Richard Meyer v. Mark Waid (2018)

[MidUSA]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a potential antitrust case something that would be brought against Marvel/Disney by some representative the state, not by any private individual?

This is a civil dispute between Waid and Zach, but a further suit could potentially be happening if Waid is deemed to have an employee status at Marvel and/or they are deemed to actively or tacitly approved Waids behavior. In that case (remote as it might be), it seems Marvel/Disney would be playing with fire if they are paying for Waid's lawyer.

 

[Sho'nuff]

Without yet reading Waid's response, I doubt there will be summary judgment. There seems to be a factual dispute as to whether yaboi is a racist, and most likely until discovery, Waid will probably allege that he didn't do anything more than talk to an AP representative in some unofficial capacity. That being said, I doubt Waid actually has a case. What I'm interested to see is how discovery will proceed for deleted tweets, and whether Waid deleting his tweets counts as spoliation.

It really doesn't matter if yaboi is racist (there is zero proof of this), the crux of this case is if Waid interfered unduly with a contract.
While Meyer is laying a ground work in defamation, he doesn't need to prove any part of that defamation, only that Waid interfered with a contract, did so knowingly, Waids interference directly led to the contract break, and that the contract break caused substantial damage to Meyer.
All of that is true.
Defamation, I think it's provable as well, but Tort most likely supercedes it. But defamation can be sticky to prove, look at the UK diver v Musk situation.
Musks initial statements were insulting, but they weren't defamation. They offered no proof, and no one believed it other than Musks sycophants. When Musk double downed, saying he hadn't been sued because the statement was true (saying a false statement, saying you have proof, saying so with ill intent, and it causing that person harm) it walked straight into actually being defamation, and Musk got another lolsuit, as if enough wasn't pending against him.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a potential antitrust case something that would be brought against Marvel/Disney by some representative the state, not by any private individual?

This is a civil dispute between Waid and Zach, but a further suit could potentially be happening if Waid is deemed to have an employee status at Marvel and/or they are deemed to actively or tacitly approved Waids behavior. In that case (remote as it might be), it seems Marvel/Disney would be playing with fire if they are paying for Waid's lawyer.

Marvel essentially told him to fuck off after all this broke. I think marvel is pretty safe from any action,unless other info comes out about their involvement.

 

[Goofy Logic]

This is a civil dispute between Waid and Zach, but a further suit could potentially be happening if Waid is deemed to have an employee status at Marvel and/or they are deemed to actively or tacitly approved Waids behavior. In that case (remote as it might be), it seems Marvel/Disney would be playing with fire if they are paying for Waid's lawyer.

While the assumption is that Disney is paying for the lawyer, at the moment I find it more likely Zaid is a lawyer known or employed by Disney, and Waid was referred to him.

 

[Monster of the week]

Great news. Hope Waid gets his ass kicked in court.

 

[RodgerDodger]

The guy that helped tank his own publisher and was made to quit his job as CFO of IDW would make a great character witness, but not for who he’s rotting for:
View attachment 555487https://twitter.com/chris_ryall/status/1046174659983499264 http://archive.is/ZFBD5

Angry Manlet spotted:
View attachment 555488

“In the real world Meyer is not going to be taken seriously”

ROFL!!! In the Real World, Meyer is a decorated veteran. A career Seargent in both the Army and Marines. A very clean cut well spoken man. And the charges of “White Nationalist” evaporate the moment he introduces his family. Including his 3 non white, non Christian kids. The real world is not Twitter. In the Real World Meyer looks like a hardworking hero. Waid looks like a Serial Killer.

 

[damian]

Now before I get very mad and very autistic and start laughing at Tricky Dick, would anyone like to correct me and let me know that Waid's government name really is "Chris"?

Because if not lmao way to throw that opening swing.

It seems to just be a typo in the document.

What are the chances of this actually going in front of a jury and why is Meyer asking for one in the first place?

Waid throws massive tantrums whenever things don’t go his way. There’s a lot to shame Waid with:

Spoiler

The Black Wreath incident,

The former-editor’s recount of a tantrum in the bullpen,

The Gamergate spergouts,

Celebrating the Honey Badgers getting banned from Calgary Expo while working on an anti censorship book,

Calling the cops on an obvious parody account on YT:

The history of intimidation between Waid and Yaboi:

Protecting a child pornographer from the mean Gamergaters:

Tweet 1: Just when you're starting to feel good about things here, the twisted, nasty, fucked-up degenerates show up to piss on themselves.

