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From a paralegal who knows something about confidential settlements in general, and nothing about the Hiveswap one in specific.
(I would appreciate it if any lawyers reading this correct me if I said anything fucked up.)
Q: Why could WP only comment via Kickstarter? That sounds skeevy.
A: I'm putting this up top because I've seen someone say it already, and I just wanted to say: There's a good reason for that.
I don't consider the reason a skeevy one on WP's side. More skeevy on the side of American Civil Law In General As It Is Currently Practiced (which is in fact very skeevy in a lot of ways!).
I'll get to that once I've gone over the basics.
Q: Is there going to be a trial?
A: No.
This was an out-of-court confidential settlement which is, from the sound of things already very much final. The legal process finished up offstage before we found out about it. Which is very common! Particularly in disagreements between two companies in which none of the damage was physical or visible out in public.
Q: Is there anything we can do?
A: Buy the game when it comes out, buy some merchandise in the meantime?
There is nothing that the Homestuck fandom in general, or (at least to my knowledge) the Kickstarter backers in specific can do about the legal situation.
Q: Why would What Pumpkin agree to settle something confidentially out-of-court unless they were hiding something?
A: People do that for a lot of reasons, but most commonly because - and this is something that's really unfair and that people argue about all the time - if you actually want to get any of your losses back within a reasonable time-frame, and you are not a massive corporation, it is your only option.
( Read more... )
(I would appreciate it if any lawyers reading this correct me if I said anything fucked up.)
Q: Why could WP only comment via Kickstarter? That sounds skeevy.
A: I'm putting this up top because I've seen someone say it already, and I just wanted to say: There's a good reason for that.
I don't consider the reason a skeevy one on WP's side. More skeevy on the side of American Civil Law In General As It Is Currently Practiced (which is in fact very skeevy in a lot of ways!).
I'll get to that once I've gone over the basics.
Q: Is there going to be a trial?
A: No.
This was an out-of-court confidential settlement which is, from the sound of things already very much final. The legal process finished up offstage before we found out about it. Which is very common! Particularly in disagreements between two companies in which none of the damage was physical or visible out in public.
Q: Is there anything we can do?
A: Buy the game when it comes out, buy some merchandise in the meantime?
There is nothing that the Homestuck fandom in general, or (at least to my knowledge) the Kickstarter backers in specific can do about the legal situation.
Q: Why would What Pumpkin agree to settle something confidentially out-of-court unless they were hiding something?
A: People do that for a lot of reasons, but most commonly because - and this is something that's really unfair and that people argue about all the time - if you actually want to get any of your losses back within a reasonable time-frame, and you are not a massive corporation, it is your only option.
( Read more... )
