keithw@we.UUCP (Keith Wilke) (12/30/90)
Subject: Amiga Plus does not pay its authors.
I am conducting a survey of authors that have had a
article/program published in Amiga Plus. Please email me your
experiences with this disk based magazine. If there are enough of us
that have not been paid in a timely fashion, we might be able to start
a class action suit against them.
Please send your mail to ...!ucsd!nosc!we!keithw.
I know this sounds a bit extreme, but I have been waiting for
about six(6) months to be paid. My program was published in the
Aug/Sept issue which hit the newstands around July 5, 1990. After
numerous phone calls to them, I have concluded that they are never
going to tell me the truth about when they will pay me.
I recently sent them a letter warning them that I was going to
initiate legal action if I did not receive payment by December 30,
1990. In response to this, they sent me a check for 1/5 of what they
owed me. I guess that they thought they could forestall legal action
this way. Well, I am so pissed off at them for all the other stuff
that they have done, that I have decided to go ahead and sue them.
The question is, what is the best way to hurt them the most. The
possibilities are: small claims court, Class Action suit, and/or use
the RICO statutes.
--
Keith Wilke - keithw%we@nosc.mil or ...!ucsd!nosc!we!keithw
7687-F Rancho Fanita
Santee CA, 92071a976@mindlink.UUCP (Ron Tarrant) (12/31/90)
If you want to get really nasty, talk to their distributor and try talking them into dropping Amiga Plus. It seems only fair to threaten their income since they are doing that to you. If you have to luck there, talk to the dealers in your area(s) and get them to stop taking shipment of AmigaPlus magazine. Just a suggestion.
DEVA@cup.portal.com (David Michael Alves) (12/31/90)
Keith Wilke writes: > Subject: Amiga Plus does not pay its authors. Yes, they do not. (or at least not on a timely basis) > I am conducting a survey of authors that have had a > article/program published in Amiga Plus. Please email me your > experiences with this disk based magazine. If there are enough of us > that have not been paid in a timely fashion, we might be able to start > a class action suit against them. > Please send your mail to ...!ucsd!nosc!we!keithw. I'll email this also, but I thought this was an important enough issue to discuss publicly too. I sent them a program on May 7, 1990 which was later published in the Oct '90 issue. According to the contract, payment was due on publication, but as of yet, and after many phone calls, I have not seen it. I had the same problem with a program that I wrote for their Dec '89 issue. Payment for that program arrived about 3 months late with what sounded like a sincere apology attached to it. So I gave them another chance by sending another program... my mistake. > I know this sounds a bit extreme, but I have been waiting for > about six(6) months to be paid. My program was published in the > Aug/Sept issue which hit the newstands around July 5, 1990. After > numerous phone calls to them, I have concluded that they are never > going to tell me the truth about when they will pay me. No, it doesn't sound extreme. Each time I called I got the same thing: the check would get to me within about 2 weeks. After enough of this I was told to call Chris Ballard who is the credit manager for Amiga Plus. I called about 5 times but he would never answer or return my calls. I even had an employee of mine call him once -- the secretary told him to hold while she got Mr. Ballard -- returned to ask who was calling -- put my guy on hold again -- returned to say Mr. Ballard doesn't know who you are, so, (in other words) he doesn't want to talk to you. "Goodbye." It was funny in an odd sort of way. It also says a lot about how bad things must be at Amiga Plus, when the credit "manager" never returns calls, or is "afraid" to talk to people he doesn't know. > I recently sent them a letter warning them that I was going to > initiate legal action if I did not receive payment by December 30, > 1990. In response to this, they sent me a check for 1/5 of what they > owed me. I guess that they thought they could forestall legal action > this way. Well, I am so pissed off at them for all the other stuff > that they have done, that I have decided to go ahead and sue them. > The question is, what is the best way to hurt them the most. The > possibilities are: small claims court, Class Action suit, and/or use > the RICO statutes. The last phone call I made to them was to tell them I was going to pursue legal action also. The editor told me to "do what you have to do". So, I'm just assumming by the way he said that, that the only way to get paid by Amiga Plus is to take them to court. In the long run, Amiga Plus will turn out to be the ones hurt by their business practices. (Developers often tell each other who pays and who doesn't). There are other good disk magazines