Tweet 2: Not a subtweet. Several comics folk are getting accused of 'child pornography' this weekend by Gamergate types who think they're clever.

Tweet 3: It's really nauseating in no small part because it mocks a genuine horrible problem in society. But these creeps think it's "funny".

Tweet 4: I'm having to block assholes right and left who think it's a RIOT accusing someone of being a child pornographer just to stir shit.

And other stuff in his thread that are just as autistic. I think the strategy here is to have him chimpout in court while they show his true character to said jury.

Meanwhile all they have on YaBoi is him calling a Marvel editor a “Cum Dumpster” once in a private livestream from a year ago and some autistic behavior.

 

[HeraldofNurgle]

It's funny how many twitter people become armchair lawyers when things like this happen. I personally leave the law to lawyers cause there are so many nuances that some random guy on twitter isn't going to get.

I hope this is a huge wakeup call to internet activists that their words and actions have consequences. The law has reached the internet, and people are dumb enough to leave trails. It makes me think of Steven Crowder when he tracks down people offline who made death threats to him on twitter to confront them. All of them are spineless weak cowards who are internet tough guys but without a screen between them they change tunes really quick.

It'll be the same with Mark Waid. He's tough on the net but in court he'll be the sniveling man child he has always been.

 

[You Promised]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a potential antitrust case something that would be brought against Marvel/Disney by some representative the state, not by any private individual?

I wouldn't know how to start verifying / checking the status of this:

Edit:
https://twitter.com/DiversityAndCmx/status/996063767275495425
(http://archive.is/4faqY)

 

[kcbbq]

It's funny how many twitter people become armchair lawyers when things like this happen. I personally leave the law to lawyers cause there are so many nuances that some random guy on twitter isn't going to get.

I hope this is a huge wakeup call to internet activists that their words and actions have consequences. The law has reached the internet, and people are dumb enough to leave trails. It makes me think of Steven Crowder when he tracks down people offline who made death threats to him on twitter to confront them. All of them are spineless weak cowards who are internet tough guys but without a screen between them they change tunes really quick.

It'll be the same with Mark Waid. He's tough on the net but in court he'll be the sniveling man child he has always been.

There are a lot of people defending Waid because the alternative is considering that they might not be as righteous as they have convinced themselves, collectively, they are.

 

[damian]

Wew we got a new Hashtag for virtue signaling pros (#IStandWithMarkWaid):

 

[Pope Negro Joe the XIIIth]

Wew we got a new Hashtag for virtue signaling pros (#IStandWithMarkWaid):
View attachment 556145 View attachment 556146 View attachment 556147 View attachment 556148 View attachment 556149 View attachment 556150 View attachment 556151 View attachment 556152 View attachment 556153

So how many of these people will be named as co-defendants eventually?

 

[The Doktor]

See, the industry right now is standing behind Waid because his behavior is ostensibly “the way the industry has always done things” & are absolutely convinced that because nobody has ever actively challenged them on it in court, that it’s OK. It’s not. Just because everyone in the past has so desperately wanted to be in the industry that they didn’t dare rock the boat by legally challenging them on their gatekeeping & backroom deals & shit has given the industry this sense of security that what they’re doing is A-ok.

 

[AnOminous]

What are the chances of this actually going in front of a jury and why is Meyer asking for one in the first place?

Because they're asking for punitive damages and it's a Texas jury.

If I had to guess at random, maybe Disney itself. A person like Zaid isn't likely to meet Mark Waid at random

Maybe he met him at San Diego Comic Con where he was speaking and was advertised as an advisor for Gemstone Publishing (the Overstreet Guide).

 

[Ponderous Pillock]

This lawsuit should be fun to watch methinks.

 

[One Man Bland]

So I've been reading up on this Mark Zaid person. Is it the same one who tends to take government jobs and national security cases? If so who's paying for him? Waid I don't think has the money for it as comic writers don't make as much as artists since all they can do at conventions is sign comics and his comics aren't worth all that much (9.8CGC signed Deadpool #1 from 1994 is less than $300 and all he asks for is probably the usual $20 for a signature.). Compare that to an artist who can make between $400 to $2000 for a drawing at a convention.

