Consumer Law, Warranties Verbal Contracts & Conceptual Theft?

[Watergazer]

I am the writer, illustrator, and creator of a book detailing werewolf life and what they look like, how they live, etc. - a creature book, never officially published with a company, just printed at Stapled by myself and burned to CD roms. It was a book dedicated to horror sci-fan fans and as such I got suggestions from the public on what to draw and topics to cover in the book. Many of these people were friends. One such friend I told I would add into the dedication thanks of the book. However, during the 4 years it took to create the book this guy became a stalker-type, having very disturbing behavior, upsetting several other writers and artists in the community, and filing his nails into claws as if he was a werewolf and calling me non-stop for a year - creepy. Because of this I did not want to tie his name in with my own in the dedication with other artists, so left his name out of the credits despite I originally told him I would, to keep my reputation intact. Yes he did nice things for me in the past and we were pals, but I grew afraid and just didn't want to cut him off cold-turkey. I tried not to disrupt our "friendship" and wanted to just fade away out of his life and not anger him because I didn't know what he might do. I gave him a copy of the book on CD and he of course saw his name not there among the list of people I wanted to thank or admire. It was a limited run of printed books and CD, no longer available for sale. Now he wants to sue in small claims because he says we had a verbal agreement on the credits he is due, and conceptual theft for profiting from his ideas. Mind you I only had a limited run of the book in print on CD since I produced them myself and made a profit of less than $2000 in the end. It's no longer being made anywhere. Does this guy have a case against me? Should I hire an attorney? There was no contract I'd give him anything for his suggestions or help with the book, and he did no artwork or written text or had any contact with the making of it of any kind. I did say in emails and forums how I did say I'd add him but made it clear why in the end I did not. Was I obligated to add him legally? Can he sue for royalties on book sales or emotional distress because he said this crushed him?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Anyone can sue you. Whether they will win is another story. He has to establish there was an agreement in place, that he gave you something of value in exchange for your giving him credit in the book. Given that the value of the book as an entire product was less than $2,000, the amount of damages under contract law he has might be minute, if there is an award at all. If he sues you in small claims court you should not bring a lawyer unless absolutely necessary. My guess is that it probably won't go to court and, if it does, he'll have to show there was a deal and then attach a monetary value. Assuming it goes that far and he wins, it would seem to be a minimal reward. Perhaps you can make it up to him another way but I can understand feeling queasy over time. The above is what I see as the ultimate result of the case just from my impression, fwiw.