The AFM Observer

Union democracy - the AFM version

I’m told that my post on the lawsuit brought against Local 47 and the AFM regarding work dues on videogame work caused a little pushback at Local 802. Specifically, I was apparently accused, regarding my comments about “union democracy,” of not knowing the details of the approval process for the videogame agreements.

It’s true, I don’t know the details. I’m not sure it matters that much. Two things do seem pretty clear, though. The first is that the approval process was not the standard ratification process required by AFM bylaws. The second is that the RMA was involved in neither the “negotiation” nor whatever "ratification" process actually took place. Both are disturbing, albeit for different reasons.

The AFM uncorks a stinker

Ed Shamgochian at Sounds is on a roll. He has unearthed a second lawsuit involving the AFM. This one’s a real stinker:

In November 2006, Tom Lee and the AFM filed a federal lawsuit against an anonymous blogger ("John Doe") for a satirical posting at The AFM in Trouble. The posting showed a fake letter from Tom Lee endorsing Mary Landolfi for President of Local 802. Tom Lee's suit alleged trademark infringement for use of the AFM seal, and defamation. (To learn more about defamation on the internet, read Allegro's May 2008 article by Harvey Mars, Esq.)

Because the blogger posted anonymously, Tom Lee and the AFM's lawyers got a court order to require Google to reveal the blogger's identity. (Google owns Blogger, the free blog publishing service used by The AFM in Trouble.) Google provided an IP address (a number which identifies a computer on the Internet) and an email address—but not the name and address of John Doe.

The IP address was owned by Comcast, an internet service provider, so it looked like John Doe was a Comcast subscriber. Tom Lee went back to court and got a court order to require Comcast to divulge the name and address of John Doe. However, Comcast had purged its records, and could not tell which of their subscribers was John Doe.

But Tom Lee still had the email address: nopercap@yahoo.com. (That address is currently undeliverable.) So, Tom went back to court a third time, to get an order requiring Yahoo to unmask John Doe. And here, in June 2006, the court records fall silent.

The International Executive Board (IEB) was first informed in March 2007 about an "election campaign issue...involving a questionable letter of endorsement that had surfaced on the internet." This suggests that the IEB was not particularly "clued in" to this lawsuit, which had been filed over three months (and two IEB meetings) earlier. In addition, the lawsuit is not merely an "election campaign issue" at all. Tom Lee's complaint seeks to "punish Defendant and set an example."

Though we do not know if Tom Lee was successful in unmasking John Doe, we are sure that if he wasn't the plaintiff, Tom Lee would regard his own lawsuit as frivolous. (We will let readers decide for themselves how similar the AFM seal is to the ostrich seal at The AFM in Trouble, and whether they think the posting defames Tom Lee.)

It’s not about the money – unless maybe it is

I’m a little late to this party, but there is a legal action brought against the AFM and Local 47 in Federal court by several Local 47 members regarding the collection of dues on work done under AFM videogame agreements:

Recording musicians David Parameter, Anatoly Rosinsky and Andrew Shulman allege that work dues collected from musicians by Local 47 and sent to the AFM should be returned to Local 47 for work done under one-off buyout recording agreements made available to video game companies by the AFM, citing an AFM by-law that states that work dues are due only for “negotiated agreements.” The musicians claim that the video game agreements were not negotiated and ratified by the membership, and therefore should not be subject to work dues.