If I had to guess at random, maybe Disney itself. A person like Zaid isn't likely to meet Mark Waid at random

I vaguely recall Zaid being a big name comic book collector and contributed to a lot of coalitions meant to preserve old comics and provide protections to those in the industry as a side hobby, so it's possible Zaid simply took this case because he's a comic nerd and living out what's essentially a comic book plot with the heroes taking down some big bad (in Waid's mind at least) was just too tempting to pass up for him.

Though that doesn't necessarily mean Disney footing the bill is off the table.

 

[AnOminous]

This lawsuit should be fun to watch methinks.

The most entertaining thing so far is the Waid partisans on Twitter. Usually Internet commentary on legal issues is abysmal, but I'm actually impressed at the inability of these pinheads to get within even a statute mile of anything even remotely relevant to the actual case. They actually believe Waid is going to fly to Texas, "because WOKE. . .Nazi. . .REEEEEEEE" and the case will be immediately dismissed, everyone in the courtroom will stand up and applaud, and the judge will throw off his robe to reveal Albert Einstein.

That's not going to happen.

The most that might happen is 12(b)(6) dismissal of the defamation claim for claims unrelated to the tortious interference.

However, the fact that Waid has products to sell on the very shelves he was trying to keep Meyer from selling his own makes it intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. That's commercial speech, bro. That's not speech enjoying First Amendment protections at their highest. That's speech like television advertisements, which also don't have to be defamatory to be found false and to constitute unfair competition.

Also any jury in this case is going to be a Texas jury. Remember how a Florida jury viewed the smirking, arrogant Gawker defendants Nick Denton and Albert Daulerio? Remember what they did to those two?

Imagine that but Texas sized. Imagine how a jury full of people taken from their jobs and lives to hear this case will react to a spastic, hyper-liberal SJW shitstain who looks down on them and everything about them and views himself as the moral superior of everyone in the room, who illegally fucked over a guy who looks and acts a lot more like they do.

 

[NSA]

So Kickstarter also de-platformed ya boi when he tried to kickstart Jawbreakers (which is why it's on Indigogo). Clueless SJWs accidentally bragged about this as well. Kickstarter has a blue-hair that automatically rejects non-SJW comic books for racism. Zach wrote a pretty rock-solid appeal, and was rejected again. SJWs think this event, which may massively help Zach's case, is proof he is a secret racist. My brain.


Source: From EVS's livestream today: Time: 6:10

 

[mindlessobserver]

So Kickstarter also de-platformed ya boi when he tried to kickstart Jawbreakers (which is why it's on Indigogo). Clueless SJWs accidentally bragged about this as well. Kickstarter has a blue-hair that automatically rejects non-SJW comic books for racism. Zach wrote a pretty rock-solid appeal, and was rejected again. SJWs think this event, which may massively help Zach's case, is proof he is a secret racist. My brain.


Source: From EVS's livestream today: Time: 6:10

It's stuff like this that may make the FTC sit up and take notice. Comics is essentially an oligopoly dominated by two companies, with a monopoly on distribution. Since its such a small niche industry it's largely left alone, but if they keep using Trust like behavior to prevent competition from circumventing their monopolistic hold they are going to risk having the hammer brought down. You would think Bob Iger and his crew would reign them in, but they may not be paying much attention since marvels budget and sales is a literal rounding error on Disney's balance sheet.

 

[PantsFreeZone]

If you want even more chuckles, read the comments on the garbage-tier Bleeding Cool article: https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/0...id-tortious-interference-contract-defamation/

If you want more actual information, read the Bounding Into Comics article: http://boundingintocomics.com/2018/...tarctic-press-dropped-jawbreakers-lost-souls/

 

[lol you sukc]

Wew we got a new Hashtag for virtue signaling pros (#IStandWithMarkWaid):
View attachment 556145 View attachment 556146 View attachment 556147 View attachment 556148 View attachment 556149 View attachment 556150 View attachment 556151 View attachment 556152 View attachment 556153

Not only is this the gayest hashtag yet, by including his last name they inadvertently marked him as a nobody.