A+E Won't Back Down on Book Cover, But Concedes Hooked X Is in the Public Domain

5/20/2013

A+E Networks (AETN) and I have reached a tentative agreement on the publication of a revised cover for Unearthing the Truth. Despite the fact that AETN does not own the rights to the variant A rune (“Hooked X®”) design or to Scott Wolter’s book, The Hooked X®, the network informed me that although I agreed to all of their other terms and conditions unconditionally, they would not permit me to print new copies of my book without removing the variant A rune (“Hooked X®”) because of the alleged “substantive similarity” between my book cover and Wolter’s, on whose behalf they claim to be acting. Because they do not own the rune, they gave me a choice: remove either the rune or the U.S. map from the cover. While I strongly disagree with their action, their threatened lawsuit would have prevented me from printing the book for months, or possibly years, at high cost while I waited for a court to tell them that they have no standing vis-à-vis Wolter’s book since they are not the rights owner nor (so far as they represented themselves to me) his legally designated representative for such rights.

Obviously, Unearthing the Truth isn’t as useful after the second season of America Unearthed debuts. As a result, I have decided to remove the variant A rune from the cover of my book so I can sell it faster because I think the information is more important than the graphic design. Not a single word of the actual book text will change.

That said, I don’t come away from this empty-handed. I forced AETN, acting as they claim on behalf of Scott Wolter, into a strategic concession. They admit that neither they nor Wolter own or can own the variant A rune design: “We agree that the ‘hooked X’ letter is in the public domain for all to use.” That will therefore end any attempt to assert control over the design of the variant A rune (beyond the word mark for the exact phrase “Hooked X®”) in any medium, forever. To celebrate, you can all scrawl runes all over every available surface.

Since AETN and Scott Wolter admit that the variant A rune is public domain, I decided to make use of my right, conceded by AETN, to use the design as I see fit in any category except book covers. So, this morning I launched a clothing store (seriously), and I am now first-in-category to offer variant A rune (not “Hooked X®”) clothing and accessory designs! Since these designs use a public domain letter and make no reference to any product or mark owned by Scott Wolter or AETN, nor are represented as relating to such products or works, there’s nothing they can do about it. So, please enjoy a range of t-shirts, mugs, iPhone covers, and whatever else I have time to slap together. I’ll be expanding the merchandise listings as I have time and as it amuses me.

Click to view products.

45 Comments

Tara Jordan

5/20/2013 08:47:54 am

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/2803/toiletpaper1.jpg

Gunn

5/20/2013 09:05:13 am

Okay then, this is a good example of turning lemons into lemonade. Very creative, though not exactly the response I would have expected from a half-Italian nobleman!

I've been using special t-shirts and mugs for broadcasting my own notions, including--believe it or not--putting the A rune on mugs and t-shirts, along with the Kensington Runestone image, saying: "Kensington, MN, Birthplace of America!"

(This was a challenge to Alexandria, MN's similiar claim, emblazzoned across Big Ole the Viking's chest.)

Shawn Flynn

5/20/2013 09:07:22 am

Quick trademark, "Hooked Letter X"!

Matt Mc

5/20/2013 09:58:21 am

The irony of all this is just amazing.

How is Wolter less of a bully than "mainstream archeology"? He seems to be working really hard to use his might to surpress your book.

Matthew Dentith link

5/20/2013 10:35:54 am

I say, can you add in iPhone 5 covers? I would happily buy an iPhone 5 variant A rune cover.

Jason Colavito link

5/20/2013 10:43:22 am

Done! If you have a color preference for the text, let me know and I can whip one up.

5/20/2013 11:00:05 am

Is it at all possible to have a black background and white text? If you can do that for the iPhone 4 case as well, I'll get one of each.

5/20/2013 11:05:30 am

That would be better, but sadly the company only offers white cases for customization. The only color choice I have is whether to make the edge of the case black, white, or red.

5/20/2013 11:14:30 am

Black edging, then, methinks.

5/20/2013 01:05:47 pm

The one up now has the black edge.

Tom

5/20/2013 12:04:58 pm

Awesome. Maybe you could throw in some 'America Unhinged' stuff too with the show's slogan: 'Facts can lie, but TV never does'

5/20/2013 01:07:37 pm

Done. Visit my shop for a bunch of "America Unhinged" merchandise.