out there. JumpDisk pays _VERY_ promptly and Richard Ramella, editor of JumpDisk, seems like a very nice, honest person. AmigaWorld also pays when they say they will and have good, professional people working for them too. Good luck in your pursuit to obtain the money for your program that you should have received 6 months ago. It should be pretty cut-and-dry if you decide to take them to court, armed with a contract saying you were supposed to be paid on publication. But, it's too bad that you (and I, and I'm sure many others) have to go to all that trouble. Give me a call or email me to tell me how it's going. Good luck again. > Keith Wilke - keithw%we@nosc.mil or ...!ucsd!nosc!we!keithw > 7687-F Rancho Fanita > Santee CA, 92071 David Alves Devasoft / Tel (408)927-9645 DEVA@cup.portal.com
cs472119@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs472119) (01/02/91)
Beware that if you and others sue them, they may file for protection under chapter 11 (?). In that case, you will never get your money. While the 1/5th payment may just be a ploy to delay legal action, it may also be a good faith payment, with more to come once they find someone to bail them out. Also, consider the way a judge might look at their payment when considering all other circumstances in court. If they're as strapped as I think they are, you may come off looking like the bad guy. (line -LARRY
cs472119@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs472119) (01/02/91)
In article <4774@umbc3.UMBC.EDU> cs472119@umbc5.umbc.edu.UUCP (cs472119) writes: >Beware that if you and others sue them, they may file for protection under >chapter 11 (?). In that case, you will never get your money. >While the 1/5th payment may just be a ploy to delay legal action, it may >also be a good faith payment, with more to come once they find someone to >bail them out. Also, consider the way a judge might look at their payment >when considering all other circumstances in court. If they're as strapped >as I think they are, you may come off looking like the bad guy. > > >(line -LARRY Well, after seeing the responsof other unpaid authors, I see that this practice of late or no payments has been policy for a long time. It's hard to guess their motives, so maybe you shld just sue them. I was really just talking off the top of my head. I just hope you don't lose any money by taking them on in our wonderful court system over the course of possibly many years. Good luck!. -Larry
JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu (JKT) (01/02/91)
In article <4774@umbc3.UMBC.EDU>, cs472119@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs472119) says: > >...If they (Amiga Plus) are as strapped >as I think they are, you may come off looking like the bad guy. > Nobody is going to come off looking like a bad guy by simply asking for what they were promised. Please do not let this "fear" keep you from taking legal action to make Amiga Plus live up to their obligations. Kurt -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- || Kurt Tappe (215) 363-9485 || With. Without. And who'll || || 184 W. Valley Hill Rd. || deny it's what the fighting's || || Malvern, PA 19355-2214 || all about? - Pink Floyd || || jkt100@psuvm.psu.edu --------------------------------------|| || jkt100@psuvm.bitnet jkt100%psuvm.bitnet@psuvax1 QLink: KurtTappe || -----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEVA@cup.portal.com (David Michael Alves) (01/02/91)
> Beware that if you and others sue them, they may file for protection under > chapter 11 (?). In that case, you will never get your money. Filing for protection under bankruptcy laws would not be a PLUS for Amiga Plus Magazine. Everyone loses. And besides, we are not getting our money now, so I don't get your argument. > While the 1/5th payment may just be a ploy to delay legal action, it may > also be a good faith payment, with more to come once they find someone to > bail them out. Do you work for Amiga Plus?? 1/2 :-) They may actually be trying to pay people. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt. But, Keith Wilke and I (and probably others) have both been told on a number of occasions that "the check is in the mail". The fact that it HAS NOT been in the mail suggests that maybe we are being a bit generous in our "let's wait and see" feelings. I can't speak for Keith, but I feel I would have rather been told the truth about the situation. If they are having trouble paying people, but are trying, this would sit better with me then to tell me the check is coming soon -- and then not coming soon. I can afford to wait a while for the check, but others rely on their checks coming in on a timely basis. (so they can buy food and Coca-Cola and pay the rent and so forth.) > Also, consider the way a judge might look at their payment > when considering all other circumstances in court. If they're as strapped > as I think they are, you may come off looking like the bad