Dear Mr. Bové,
Kitty: First, I want to mention I think you are a good artist. I've enjoyed your older Eros comics for some time. I have visited your website and read the article you entitled, The Ethereal War! (Catchy title) but according to, LAW: Copyright of the United States of America Circular 92 [View here], it does not apply to your particular situation.
SB: When is the theft of ones property legal in this country? Let’s face it the law can be interrupted and manipulated in various ways. I filed the papers and received the certificates. Therefore I own the rights to the work and am the sole party to judge what can and cannot be done with it. I refer you to the following web articles for further information on copyright law: Landau and Jassin.
Kitty: It so happens that I know Whyld Goose, not personally mind you, mostly by reputation. He is a collector. He collects comics, as many people do. He owns hundreds, if not thousands, from what I hear. Whyld Goose doesn’t sell any of his scans; he never has. He has never made a dime off any comic in his collection. He and other collectors like to get together on-line and compare. We’re probably talking in the neighborhood of 200 to 300 people, worldwide. From time to time, they trade comics.
SB: Remember what I said earlier about common sense? The Internet is a vast and growing world of information of every conceivable thought. The collector’s group you mention knows that every comic has a statement of ownership. They would be lying if they said they didn’t. If you don’t know
Whyld Goose personally how is it that you know he hasn’t profited from the scans? Here are the facts. He posted my work and the works of many other creators in a newsgroup, alt-binaries-pictures-erotica-cartoons (ABPEC), and various websites, one of which was ImagEvent.com. These works were obviously linked to or downloaded and used on various web sites to be viewed for a fee. Now let me address the information you have given me about the 200 to 300 people in this worldwide group. Lets take the first issue of Eros Hawk as an example. It sold for $2.75. Lets use the low figure you presented as possible customers. If these 200 people purchased the book that comes out to $550.00! That money never made it in to comic dealers hands, which in turn resulted in my publisher not receiving reorder requests, and resulted in the series being canceled before the fifth issue finale. As you can see this type of action not only impacts one individual but an industry.
Kitty: In this day of cyber bad guys there’s always someone out there who wants to cause trouble. Whyld Goose and other collectors use a number of ways to share their comics via the Internet. But again, it’s a pretty limited group that they share with. Along comes a person who wants to share with the world, they pirate a link, post it, and you write your little article.
SB: My “little article” should be a warning to the very collectors you speak of. If this had been a situation where one person traded copies of my books with one or two other people, such as I remember doing when I was 8 years old, then I could understand and say there was no harm done. We’re adults now and I’ll never know the full extent of the damage that has been caused by the posting of my material in a worldwide forum. I saw those scans and they were very good and as an Art Director I’m fully aware that it would have been possible to print from them. Don’t play the blame-game with me. The works were linked to or downloaded from Whyld Goose’s ImagEvent site. He also, as you will see later, posted the work to other sites himself. Did it ever occur to you that Whyld Goose might be a “cyber bad guy?”
Kitty: You have a web site. That means you have to be aware of the fringe people out there who will do just about anything to another person on-line. I think that is what happened to Mr. Goose. I remember reading a couple of his posts after the event you’ve discussed; his intent was never to broadcast your comics all over the net. It was simply to share with a few select friends. At any rate, he was very upset to learn that this person had broadcast the link to his collection.
SB: You’ve got to be kidding? Why do you think it’s called, “World Wide Web?” Whyld Goose did “broadcast” my work to the world. It wasn’t just one person who found the work but many. The link you mentioned was from BRAZIL. The owner of this site might have found the work through web searches. Compassion for the guilty? Not from me. If Whyld Goose feels so bad then how come I don’t see an apology in my email box? Because an apology is an admission of guilt. He did the wrong thing and he got caught. That’s what he feels bad about. The work was not his to post in the first place. Let’s not lose sight of that fact. Obviously the web site and the providers he posted the work on (and any other sites I’ve found my work on) agreed with me or else they wouldn’t have taken it down. The Copyright laws of the United States are on my side.
Kitty: Now to something you need to know. There are also laws regarding defamation of character and libel. You’ve done both. If Mr. Goose were of a mind to do so, and saw what you’ve published on your web site for the whole world to read, he could just as easily take you to court.
SB: How is it possible to defame someone who hides behind an Internet alias that can be easily changed? The only one here that’s been defamed in any way is myself, and perhaps my fellow comics creators, whose loss of income is always hard-felt. It would not be in Whyld Goose’s best interest to consider a lawsuit against me. Imagine the weight of apublisher and all the various creators whose work was infringed upon coming down on the violator of their works (an example of this will be seen in The Ethereal War Part III). Don’t try to scare me and don’t think that I’m not looking into what can be done legally.
Kitty: Meanwhile, I know how you must feel since I am a writer myself. However, I don’t think your livelihood is under any threat from a retired comic book collector who is using modern technology to talk to other collectors and show what he has.
Kitty
P.S. I know how to put the accent over the last "e" in your name because I'm French too, sort of, I'm Cajun.
SB: It is not for you to say how Whyld Goose’s posts of Eros Hawk affected me. The last web site I had remove my work used Whyld Goose’s scans. ABPEC.news2cum.com and their provider were seeking a payment for viewing of the work! Now this is important so pay attention, that’s the NEWSGROUP mentioned in Whyld Goose’s Bio! I’m just reporting what he wrote on the WORLD WIDE WEB. He is a threat to any creator whose work he posts without consent. Explain to me what is gained by posting works that don’t belong to you on a site that asks for a fee?