5/20/2013 01:13:25 pm

I think we're missing a trick by not calling it "America Unhenged".

L Bean

5/21/2013 11:10:52 am

BAD ASS.

Dan D

5/20/2013 12:46:34 pm

Perhaps expand the line of items to include some trendy walking shorts and backpacks emblazoned with the hooked X letter?

A sure best seller!!

titus pullo

5/20/2013 01:06:53 pm

As Goethe said..Truth must be repeated..again and again....it is a sad fact but falsehoods always seem to come back time and again...in academia, govt, books, religion and culture..

Americans on the whole are less enlightened, educated in science and logic/critical thinking today than they were in 1780....but we have dancing with the stars...and American unearthed..our circuses...and with food stamps we have our bread...

Christopher Randolph

5/20/2013 04:00:58 pm

Well, this is quite a funny response.

I'm not sure that stating that something that they had no rights to is in fact something that they have no rights to is exactly a "concession" really. You've gotten them to agree to stop making one extraordinary and unsupportable claim, but they still get their way with your book.

I have no idea why anyone thinks that the combination of a map in the public domain and a symbol in the public domain would not still be in the public domain.

Can a publisher of a book that has a map of Israel and a Star of David selectively stop someone whose opinions they don't like from publishing a book with these elements on the cover? Can a publisher of a book that has a map of the USSR and a hammer and sickle selectively stop someone whose opinions they don't like from publishing a book with these elements on the cover? Can a publisher of a book that has a map of pre-war Germany and a swastika selectively stop someone whose opinions they don't like from publishing a book with these elements on the cover?

I don't think anyone would give anyone making those arguments in court one inch of ground (I think they would both be laughed out of court and potentially face a damaging countersuit and possibly censure for abuse of the court system with a frivolous lawsuit).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frivolous_litigation#Impact_upon_filing_attorney

Especially after admitting that the rune is public domain too I don't think they would have any case... at all.

CFC

5/20/2013 06:33:52 pm

I think Jason explained his position well:

"While I strongly disagree with their action, their threatened lawsuit would have prevented me from printing the book for months, or possibly years, at high cost while I waited for a court to tell them that they have no standing...."

I think under the circumstances he made the best decision possible. Of course it is a ridiculous position for A&E to take and it's quite possible that after months of legally haggling the case would be thrown out. But large companies have the financial means to drag this kind of action out and having to endure that would be a colossal waste of Jason's time and resources.

I'm pleased that the book will get out and this unqualified host with his fake credentials and the producers that promote and profit from this dishonest programming get exposed.

These kind of strong arm tactics have motivated me to want to promote the hell out of Unearthing the Truth.

5/21/2013 02:32:23 am

How would any of this prevented anyone from printing a book? You just print it as you were going to anyway. They don't have a leg to stand on. Litigation is also expensive and time-consuming for the plaintiff.

Folding because they sent a threatening bluff letter is only going to encourage them to do this to other people.

I'll ask this again, because this is really chilling:

"Can a publisher of a book that has a map of Israel and a Star of David selectively stop someone whose opinions they don't like from publishing a book with these elements on the cover? Can a publisher of a book that has a map of the USSR and a hammer and sickle selectively stop someone whose opinions they don't like from publishing a book with these elements on the cover? Can a publisher of a book that has a map of pre-war Germany and a swastika selectively stop someone whose opinions they don't like from publishing a book with these elements on the cover?"

Of course those examples are silly... but how are they not more or less silly than this claim?

5/21/2013 02:46:54 am

"that after months of legally haggling the case would be thrown out"

More likely scenarios:

- A&E does nothing because they know darn well they don't own the rights to North America (unless someone there is named 'Sinclair' of course!) and/or a rune (the latter they've apparently already noted in writing).

- If A&E is stupid enough to file something anyway, the case against Jason. when defended as with my examples above, is won by Jason almost immediately; I could see a number of lawyers handling this in pro bono fashion, especially with the freedom of speech issues at stake. The background here of Jason's criticism of the show as well as his documentation of the same company having had no issue with other book covers in the past make it clear that this is about the content of the book and not the cover.

