Richard Meyer v. Mark Waid (2018)

[AnOminous]

The only thing New is some interesting analysis of the two other cases that I believe Waid’s lawyers sited, and why they apply less than Waid might hope.

Iirc, Rackets already distinguished those cases on jurisdiction, and while they had some superficial similarities to the current case, they didn't really stand for what Zaid said they did, and it really seems Zaid's analysis started and ended with the superficial similarities.

so I assume the discovery is still chugging along then? They might be going at it for awhile given how much of a profilic social media user Waid is. I doubt they haven't found anything juicy so far

We won't know what's going on until and if the results get filed. The big deal other than the document production requests certain to be made is going to be Waid's own deposition. That's when there will be the opportunity to get that slithering little weasel nailed down on his version of the facts.

 

[JohnDoe]

The video does bring up again the same canard a lot of Waid supporters try to bring up; 'there was no contract!'. Which is, on its face, ridiculous bullshit. Just because a photograph of a calligraphy scroll bearing the names of Meyer and AP hasn't surfaced doesn't mean that a contract doesn't exist. Beyond that, contracts come in many forms and the undoubtedly numerous emails between Meyer and AP plus the announcements easily fall into the rather permissive guidelines under Texas law.

Meyer and AP came to a formalized agreement, and in Texas that can be via the phone, emails, or yes - written on paper. They formed a contract. Full stop.

 

[Mola Ram]

The video does bring up again the same canard a lot of Waid supporters try to bring up; 'there was no contract!'. Which is, on its face, ridiculous bullshit. Just because a photograph of a calligraphy scroll bearing the names of Meyer and AP hasn't surfaced doesn't mean that a contract doesn't exist. Beyond that, contracts come in many forms and the undoubtedly numerous emails between Meyer and AP plus the announcements easily fall into the rather permissive guidelines under Texas law.

Meyer and AP came to a formalized agreement, and in Texas that can be via the phone, emails, or yes - written on paper. They formed a contract. Full stop.

Do you really expect people this stupid to understand the concept of "a meeting of the minds?"

 

[AnOminous]

Beyond that, contracts come in many forms and the undoubtedly numerous emails between Meyer and AP plus the announcements easily fall into the rather permissive guidelines under Texas law.

Texas also appears to treat tortious interference with a prospective business relationship in the same manner as interference with an existing contract.

In this case, though, it appears there actually was an existing contract. The actual terms had been agreed to at least generally in communications between the parties, and at the very least, there was a business relationship that was expected to ripen into a contract. It doesn't have to comport with things like the statute of frauds to the extent of being actually enforceable without being first reduced to a signed piece of writing in order to sustain a tortious interference claim.

 

[Judge Dredd]

The video does bring up again the same canard a lot of Waid supporters try to bring up; 'there was no contract!'. Which is, on its face, ridiculous bullshit. Just because a photograph of a calligraphy scroll bearing the names of Meyer and AP hasn't surfaced doesn't mean that a contract doesn't exist. Beyond that, contracts come in many forms and the undoubtedly numerous emails between Meyer and AP plus the announcements easily fall into the rather permissive guidelines under Texas law.

Meyer and AP came to a formalized agreement, and in Texas that can be via the phone, emails, or yes - written on paper. They formed a contract. Full stop.

I wonder how they'd act if it was a murder trial.

"Waid had means and motive to commit the murder. Witnesses saw Waid run into the house, heard 3 gun shots, and saw Waid leave. We have the gun left at the scene with Waid's finger prints on it. Ballistics matched the gun with Waid's finger prints to the bullets that killed the victim. The victims blood was found on Waid's clothes, and Waid was heard bragging at the bar afterwards about killing the victim."

"Yeah, but you don't HD video of me actually shooting him so it doesn't count. Plus the victim was a nazi so he deserved it."

 

[Mola Ram]

Plus the victim was a nazi so he deserved it.

The scary part is that this is the only thing they really care about.

 

[Krispy Skream]

Didn't Meyer retire from the USMC? That organization is run like communism, not fascism.

Ya boi Zack confirmed Red

 

[RodgerDodger]

Texas also appears to treat tortious interference with a prospective business relationship in the same manner as interference with an existing contract.

In this case, though, it appears there actually was an existing contract. The actual terms had been agreed to at least generally in communications between the parties, and at the very least, there was a business relationship that was expected to ripen into a contract. It doesn't have to comport with things like the statute of frauds to the extent of being actually enforceable without being first reduced to a signed piece of writing in order to sustain a tortious interference claim.

Both parties formally and publicly announced their partnership and announced the joint project/product. D&C publicly stated on a few occasions that AP would be publishing his book, and AP gave a formal public announcement of the book and partnership. I don't think there is any state or jurisdiction in the US that would consider a contract to not be in effect for the purposes of tortuous interference? Yes Texas has very broad definitions for contracts, but this meets even the most narrow criteria elsewhere. Both parties made formal public statements that an agreement was in place. The Defendant most certainly was operating under the knowledge and assumption that an agreement was in place. And publicly communicated both his knowledge of the agreement, his desire to interfere with it, and his actions and success in doing so. I can just see Waid's lawyers. "Good news! Your case will be taught in Law Schools Nationwide!"

 

[RockVolnutt]

Do you really expect people this stupid to understand the concept of "a meeting of the minds?"

Even if they went with "There's no written words saying AP was publishing YaBoi's book"....what do they think they're reading? I don't know if he showed up at their building and signed some papers but I can assure you that you're reading words I have written down right now. Pretty sure that internet posts are "written documents".