guy. [ WARNING -- DUMB SARCASM AHEAD ] Well, up to this statement, I thought I was dealing with just another loonie. Why, just last week, I read in the paper about some poor guy who couldn't make the mortgage payment on his house for the 347th month in a row. Seems the bank tried to sue him and take his house away. But the poor guy was just on his last dollar. I mean, it was really, really sad. Lucky thing the Judge, good man that he was, saw through the bank's wicked scheme. "You bank dudes are real idiots", he said. "Can't you see this poor dude is strapped as I think he is?!?" (The Judge was not an English major and realized it. He was taking night courses at a local community college to rectify this situation.) Whereupon, the bank dudes turned around, red-faced, and sulked out the court doors. The judge jammed out the back door with his board to hit the waves at the beach. A beautiful baby sparrow cracked out of it's shell in a tree near one of the bank dude's Mercedes. It was 72 degrees on a cloudless day. Not one bullet was fired anywhere in the world for 11.7 seconds straight. (However, the toilet at Mrs. K. Jennings house in Thermopolis, Wyoming did overflow during this time period -- no world can be totally perfect.) It's great to see some GOOD news in the paper for a change. David Alves Devasoft / Tel (408)927-9645 DEVA@cup.portal.com
rick@tmiuv0.uucp (01/03/91)
In article <0762.AA0762@we>, keithw@we.UUCP (Keith Wilke) writes: > Subject: Amiga Plus does not pay its authors. [...] > I know this sounds a bit extreme, but I have been waiting for > about six(6) months to be paid. My program was published in the > Aug/Sept issue which hit the newstands around July 5, 1990. After > numerous phone calls to them, I have concluded that they are never > going to tell me the truth about when they will pay me. I've been waiting over a year to be paid by Transactor, but since it's defunct now, it'll never happen. > I recently sent them a letter warning them that I was going to > initiate legal action if I did not receive payment by December 30, > 1990. In response to this, they sent me a check for 1/5 of what they > owed me. I guess that they thought they could forestall legal action > this way. Well, I am so pissed off at them for all the other stuff > that they have done, that I have decided to go ahead and sue them. > The question is, what is the best way to hurt them the most. The > possibilities are: small claims court, Class Action suit, and/or use > the RICO statutes. > > Keith Wilke - keithw%we@nosc.mil or ...!ucsd!nosc!we!keithw > 7687-F Rancho Fanita > Santee CA, 92071 I'd talk to your attorney about that. Was your program copyrighted? If so, you might have an additional avenue -- that of copyright infringement. But, talk to a legal mouthpiece before doing anything drastic. It's a strange "legal" system we have here. "Justice: A decision in your favor." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [- O] Rick Stevens ? EMail: uunet!zardoz!tmiuv0!rick -or- uunet!zardoz!xyclone!sysop V CIS: 75006,1355 (75006.1355@compuserve.com from Internet) "I'm tellin' ya, Valiant! Da whole ting stinks like yesterday's diapers!" - Baby Herman in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
cs472119@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs472119) (01/03/91)
I owe you both an apology for posting something I really didn't think very hard about beforehand. You have earned the money, and been lied to about when you were to receive it. You have certainly been more than reasonable, and I don't see how you could lose in court. Again, I'm sorry. Would you recommend boycotting the magazine? -Larry
DEVA@cup.portal.com (David Michael Alves) (01/03/91)
> I owe you both an apology for posting something I really didn't think > very hard about beforehand. You have earned the money, and been lied to > about when you were to receive it. You have certainly been more than > reasonable, and I don't see how you could lose in court. Again, I'm sorry. No problem. > Would you recommend boycotting the magazine? No, because that wouldn't solve anything. Although revenge is an easy emotion to let have it's way, it rarely does anything constructive -- except maybe in the case of the Boston Tea Party -- hmmm -- should we throw all issues of Amiga Plus into the Bay? :-) Just joking. Really. I never said it if it happens. Shhhhhhhh. > -Larry David Alves Devasoft / Tel (408)927-9645 DEVA@cup.portal.com
trantow@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Jerry J Trantow) (01/04/91)
$65/page for text upto $90/page for code _____________________________________________________________________________ Jerry J. Trantow | A basic premise is an absolute that permits no 1560 A. East Irving Place | co-operation with its antithesis and Milwaukee, Wi 53202-1460 | tolerates no tolerance. (414) 289-0503 | Ayn Rand _____________________________________________________________________________