- A&E & Wolter open themselves up (they have already actually) to massive amounts of bad press as slop-slinging bullies

- Jason's suit against A&E gets settled out of court to avoid the legal bill and headache for them; no doubt they'd want some pledge from him of silence on the matter

- Complaints could be made against the lawyers who drew up this enormity in the state where they are licensed and practicing on A&E's behalf; this is probably already appropriate now. I'd contact the state bar association. Of course having cut a deal with them probably weakens a case here.

Bullies don't tend to understand anything other than massive retaliation.

5/21/2013 03:11:55 am

Oh, another point (sorry):

A&E doesn't own the rights to the book. Why then are you getting letter from A&E? Probably because Wolter reads this blog, went crying to them, and they have a lawyer or lawyers working on retainer, getting paid the same amount whether they generate any bullying bluff letters that day or not. This was free for Wolter and arguably free (or at least super cheap) for the A&E.

If Wolter wants to come after you for the book I should think he'd have to retain his own lawyer. I rather doubt A&E is going to flip the bill for defending not-their intellectual property in litigation... especially when they agree that it isn't anyone's intellectual property! That means tracking down someone else who'd actually take this ridiculous case, which would likely be difficult.

On top of that Wolter would have to weigh the amount of money that he'd have to lay out, some of it up front as a retaine,r to get a lawyer, he'd have an estimate from the lawyer as to how much money this sort of litigation would cost him (likely tens of thousands of dollars minimally), and he'd be advised that given Jason's non-Donald Trump status and the tiny amount (no offense) of sales Jason's book would have, and the limited exposure as a self-published entity, that this is really an economic loser. Very little - far less than pursuing the filing - in the way of damages could expect to be won or collected even if some brain-damaged judge agrees with Wolter.

My experience in hiring or attempting to hire lawyers is their first concern is whether or not the case makes economic sense even should you win, including & especially for themselves, and secondarily if the case looks winnable. Wolter's claim here is unlikely to pay for itself and unlikely to prevail.

This is all like a convenience store being robbed with a water pistol.

5/21/2013 08:36:03 am

Christopher, while I agree with you in your assessment and believe that A&E and Wolter would fail in a court of law. What could happen is Jason would have to hold off all sales of the book until the case is heard or settled. As Jason stated his book really is time sensitive. Given the circumstances the fact that Jason decided to the information inside the book is more important than the cover was the correct way to go. Sure maybe he could counter sue after A&E and Wolter settled for lost wages based on projected sales but why. A simple change got the information out there. I am sure A&E and Wolter were hoping he would not change the cover and the release of the book was delayed until it became less relevant.

Typical bullying techniques, stop the process by litigation.

5/21/2013 09:28:15 am

"What could happen is Jason would have to hold off all sales of the book until the case is heard or settled."

Why would that be? This is a groundless claim from people who don't even represent the correct party. Jason didn't really owe these people a response. Just going ahead and publishing the book would force Wolter to seek his own representation at his own expense. If he were intent on doing that to begin with he would have. Instead he went the free route of getting lawyers on someone else's retainer to send a drive-by threat and hope it would stick. These are not the actions of someone who even believes themselves that they have a case.

A lot of people seem to be approaching this as if we're in the American colonies post-Stamp Act and we need someone's permission to print a book.

5/21/2013 09:49:34 am

A lot of time a cease and desist sales order is put into place until a settlement or judicial decision is made. I know with some work I have done in documentaries (The SECRETS OF THE FIRST LADIES, doc I worked on years ago comes to mind) was held up for six months because of some legal issue we had with the Kennedy archives over footage we use. The case never went to litigation but was held up as the rights to some scenes of Jackie O were called into question,. Now we where lucky our production company at the time and Discovery Channel was willing to wait it out, determining that the footage was needed for the doc. We could of removed it and hit our orignal air date but without Jackie O footage it was not nearly as marketable. I do know that it was determined in chambers that our licensing did cover the Jackie O footage even though the Kennedy Archives claimed it did not. We had a cease and desist order presented to us that stated as long as the footage was contained in the doc, it could not be aired, sold, distributed, or shown in nay public matter. As soon as they reached an agreement we pulled the tape out and shipped it to discovery channel. We had similar problems with clearances from the DoD for the SCIENCE OF WAR doc we did.

