The young poet recently featured on this site with his hilarious poem "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The White House" has been awarded a full scholarship to study at Eton in England! After nationwide testing in Great Britain, he was named as a "King's Scholar" and nominated to attend the prestigious school, so intertwined with British history. Way to go Max!!!!!!

I recently discovered that a distributor was selling pirated copies of my work, the "Joy of Revenge", both online and in bookstores.  This was done without my knowledge or consent.   They stated that they purchased the books from an employee of the printer.  Such actions are a clear violation of copyright laws. Below are copies of the letters sent, by me, to the distributor on 2/23/00 and 3/5/00. To read the letter of 5/3/00 from my mouthpiece to the book distributors click HERE.

The Case Is Settled Out Of Court!

I recently discovered that a distributor was selling pirated copies of my work, the "Joy of Revenge", both online and in bookstores.  This was done without my knowledge or consent.   They stated that they purchased the books from an employee of the printer.  Such actions are a clear violation of copyright laws. Below are copies of the letters sent, by me, to the distributor on 2/23/00 and 3/5/00. To read the letter of 5/3/00 from my mouthpiece to the book distributors click HERE.

Dear (Name of Distributor):   Your actions in "purchasing" and distributing the "Joy of Revenge" are, as we both know, a gross violation of copyright laws. It does constitute the theft of intellectual property.     I have contacted the FBI and a file on this has been opened in the San Francisco office. They have suggested that I may wish to have my attorney contact you about this matter.  They also offered an idea which is one that I would prefer to pursue.   I am insisting that you cease the sale and distribution of the "Joy of Revenge".     I am the copyright holder and the sole distributor of this item.   I insist that all copies in your possession must be destroyed.  You must get back any and all copies that you have sent to retail, wholesale or other commercial outlets and destroy those copies as well.  I have seen the item on sale at the (Name of local bookstore).  They said that they got it from you.  You must also remove the item listing from your online catalog at once.     As far as any monies are concerned: you will remit to me any proceeds that you have realized from the sale of this item.  Not the "profits", not any "royalty", but the gross proceeds of any sales, since you had no right to sell it in the first place. All the monies from any sales are not legally yours.     Should you refuse to cease the sale and distribution of the "Joy of Revenge" the FBI has said that they will vigorously pursue this matter.        You knew that this was not legitimate from the start.  Shame on you.     I am a person who is vehement in the defense of any and all of my legal rights.   Sincerely,   John A. Kraft

Follow up letter of 3/5/00

3/5/00 Dear (Name of Distributior: Upon the advice of counsel about the full extent of my legitimate and legal options in this matter I am advising you of the manner in which this matter will be handled and concluded: All sales and distribution of illegal copies of "Joy of Revenge" will cease immediately. All copies that have been sent to any and all retail, wholesale and other outlets will be recalled. All of these copies will be sent to me at the address given below. The listing of "Joy of Revenge" will be removed from your online catalog and from any other listings of items that you offer for sale. Considering that your selling price for  "Joy of Revenge" has been considerably below mine and that your marketing of this item has, in reality, taken potential sales away from me, there must be financial remuneration for the damages I have incurred. Counsel has advised me that your admission of approximately 100 sales of "Joy of Revenge" would translate, in Federal Court, into 100 separate counts of copyright violation, each with its own penalty.  Counsel has also advised that a civil suit based on these 100 counts, in light of historic precedent in cases of a similar nature and audacity, would be, in his words, "a slam dunk", and carry punitive awards well into six figures and possibly as high as $1,000,000. I am not particularly interested in spending the next year of my life in court.  I am sure that (Name of Distributor) and , (Large Printing Chain), and the (Large Printing Chain)'s employee who made the initial sale of copyrighted material to you, are not eager to get involved in protracted Federal Court proceedings either. My Counsel had recommended the following as a reasonable and simple way to bring this matter to an end: You shall remit to me one payment in the amount of $3000.00.  This will cover the losses I have directly suffered as a result of this copyright violation and impress upon you the extreme seriousness of the offense. Hopefully, it will bring home to you the extent of the extreme legal jeopardy, both civil and criminal, in which you have placed yourselves, (Large Printing Chain) and the (Large Printing Chain)'s employee who sold you the copyrighted material. Failure to comply with the conditions outlined above will result, without a doubt, in the initiation of legal proceedings in United States Federal Court. The San Francisco office of the FBI is also being informed of the progress of this matter and does have an open case file on it. All of the copies of "Joy of Revenge" and a money order or cashier's check in the amount of $3,000.00 must be sent to: Mr. John A. Kraft (My Address) San Francisco, CA 94117 Sincerely,   John A. Kraft     c: Mr. (Lawyer's name), Attorney at Law    Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco Who did these MORONS think they were dealing with?  I tell you, some days I wonder  - how these people could ever have been the product of the fastest sperm?

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If you have visited this site before and have read of my fight with a book distributor over copyright violations (the outright theft of a book which I wrote in 1994), then let me bring you the good news! After much wrangling and the involvement of attorneys, the case has been settled... and I feel that justice has been achieved.  At least as much justice as the restraints of our legal system and it's tolerance for litigants dukeing it out in the alley will allow. The settlement papers have been signed and a check has been cut by the folks at AK Press in San Francisco, CA.  They are paying me a sum of money which, while not enough to support me in a manner to which I would love to become accustomed, covers my expenses, pays me damages and makes a small dent in the bottom line at AK Press in San Francisco, CA. In the settlement there is no restraint on me about talking or publishing anything about the details of this case.  Of course I cannot say anything libelous or untrue.  There is no need for me to do so.  The facts speak for themselves. One interesting aside on this whole smarmy matter is something said by the attorney for AK Press in San Francisco, CA. Their attorney said (I paraphrase) that he was amazed at the actions of his clients  --  that you don't do this sort of thing (copyright violation and theft) to a guy who writes a book about revenge. So, let the word go forth throughout the land!!! Based upon my personal experience with the folks at AK Press in San Francisco, CA, I strongly advise caution and watchfulness in any dealings you may have with them. When I discovered that they were selling my book without my knowledge, consent or proper royalty payments, I dropped them a note... Dear AK Press; I see you are selling "Joy of Revenge" by JA Kraft. I find that curious, since I am the author and don't recall ever doing any business with you. Can you explain this to me? J.A. Kraft And they responded with the following  (ahem) explanation that, apparently, they thought would satisfy me. Dear JA Thanks for the note. You are, of course, absolutely correct. A friend of ours, who used to work at Kinkos, copied a bunch of pamphlets that he thought were really great, that he wasn't aware were available, and sold them to us to resell.... We would, of course, be more than happy to get them from you, and/or pay you (either in monies, or pamphlets themselves) for the ones that were copied up... Let us know. Thanks Ramsey (for AK) AK Press and Distribution PO Box 40682 San Francisco, CA 94140 ph:415.864.0892 fx:415.864.0893 Yeah.....Right! If I were the truly mercenary sort and wanted to spend a year or more of my time on this, I could have tried to slip my hands into some really deep pockets.  I was tempted, but I want to live my life, not spend it in a procession of depositions, meetings and negotiations, all set around a lawyer's schedule. I hope that all writers find this saga interesting, satisfying and supportive in the seemingly neverending struggle to protect our property and our rights.

In The Beginning

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The young poet recently featured on this site with his hilarious poem "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The White House" has been awarded a full scholarship to study at Eton in England! After nationwide testing in Great Britain, he was named as a "King's Scholar" and nominated to attend the prestigious school, so intertwined with British history. Way to go Max!!!!!!