I can see the disconnect if they assume they need like 500 forms each with his signature, fingerprints, and a sample of his seed.

 

[Mola Ram]

Even if they went with "There's no written words saying AP was publishing YaBoi's book"....what do they think they're reading? I don't know if he showed up at their building and signed some papers but I can assure you that you're reading words I have written down right now. Pretty sure that internet posts are "written documents".

I can see the disconnect if they assume they need like 500 forms each with his signature, fingerprints, and a sample of his seed.

There might well be a few brighter specimens who understand such abstract concepts as oral contracts and the like, but at the end of the day they think Meyer deserved to be fucked over, so they'll twist their arguments well past the breaking point to justify it.

 

[SuperSheep]

I wonder how they'd act if it was a murder trial.

"Waid had means and motive to commit the murder. Witnesses saw Waid run into the house, heard 3 gun shots, and saw Waid leave. We have the gun left at the scene with Waid's finger prints on it. Ballistics matched the gun with Waid's finger prints to the bullets that killed the victim. The victims blood was found on Waid's clothes, and Waid was heard bragging at the bar afterwards about killing the victim."

"Yeah, but you don't HD video of me actually shooting him so it doesn't count. Plus the victim was a nazi so he deserved it."

"Do you have any evidence he was a Nazi?"

"It's not my job to educate you shitlord."

 

[RodgerDodger]

Hmmm? Maybe Zaid should not have opted to delay his Anti SLAPP filings. The terrain just got a bit more muddled.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t...-points-tougher-times-media-companies-1169938

An 11th circuit ruling against CNN now puts the use of 1st Amendment Anti SLAPP motions in Federal Courts as less of a sure thing. And due to conflicting circuit rulings it is likely to quickly hit the High Court.

I don’t think this has much chance of impacting team Waid/Zaid, beyond an outside possibility of increasing the speed and ferocity at which the Judge shit cans their cheesy Anti SLAPP motion to dismiss. The case not being in the 11th circuit. But I suspect that any appeals or SCOTUS review of the CNN case will effectively curb stomp Zaid using a negative Anti SLAPP ruling as grounds for an appeal. I believe Georgia’s Anti SLAPP statute was pretty much a Cut & Paste of Texas.

 

[Slimy Time]

The video does bring up again the same canard a lot of Waid supporters try to bring up; 'there was no contract!'. Which is, on its face, ridiculous bullshit. Just because a photograph of a calligraphy scroll bearing the names of Meyer and AP hasn't surfaced doesn't mean that a contract doesn't exist. Beyond that, contracts come in many forms and the undoubtedly numerous emails between Meyer and AP plus the announcements easily fall into the rather permissive guidelines under Texas law.

Meyer and AP came to a formalized agreement, and in Texas that can be via the phone, emails, or yes - written on paper. They formed a contract. Full stop.

It is amazing how many people don't understand what a contract is. Email, telephone, even verbal agreement to do something, so long as the test for a contract (offer, acceptance, consideration, all the other bells and whistles) is fulfilled, then it's a contract. What do they think AP were doing when they agreed to distribute Meyer's comic, because they certainly were not doing it charitably?

It's been a while since I read the papers, but does Zaid's lawyers even dispute that there was a contract? I don't think so, that's why they were trying the BS no jurisdiction argument. Even the lawyers know there was a contract, yet these dickriders will argue otherwise.

 

[AnOminous]

I don’t think this has much chance of impacting team Waid/Zaid, beyond an outside possibility of increasing the speed and ferocity at which the Judge shit cans their cheesy Anti SLAPP motion to dismiss. The case not being in the 11th circuit.

Not only isn't it in the Eleventh Circuit, it's in the Ninth Circuit, but specifically applying Texas law, which recently decided to apply a similar state SLAPP statute to a case involving Donald Trump, which Trump won.

Incidentally, my off the cuff opinion is I think the Eleventh Circuit got it wrong and misapplied the Erie Doctrine in treating the Georgia statute as a procedural rule that could be overruled by a contrary federal rule, rather than as a substantive provision of state law, which a federal court is obliged to follow in a case under diversity jurisdiction. But that argument is far too long and spergy to make in this thread.

 

[DragoonSierra]

But that argument is far too long and spergy to make in this thread.

Where do you think you are?

 

[RodgerDodger]

Not only isn't it in the Eleventh Circuit, it's in the Ninth Circuit, but specifically applying Texas law, which recently decided to apply a similar state SLAPP statute to a case involving Donald Trump, which Trump won.

Incidentally, my off the cuff opinion is I think the Eleventh Circuit got it wrong and misapplied the Erie Doctrine in treating the Georgia statute as a procedural rule that could be overruled by a contrary federal rule, rather than as a substantive provision of state law, which a federal court is obliged to follow in a case under diversity jurisdiction. But that argument is far too long and spergy to make in this thread.

I bow to your superior knowledge in these matters. But isn’t Texas in the Fifth Circuit, not the Ninth?

 

[Judge Dredd]

"Do you have any evidence he was a Nazi?"

"Yes. I have this video of him saying he didn't like a comic book. And this screenshot of him retweeting a guy whos friend once went to a wedding with someone who subscribed to pewdiepie."

 

[AnOminous]

I bow to your superior knowledge in these matters. But isn’t Texas in the Fifth Circuit, not the Ninth?

The case was filed in New York, decided in California, but according to Texas law, so it isn't technically binding anywhere.

 

[James Smith]

It looks like Waid has rubbed off on Zaid.

How much longer until Nick is accused of being a Nazi?

 

[Adamska]

View attachment 619192

Looks like someone just realized they may have fucked up.