5/21/2013 10:30:48 am

The problem, Chris, is that the relevant law here isn't copyright law (which is a slam-dunk in my favor) but rather unfair competition law. This is much more ambiguous and would require a judge's ruling on the degree of similarity. I'm not saying they have a strong case, but they could make one, and all Wolter would have to do is authorize A+E's firm to represent him.

But, there is this: It costs me $0.00 to change the cover of the book (I just upload a new file to the printer), while A+E is paying their lawyer to handle this and to overnight copies of all the documents. I'm sure Wolter thinks that I spend thousands on these books like he does for his self-published works, but my entire outlay on the project was, in total, $13.50.

Frankly, given how few people are likely to ever read it, I can't imagine why they spend so much time complaining except that Wolter had his feelings hurt. This much is obvious since A+E is complaining about the similarity to Wolter's 2009 book cover and failed to notice that my inspiration was the show's own on-air graphics (which I in no way copied in any way that is substantially similar), which are part of their product. Of course, History admitted that no one in their office watches the show, so they probably don't know anything about that.

5/21/2013 03:59:56 pm

I certainly hope that that $13.50 expenditure doesn't mean that you're not paying (or otherwise obtaining) a lawyer to look at any documents they're having you sign. That sounds like potentially digging yourself a deeper hole than simply ignoring these people. As the next season(s) of this show go on they'll likely use this as precedent to go after you and others again.

Should that happen I'm one of what I'm sure are THOUSANDS of people who'd happily contribute to your legal fund. We should all make sure that suing someone like you over something like this becomes A&E's/Wolter's strategic equal of invading Russia in winter. As it stands this has been a cakewalk for the bad guys.

Did they actually get/send a cease and desist order? I can't imagine they got one on public domain images and/or a book they don't own the rights to...

It just really bothers me that this scum is getting their way without a single claim of theirs being subjected to any court or arbitrator. They practice law like Wolter does "science."

I still say you need to do national press releases and contact Minnesota lawmakers about the fruitcake that their tax money is supporting. Everyone in the country searching for the name Scott Wolter or hooked X should get hits on news stories that he uses corporate lawyers to suppress criticism by tying up books with lawsuit threats. Now who is part of a conspiracy to hide the truth..?

5/22/2013 01:18:58 am

The $13.50 is what I spent on a couple of proof copies of the book, and I didn't technically need to buy those at all. I could have done it all digitally for free. No one has asked for any signed documents (another indication that this was never a serious threat), but they did send a cease-and-desist letter by overnight FedEx. A cease-and-desist letter is not a binding legal ruling and it is not issued by a judge. It is simply a letter informing a party to cease and desist or face a future lawsuit.

5/21/2013 02:16:55 am

Life is a circle; we agree. Not only that, but SW's map is of North America, and Jason's map is only a portion of America...not even close to the same map.

"Balls!" said the Queen, "If I had two, I'd be King!"

(TS leaking out.)

5/21/2013 02:19:06 am

(Meant for Opher.)

Cathleen Anderson

5/21/2013 07:55:16 am

I'd like to add that those lawyers have made things potentially really messy for themselves.

1. They now have a conflict of interest if Wolters and A&E go to court. A court likely would prevent them from representing either party.

2. Because they conceded that public domain issue on behalf of Wolters, even though they don't represent him, he has a potential legal malpractice claim against them.

I'm quite sure they probably made other malpractice type nono mistakes in their dealings with Jason.

5/21/2013 09:18:55 am

I don't think these particular lawyers ever intended to go to court. This is just threatening people with lawyers that someone already has on staff or on retainer; unfortunately it worked.

5/21/2013 11:57:31 am

Doesn't matter what they intended Chris. I'm just telling you some of what they have now brought on themselves when this ends up in court. And if I'm any judge of character, sooner or later Scott Wolter is going to end up suing somebody. The have really screwed themselves.

severina

5/21/2013 12:46:13 am

Suggestion for your replacement book cover: a sporty backpack and a steaming mug of Worker's degree.

5/21/2013 12:59:13 am

I meant Wolter, not Worker.

Damn android spellcheck. Not enough coffee. Mutter. Grumble.

