people that if they want to publish comics, they shouldn't even try, because if they aren't successful everyone will hate you.

I don't think anyone should be openly ridiculed or hated for trying to do what they love. Failures and dissapointments happen, but it does not give third parties the right to openly defame and slander a person.

Posted by: lightning at 11:19 | link | comments

Please note, that in my original press release I refered to Mike Phillips as the owner of Sequart instead of the Editor. The owner is Julian Darious.

I discussed the error with them and they were not concerned, but for consistency and accuracy I post that correction here.

Posted by: lightning at 09:57 | link | comments

The saddest and most upsetting things about this situation are:

I do not want to legally or criminally pursue anyone, but these accusations have already damaged my income, costing me several confirmed writing gigs which may force me to pursue legal action along with possible criminal charges relating to several harassing e-mails I've recieved indirectly related to the offensive article.

It seems several people that I have done nothing but trya nd help to get exposure for thier comics, several I recently interviewed for various article, jumped onto this band wagon. Some I considered friends or at least friendly acquiantances and they were the first to condemn me in the court of public opinion.

In any event there will be more documentation to come.

I would like to thank Matt Brady at Newsarama for posting my response to the article here.

Posted by: lightning at 16:19 | link | comments

Documentation of defense against accusations by Howard Noeldechen and Ryan McLelland regarding copyright infringement of Mr. Scootles and unprofessionalism.

 

Please note that you will be taken to a Filequest.net page where you must click a link ot get the download.  

If there are any problems with downloads please contact me at mgagnon@bmts.com I can provide original files ot anyeone interested.

 

Royalty and Sales Statement provided to Mr. Howard Noeldechen on or about November 16^th 2006. Note the negative balance. This report lists the expenses of starting and setting up files for one book which far out weight any sales made. A creator can’t make any money or royalties on a book if it never makes any profit. Supplied here in original word form as opposed to PDF so that date of creation can be verified.

HERE

 

 

A string of e-mails between us last dated September 12^th 2006. One of several times I explained to Mr. Noel how things work, why it might appear his books were being sold, and explaining the causes of his confusion. Take note of page 2 Paragraph 6 (final one) where I have explained to Mr. Noel that we were still getting orders for his books and that we were not shipping them. I advise him that he is missing out on potential sales and even offer to help him set up his own accounts so retailers can buy his books directly from him. It is also followed on page 5 by a personal letter sent to Mr. Noel in November of 2006 referring him to Ryan McLelland, who had shown general interest in Mr. Scootles on behalf of Newsarama. Mr. McLelland would ultimately write the article for Newsarama based on false claims of copyright infringement. Also note I follow that by referring him to a publisher in France that had shown interest in his book while he was with Open Book Press, this is now well after we have parted ways.

HERE

 

 

A series of orders processed with BookSurge between March 2^nd and May 9^th. This brings the total of books printed for retail sale to 15 copies of Mr. Scootles #1. As can been seen in the records, 2 copies were shipped directly to Amazon. The other 13 were shipped to me. 6 of those were shipped by me to Amazon for orders during the time in which we were in a contract with Mr. Noel. One was sold directly to a vendor at a trade show in the same period of time. Three of those copies were shipped to Mr. Noel. The remaining 3 were boxed up and forgotten until I found them while digging through boxes for this info. Mr. Noel is welcome to them, or if he does not want them they may be recycled.

HERE

 

 

Because all small press accounts are sold on consignment with Amazon, books they have ordered in stock are not recorded as sales or paid for until they have been sold to a customer. Of the 8 copies Amazon ordered 2 were sold in June, 2 were sold in August and 2 more were just sold recently in December. Because the sales in December occurred after the Royalty statement issued as the first link of this list, the total for this book and payable as royalties to Mr. Noel is -$104.16 yes that’s right, no, that’s not a dash it’s a negative sign, Negative $104.16. Again I’ll clarify. If a book cannot sell enough copies to make any money then a creator cannot profit from any royalties of said book. Sales for most books look dismal on this record, some are, but most have other sales sources through distributors, Mr. Scootles does not as it was rejected by our distributors on the basis of artistic quality.

