Gencon Sued by LucasFilm (over Star Wars Celebration Make-a-Wish auction)

[Asmor]

GEN CON has materially breached its obligations under the Auction Agreement by its failure to remit the auction proceeds either to the Make-a-Wish Foundation on LFL's behalf or directly to LFL.

This is the only real mention I could find of it. They're accusing GEN CON of not paying, but present no proof of the claim (of course, I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that the point of the document is only to present claims, not proofs, so I'm not trying to imply that they're wrong).

Ultimately, all we have is an accusation. It may be true, it may not be, but one of my pet peeves is assuming guilt without evidence. "Innocent until proven guilty" is a great mantra, but it's important to practice that mantra.

 

[frankthedm]

Ultimately, all we have is an accusation. It may be true, it may not be, but one of my pet peeves is assuming guilt without evidence. "Innocent until proven guilty" is a great mantra, but it's important to practice that mantra.

IUPG is for criminal matters. Civil matters use a preponderance of the evidence. People make judgments on what seems right to them.

Lucas says: GEN CON agreed to donate Auction proceeds (less out-of-pocket) to charity. It did not donate the money

Auctioneers say: Auction made over $150,000

Gen Con says: No comment

Guess what? Unless I want to call some of those folks liars, I know who sounds in the wrong to me. If Gen con claims it’s out of pocket expenses did total $150,000, it’s still wrong, even if they can claim that legally.

 

[Rykion]

Apparently I'm the only one that took issue with GenCon being called a "Star Wars" convention.

Not that I particularly care... actually, if this makes the press, it's probably better that Joe Schmo associates it with Star Wars than with gaming... but I digress.

The actual convention involved was Celebration IV, a Star Wars convention that was run by Gen Con LLC. The news blurb wasn't very accurate about the whole issue.

 

[Deset Gled]

They're accusing GEN CON of not paying, but present no proof of the claim (of course, I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that the point of the document is only to present claims, not proofs, so I'm not trying to imply that they're wrong).

Ultimately, all we have is an accusation. It may be true, it may not be, but one of my pet peeves is assuming guilt without evidence. "Innocent until proven guilty" is a great mantra, but it's important to practice that mantra.

This is not a criminal case, so criminal law philosophies like "innocent until proven guilty" and "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" do not apply. Instead, the plaintiff simply needs to prove that their claim is true based on "preponderance of evidence", which basically means it's more likely that they're telling the truth than the other guy. Certainty is not required.

Basically, all LA has to do is show that MAW did not receive the payment from GenCon as required by their original contract. This should be pretty easy to do, assuming MAW has been dilligent in recording their donations properly, and they have documentation of the original contract. After that, the burden of proof is on GenCon to show that they are not at fault. They could do this a couple of ways, possibly challenging the contract, providing accounting information to show they don't owe anything according to the contract, or to showing that they followed all due dilligence in attempting to pay.

IANAL, but I have a sister in law school

Edit: Or, what Frank said. That's what I get for doing some fact checking first

 

[Xath]

Apparently I'm the only one that took issue with GenCon being called a "Star Wars" convention.

I thought they were referring to Star Wars Celebration IV, which is a star wars convention run by GenCon.

 

[jmucchiello]

Gen Con says: No comment

And they should not comment. Generally, you do not talk about lawsuits against you except in court fillings. Lucasfilms didn't release a press release, they filled a lawsuit. The court of public opinion no longer has jurisdiction.

 

[DonTadow]

...this doesn't really sound like a case of 'greed' to me.

It isn't. Something happened between the two and my bet is that its gencon's fault. Gencon just tried to grow too much and the original indy goers are paying the cost. Event tickets are up 25 percent and the gencon badge is 10 bucks (if you count the new shipping charge) more than last year.

I bet they knew this was coming down the pipeline and raised prices accordingly.

It's funny. I just told someone a month ago that giving donations to a charity sounds good, but you have the potential of running into some serious legal hassle. He wanted to advertise that our event proceeds are going to charity and I had to nix that idea. Working in non profit, its more of a hassle sometimes than its worth.

 

[Zaruthustran]

It's funny. I just told someone a month ago that giving donations to a charity sounds good, but you have the potential of running into some serious legal hassle. He wanted to advertise that our event proceeds are going to charity and I had to nix that idea. Working in non profit, its more of a hassle sometimes than its worth.

That's pretty cynical, dude. I help administer a gamer-fueled charity (Child's Play) and we keep things very simple. If you donate a dollar, exactly one dollar is sent to our partner hospitals (we don't take out any money for "administrative fees" or other BS).

Since the $1.3 million dollars donated to Child's Play this year mostly came in individual donations of $5 - $20 from individual gamers, I'd hate for people to get the idea that donating to charity is more trouble than it's worth. It's no trouble at all. And those donations make a profound difference in the lives of real people.

-z

 

[Kahuna Burger]

That's pretty cynical, dude. I help administer a gamer-fueled charity (Child's Play) and we keep things very simple. If you donate a dollar, exactly one dollar is sent to our partner hospitals (we don't take out any money for "administrative fees" or other BS).

Since the $1.3 million dollars donated to Child's Play this year mostly came in individual donations of $5 - $20 from individual gamers, I'd hate for people to get the idea that donating to charity is more trouble than it's worth. It's no trouble at all. And those donations make a profound difference in the lives of real people.

For individual events that aren't making up people's full time jobs, I agree that it shouldn't be that big a complication. Large charitable organizations that need professionals for more time than you can expect them to donate do get more complicated, which is why you'll occasionally see those charity charts of what percentage of a donated dollar goes to the end goal.

 

[I'm A Banana]

IUPG is for criminal matters. Civil matters use a preponderance of the evidence.

You're mixing up "innocent until proven guilty," and "beyond a reasonable doubt."

Civil matters use "perponderance of the evidence" to prove guilt, criminal matters need "beyond a reasonable doubt."

Both adhere to "Innocent until proven guilty," it's just easier to prove that in a civil matter than in a criminal one.