Coridan Miller

5/21/2013 02:12:07 am

I am certainly not a lawyer, but I would think you could go after them for extortion even if you did acquiesce.

5/21/2013 05:00:01 am

Christopher- Good points of course but it's Jason's decision and I'm happy that he's avoided a legal side show that could distract him from his gifted analysis.

Tubby

5/21/2013 05:09:57 am

I think what you really need is a Templar riding forth on his unicorn with a banner sporting a variant A rune. Perhaps in front of a windmill or some kind of Freemason symbol with the conspiracy caption.

5/21/2013 10:23:21 am

Close! My new cover has the Masonic all-seeing eye, the Templar cross, and a (much smaller) variant A public domain rune. Frankly, they should have left well enough alone. The old cover at least made the show seem serious; now I've made it look goofy.

5/21/2013 06:06:52 am

A few weeks ago, I went to hear Henrik Williams, Professor of Scandinavian Languages at Uppsala University in Sweden, speak to a crowd of about 150 here in Minneapolis on the subject of what the Vikings were thinking. It centered around runestones in Europe. I was given a brochure developed by Uppsala University, and it included this quote about "Runic misuse."

"Runes are immensely popular. However, this huge interest is not coupled with knowledge about the true nature of the runic script. One result is the common misconception that runes are primarily magic. But much more sinister is the abuse of runes by right-wing extremists. The SS used runes for its logo during the Thrid Reich and to propagate Nazi ideology. The exploitation of runic symbols is still rampant today. The only antidote to this is serious research coupled with public information."

Just food for thought.

Mila

5/21/2013 10:41:43 am

"Just food for thought."

Well, I would rather look at Norse mythology for the meaning of runes. The word "rune" actually means mystery or secret. Odin, the Norse High God of the Aesir, hung from the world tree, Yggdrasil, impaled on his own spear, for nine days and nights in order to gain the knowledge of runes. When the runes appeared below him, he reached down and took them up, and the runic knowledge gave him power . He later passed on this knowledge to the Vanir goddess Freya. She, in turn, taught him the magic of seidr. Heimdall, the god who guarded the Rainbow Bridge, taught the runes to mankind.

5/22/2013 03:55:45 am

Mila, good mythology history, I suppose, but I've discovered that most folks visiting here prefer science. Runes are real, and go back to about 200 AD, if I remember correctly...and also include Germanic runes, Russian runes, etc. Runes are presently being studied by the world's leading rune experts from Europe.

Science, please, not mythology. We just went over that with the St. Clair/Sinclair issue, and I had to shift my viewpoint because of lack of concrete evidence--though there may still be a grain of truth to the myths.

I don't think it's a good idea to position mythology above science. Having said this, I wholehearted believe that the Kensington Runestone is moving away from "mythological" interest to scientific interest...primarily by the continued study of its runes. Slowly, acceptable provenance is evolving, I believe.

Serious stuff, because the KRS is dated 130 years before 1492. I predict that sooner or later, the KRS will upset the history apple-cart. How will we like those apples? We'll wash them off and they'll taste good, with a peculiar "Nordic" flavor, rather than the once-traditional Italian flavor.

Dave Lewis

5/21/2013 07:09:39 pm

Don't forget to include condoms with the hooked x on them. I'm sure A&E would buy a lot to use when they f... their next victim.

5/21/2013 07:19:32 pm

A&E's web page http://www.aetv.com/ has discussion boards under the topic Community. Some of you may choose tell A&E's patrons how you feel about A&E's treatment of Jason there.

5/22/2013 05:02:16 am

"Science, please, not mythology"

Gunn,

Thanks for good laughter. You mean pseudo science. Not thanks no. I have noticed that creating a new version of mythology has become 20/21 century fever. lol

Hook'D Book"D EXX link

10/3/2014 09:36:45 am

She hashes over hidden codes, this may
have sent Scott Wolter over the map...

Crusade to Vinland: The Kensington Runestone

An Explorer Book by Margaret Barry Leuthner

https://www.runestonemuseum.org/giftshop/books/crusade-to-vinland-book/

http://www.archive.org/stream/kensingtonrunest00minn/kensingtonrunest00minn_djvu.txt