HERE

 

 

An example of an order that was sent with a request for Mr. Scootles. Note that the Mr. Scootles was confirmed as zero and not shipped. All orders similar to this received after the contract was terminated were returned in this way. Each order was also returned to Amazon with the status on the book as “Unavailable: Cancelled”

HERE

 

 

A short list of orders processed by me to send comp review copies out to various important industry reviewers and distributors. Not all comp copies were processed and ordered in this way, but this gives you an idea of the type of people they were sent to and the broad area that it was submitted to for review and consideration. This disproves Mr. Noel’s claims that comic book media were ignored and reviewers were not given copies. This is also followed by three pages of solicitation copy written for the books by me and sent out to retailers and distributors prior to the end of the contract, thereby disproving the claim that they were not properly promoted to sales channels.

HERE

 

 

A scan of a fax, but still legible copy of the contract with Mr. Noel. This document proves that many of the agreements and stipulations that Noel claims are in the contract actually are not. For example, there is no guarantee to be carried by Diamond, only that we will solicit to as many distributors as possible, also there is no mention of size specifications of the book.

HERE

 

 

Furthermore, I would submit that I personally received the rejection notice from Diamond and personally forwarded via mail to Mr. Noel. It listed unprofessional quality of art as the reason the book was turned down by Diamond and had nothing to do with my business manner with them as Mr. Noel has claimed. Mr. Noel has the original copy in his possession and this too did not somehow make it to Mr. McLelland for inclusion in his article. I’m not saying I agree with Diamond’s assessment of his art, I think the book should have been given a chance, but it is not fair to fabricate reasons for a lack of distribution at my public expense. Baker & Taylor also accepted our book title info for Mr. Scootles as well as a comp copy for review, after which they declined to order any stock to keep on hand.

 

It’s unfortunate to see Mr. McLelland go public with an article without thoroughly verifying the facts first. As he suggested to me on Newsarama that I should have “reached out and touched someone” if I thought the allegations were false, he too could have simply looked up my name on www.411.com or used the phone to call me, if e-mail wasn’t working for him, he could have called or sent a letter using the contact info that was on the website when I was still the owner. Especially for an article with such damning information, essentially trying to ruin a person’s reputation and career, I would think someone would want to take every means necessary to make sure it was accurate before putting it out there.

 

I sincerely hope Mr. Noel and Mr. McLelland will let this rest; continued false claims will result in criminal and legal charges.

Posted by: lightning at 02:00 | link | comments

Former Publisher Mike Gagnon Responds to Allegations of Copyright Infringement

 

Recently several comic news sites, most notably newsarama.com have run articles that feature claims from indie comic creator Howard Noel that former Open Book Press owner Mike Gagnon has infringed upon the copyright of his series Mr. Scootles. Mr. Gagnon would like the comic community to know that there may not be as much to these claims as it first appears.

 

Tuesday, January 9^th 2007, Kincardine, Ontario – The following is a public letter being issued as a press release by former publisher Mike Gagnon regarding the recent articles on several news sites attacking his business relationship with Howard Noel –

 

            I am deeply saddened by the claims being made by Mr. Noeldechen regarding my business relationship with him, in particular an article posted on Newsama.com on January 2^nd of 2007. The article was posted by site owner Matt Brady and written by Ryan McLelland, and contains several false statements regarding copyright infringement of the character and sales of the series occurring after Mr. Noel and I ceased to do business.

 

            At no time have I or anyone currently or formerly involved with Open Book Press ever been involved in any type of copyright infringement action or treated Mr. Noel unprofessionally. On several occasions I have explained to Mr. Noel that stock sold by Amazon was ordered and fulfilled prior to the termination of our contract, and that issues 2 and 3 of Mr. Scootles were never printed, let alone sold by any means. The title information listed at book sales sites is a result of advanced solicitation to retailers and distributors. Books begin soliciting a minimum of six months prior to actual retail release, and book listings for issue 2 and 3 had already been sent out prior to the termination of our deal.

 

            Claims also made that Mr. Noel has not received sales records, comp. copies, royalty statements, etc. are blatantly false. This information was sent to Mr. Noel via e-mail on or about the 16^th of November 2006, nearly a month before Mr. McLelland’s article claims that he had still not received anything. The information was also sent via mail in a package along with any and all material in my possession concerning Mr. Scootles at the time. Printed copies of #1, original submissions, as well as a copy of the rejection notice from Diamond listing that the title was rejected due to the quality of artwork, not unprofessional format, sizing, printing, or approach as Mr. Noel has claimed.

