Not a lawyer, but from what I understand they can't use the Sherman because the lawsuit is focused primarily on Waid who is being sued in his personal capacity. Not in his capacity as an employee of Marvel. There is also some debate as to whether he even IS an employee of Marvel rather then just some dude they have a contract with. There is a legal distinction.
Of course this is just the preliminary phase, and we have yet to reach discovery. If it turns out that Marvel execs/management knew about and/or encouraged Waids actions, then they could get sucked into the mess. From what I am seeing though Meyers lawyer wants to run a tight ship and go for what he can reasonably get, as opposed to going full Captain Ahab and hunt a white whale.
We need to stop assuming all eggs in one basket. Suing Waid does not close out the possibility of action against the Mouse later. Should evidence come out that Mark was in any way enabled or approved by Marvel officers. At this stage there is not enough to drag Disney into it and trigger five years of expensive hell. Disney today would likely apologize, claim no knowledge of the contractors actions, and otherwise seek to distance themselves. But if in Discovery communications are found with Marvel Entertainment Officers, things can change. If Joe Quesada or Sana Amanatt are in that private Facebook group blacklisting people? Woof!
As pointed when it first happened, "there was nothing stopping him from seeing another publisher!" is nonsense as Meyer was targeted for being Meyer. Do they really expect anyone to believe that if Image or some other publisher deciding to pick him up that the mob and Waid wouldn't go after them next? How many companies need to be muscled for that to be acknowledged or are we going to do the "Motherfucker deserves it" shtick.
This is why you need to carry your thoughts out to their conclusion.
It'd be silly to chase after it but considering we had Joe Quesada voice similar opinions and we've had some employees bring up Google Hangouts and such, couldn't it be argued that this Autism Jihad is "Unofficially officially supported by Marvel Entertainment"? Fuck if I know how deep the rabbit hole goes but it's interesting how heads of the company agree though we haven't heard them comment on Waid's actions.
.
The damage was when Waid interfered with the existing contract. Meyer being forced to seek another route. It does not matter if he could find one. He had been denied the route to market.
And yes there is extreme risk to Disney if Quesada or Amanatt, both ME VP’s are in any of these private industry discussion groups. They are clear collusion. But Meyer needs the action against Waid to crack those open and enter them into th3 record.
I kinda believe that's not really an option for Waid. If still goes after Zack then he's risking getting into shit again and if he says anything apologetic then he just nuked his career with a hundred "MARK WAID SUPPORTS COMICSGATE" articles. This environment doesn't really support backing down.
He will most likely settle with no admissions of fault. Waid has money or valuable assets, such as IP’s he owns. His lawyer will push for quick quiet settlement.
Because apparently as a strategic matter Meyer's lawyer felt it was better not to drag in the whole corporate octopus, perhaps deciding the deep pockets weren't worth fucking with The Mouse, or perhaps simply deciding that Waid's pockets are themselves sufficiently deep. I doubt we'll know for sure without Meyer's lawyers publicly disclosing their legal strategies, which seems unlikely and unwise.
As a theoretical matter? They could dissociate themselves from Waid by claiming he was either an independent contractor who acted on his own, or was engaged in a "frolic of his own" rather than acting on their behalf as an employee. Or argue both in the alternative even though they're semi-contradictory.
They really could have made the decision for any number of reasons, and if you read the complaint, it's a fairly lucid and minimal complaint limiting the case and the arguments to the simplest presentation rather than diving into the underbrush of sperging about every tiny detail. I think this is probably actually a good idea, as much fun as it was when this first happened to speculate wildly about how there were a couple dozen causes of action here if you got creative.
Truth is a defense in a defamation case. So it might be relevant to that part of the case. It's not really relevant to a tortious interference case where the defendant is accused of improperly inducing a third party to breach a contract with the plaintiff.
Waid doesn't have to have said anything untrue for that to be a tort. If he contacted Antarctic Press and said bad things would happen to them if they didn't breach their contract with Meyer, he broke the law.
This. Plus at this stage there is likely no reason to go after Disney. Disney is not a hostile party yet. Their published policies expressly forbid what Waid did. If Disney was contacted by Meyers attorneys they are likely cooperating and apologetic. At this stage it is simply a complaint to Disney management. Meyer and Disney will probably reach a private agreement.
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.
Waid has some bucks. Or properties he can leverage. Disney or Marvel HR likely gave him the name of an industry lawyer who does that sort of work. All HR departments will do that. But no way are they paying for it. No way either Ike Perlmutter or Disney are indemnifying Waid’s Social Media antics. Remember Ike makes staff bring their own toilet paper.
Yeah that makes a lot of sense. Tbh i didn't really believe the antitrust thing had much of a chance, but it wouldve been interesting. The only knowledge I have of Meyers complaint is the Rekieta video, but do you know what sort of relief yabois asking for? Aside from the 75k that made it sufficient as a diversity jurisdiction, which I highly doubt Waid has, was he asking for a public apology for Waids accusations?
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.
Meyer filed an FTC complaint. That may result in FTC or Justice Dept Action, or not. From a costs benefits view there is no reason for him to go further down that path, at this time. Discovery may change things however. It isn’t an all or nothing decision.
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.
Marvel HR likely has a list of industry lawyers that they will hand out. This is normal. Beyond that Waid is on his own. There is no way Disney indemnified this or assumes ownership, unless they face legal risk. Right now they don’t.
