The final tally of Matthew Inman’s fundraiser for National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society is $220,024 – 11 times more than the $20,000 he hoped to raise in response to a legal defamation threat by FunnyJunk.com. Over 14,000 individuals donated money to the campaign.
On the legal front, after being sued by Charles Carreon, the original FunnyJunk attorney who is now representing only himself suing Matthew, Indiegogo (the fundraising site), both the charities named above and several John Does for violating charity campaign rules and trademark infringement (his name is trademarked), has been interviewed by several outlets. The initial internet buzz painted him as crazy, vindictive and several words not fit to print but a more reasoned perspective has been reported by Ars Technica and The Seattle Times.
The Electronic Frontier has agreed to represent Matthew along with his own personal lawyer. The EFF is a legal organization committed to fight for freedom in areas of technology and internet. In a statement the EFF said the suit was an abuse of the legal system, “this lawsuit is a blatant attempt to abuse the legal process to punish a critic,” said EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry. “We’re very glad to help Mr. Inman fight back.”
The task hat hand for Matthew is figure out how execute his promise to Carreon to photograph all that money along with the crude drawing of FunnyJunk’s mother seducing a kodiak bear and send it to him.
I have a big living room that he can spread the money out in. I’m sure I could get a nice shot of it from the stairs.
As I read the more reasoned perspective, Carreon’s case depends on two concepts:
1. When Jerry Falwell sued Larry Flynt for a lewd and insulting Hustler cartoon, he won.
2. While FunnyJunk cannot be held responsible for what its fans steal, Inman can.
It’s also interesting — though of no probative value — to note that Carreon considers it indelicate to call someone a “dumbass” but has no problem with calling someone a “scumbag.”
And that his last nameTM appears to be a homophone for “dead meat.”
I’d like to make a suggestion, but I’m afraid Carreon will sue me. I don’t want to be a Doe!