 

This information has been sent to Mr. Noel on several occasions, and I find it strange that none of these e-mails were able to find their way into Mr. McLelland’s article. I cannot comment on if this is due to Mr. McLelland overlooking them, or perhaps selectively having never been supplied to him by Mr. Noel.

 

Throughout our relationship and this dispute I have done all in my power to maintain a level headed and professional communication with Mr. Noel and been met with hostility.

 

The most disappointing part about this is that Mr. Scootles is a good series and that it should be getting media attention through positive creative success, not a public smear campaign based on false accusations.

 

I also find the timing to be strangely co-incidental with Mr. Noel’s efforts to promote the upcoming release of the final issue of the series, and the movement of my career from publishing to freelance writing, which includes several new columns being written by myself on comic news websites.

 

In support of my defense and in response to the excerpts attributed to the new owners of Open Book Press in Mr. McLelland’s article Dan Frey, one of two new co-owners of Open Book Press, has said “Most of what Noel comments on is inaccurate and where he is accurate he misunderstood what really was going on… We think he's doing this to generate sales for his book.”

 

David Galloway, account rep at BookSurge, the only printer ever used during my time as owner of Open Book Press has stated in regard to where the Mr. Scootles books are being supplied to Amazon from “The listing is coming from 2 sources.  The first is the advantage account opened by the publisher in Jan 2006.  The second source is B&T.  Books 2&3 were closed 12/2006.  The third is currently in process of being close 12/29/2006.  Should go away in a couple of days.  None of the inventory is being filled by BookSurge.” This means that if no inventory is being filled by BookSurge than no books are being printed. The existing copies that are out there were from very small orders that were shipped prior to the termination of Mr. Noel’s contract. Documentation supporting this will also be provided online.

 

In response to the general attacks on me personally, Mike Phillips, owner of comics site Sequart.com, a client of mine, has said: “Don't worry about that, Mike. I'll judge your relationship with Sequart.com based on your dealings with Sequart.com…You've been nothing but helpful to my company, so that's how I'm basing our relationship.”

 

In any event I have no regrets. The entire time I worked as a publisher I did my best to help and foster new and unknown creators. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, the fact is that there are more failures than successes in comics, but not once have I ever done anything to harm, undermine, or unjustly profit off of any creator I have worked with.

 

As I move into writing I have continued to keep this goal alive by using one of my new columns as a venue to showcase unknown talent. I continue to wish Mr. Noel nothing but success with Mr. Scootles, and had he been able to maintain a professional rapport with me, despite our differences in opinion, I would have been happy to feature Mr. Scootles in a segment.

 

Sometimes when something isn’t a booming success a creator will need to take it out on someone else instead of facing the reality, but I cannot allow myself to be publicly subjected to false accusations.

 

I have promised in my responses in online chat rooms to provide documents that prove my defense and refute the claims being made. I will not take up time, space, and comic media inboxes with a full listing and file attachments here, but files will be posted on my personal blog at http://lightning.motime.com with links and details as to which claims they disprove. Supporting documentation to the defenses I have made in this letter can be found there.

 

I have also requested additional supporting documentation from Diamond, Amazon, and BookSurge regarding the support of my defense and will continue to post those materials if and when they become available.

 

I will also be refuting points made by Mr. McLelland directly in his article located at http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=96024

 

As I move on with my life away from publishing I hope Mr. Noel can move on with his and devote his time to his career and capitalizing on the success of Mr. Scootles because of its quality, not by negative sensationalism.

 

Once I have posted up all of my responses and documentation online I will not waste anymore time on this matter nor concern myself with prolonging it, however if new unsubstantiated attacks continue I will explore my options for legal action.  

 

If any comics media outlet would like to ask any further questions of me regarding this matter or request faxes or higher-res images of the documents posted online I can be reached at mgagnon@bmts.com and will provide further contact information as requested.

 

Sincerely wishing Mr. Noeldechen the best of success with Mr. Scootles,

 

Mike Gagnon

 

Posted by: lightning at 23:09 | link | comments