A win for the little guy...er gal.

[Tom Stillwell]

http://www.bleedingcool.com/forums/s...0-%28UPDATE%29

I'm really pleased at the outcome and glad that UNSCREWED! was able to assist a freelancer get their due. Pun intended.

[dmh_3000]

Glad she got what she was owed.

[Frankmillerfan]

[Hanzou]

Definitely surprising. I had no idea DDP had issues like that. Good for this artist, hopefully she won't have to wait long to get compensation.

[John Rauch]

Originally Posted by dmh_3000

Glad she got what she was owed.

Unfortunately, winning a lawsuit doesn't mean you're getting paid.

[Tom Stillwell]

Originally Posted by John Rauch

Unfortunately, winning a lawsuit doesn't mean you're getting paid.

Don't worry, we'll get the money. Whether it is through garnishment or as a creditor in a bankruptcy, we'll get it.

It's not that DDP doesn't have the money to pay their freelancers. It's that they use what money they do have for other things. Things like this...

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?ei...193782&index=1

It seems to me that if you have money to spend on promoting DDP then you should have money to pay the people making books for DDP. Otherwise you don't throw parties.

It seems to me that giving the appearance of being a successful publisher is more important to DDP than actually being a successful publisher.

[Paul Sanderson]

Originally Posted by John Rauch

Unfortunately, winning a lawsuit doesn't mean you're getting paid.

Agreed. It's often almost impossible to get payment in these types of situations, even after winning judgment.

[RonaldMontgomery]

The audacity of this publisher is pretty far out there. Good job, Tom.

[maverick]

Originally Posted by Hanzou

Definitely surprising. I had no idea DDP had issues like that. Good for this artist, hopefully she won't have to wait long to get compensation.

I know an artist who got 'hired' to to a 4-issue mini for them. He completed the first two issues (penciled & inked) and then they canceled the mini and never paid him.

I also know there's at least one 'higher profile' artist on this board who has had issues with them.

[John Rauch]

Originally Posted by Tom Stillwell

Don't worry, we'll get the money. Whether it is through garnishment or as a creditor in a bankruptcy, we'll get it.

It's not that DDP doesn't have the money to pay their freelancers. It's that they use what money they do have for other things. Things like this...

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?ei...193782&index=1

It seems to me that if you have money to spend on promoting DDP then you should have money to pay the people making books for DDP. Otherwise you don't throw parties.

It seems to me that giving the appearance of being a successful publisher is more important to DDP than actually being a successful publisher.

Believe me, I understand about DDP. That's why I gave up on working for them years ago, back before they made the transition from ridiculously bad to laughably bad. I hope Rachel gets her money soon, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Tom Stillwell]

I would bet on it. This is what I do. I just wish I could do it more often but unfortunately most freelancers aren't willing to stand up for themselves.

I've already helped Rachelle successfully collect money from another publisher. Zenescope is next.

[WCG Comics]

I wondered too whether she'll actually see any money. But I presume with a court judgment behind her, the company stands to be penalized more if they don't comply, with bankruptcy perhaps being their only legal option to avoid full payment. (Was this thru Small Claims Court?)

Underlying all this, of course, is the fact that the company feels it can get away with it, obviously counting on the fact that, within the industry, most freelancers won't take action because either a) they don't want to have a reputation for causing trouble (this is mentioned in the Bleeding Cool commentary) or b) it's too much trouble and not worth the effort. When going through litigation, weighing the cost versus the upside and downside always has to be considered, but obviously for this amount of money it was worth it for the artist.

It's possible she may even get reimbursed in the judgment for the court costs—and if she wanted to, she could have probably rolled in the time she spent trying to collect the payments and to prepare for the court appearance!

[chris stevens]

man, this is deplorable. josh blaylock walks around like a big shot and his company turns out crap and can't be bothered to even pay for it, he's too busy throwing lame-ass parties that look like they're straight out of 1994.

good for you, tom.

[Tom Stillwell]

Originally Posted by WCG Comics

I wondered too whether she'll actually see any money. But I presume with a court judgment behind her, the company stands to be penalized more if they don't comply, with bankruptcy perhaps being their only legal option to avoid full payment. (Was this thru Small Claims Court?)

Underlying all this, of course, is the fact that the company feels it can get away with it, obviously counting on the fact that, within the industry, most freelancers won't take action because either a) they don't want to have a reputation for causing trouble (this is mentioned in the Bleeding Cool commentary) or b) it's too much trouble and not worth the effort. When going through litigation, weighing the cost versus the upside and downside always has to be considered, but obviously for this amount of money it was worth it for the artist.

It's possible she may even get reimbursed in the judgment for the court costs—and if she wanted to, she could have probably rolled in the time she spent trying to collect the payments and to prepare for the court appearance!

Yes, it was small claims. It really doesn't cost all that much to file a small claims case against someone. No lawyers are involved. You're just paying the filing fee and for service of the summons.

This case cost several hundred dollars because we're in Chicago. A lot of small cities have lesser fees. The plaintiff actually lives in Wisconsin and filing there would have cost less but we filed where DDP is located making service easier as well as collection of the judgment.

DDP has 30 days to pay the judgment. After that we can start adding court fees and interest to the judgment. We can get a garnishment.

Bankruptcy would make things harder but not impossible. We have a judgment and we could file a claim as a creditor. Getting the judgment is the important part.

[madelf]

Originally Posted by WCG Comics

they don't want to have a reputation for causing trouble

I've always found it hard to believe that a person standing up for their right to be paid as agreed, and doing so in a professional manner, would hurt their reputation with anyone they'd actually want to work with. Seems to me that someone only needs to worry about people who take action for not getting paid, if they don't intend to pay them. But maybe that's just me.