Ellison Vs. Fantagraphics To Mediation

By David P. Welsh

In his "Lying in the Gutters" column for Comic Book Resources, Rich Johnston reported that parties in the Harlan Ellison v. Fantagraphics, Inc., Gary Groth and Kim Thompson lawsuit will enter into mediation May 29. Groth confirmed the attempt at mediation via e-mail, though he noted that the session date had not been finalized, with June 6 also being a possibility.

The last official movement in the suit was the defense's filing of an appeal of a judge's ruling denying the defendants' motion to strike the suit. At the time, Thompson was unable to estimate when the appeal might be answered, and no promise of a speedy resolution to the appeal presented itself.

At the Harlan Ellison Webderland message board, Ellison reported another, less formal development in the legal action, this time regarding the often heated on-line discussions between the involved parties and their supporters:

"Attorneys for my litigation-in-progress re Gary Groth-Kim Thompson-The Comics Journal-Fantagraphics... and attorneys for the Defendant(s), have asked for an unofficial 'moratorium' on remarks made by either side. The recent prolonged airing on the Publishers Weekly internet site, The Beat, has taken the case to a wider awareness by the media and by interested -- but not always polite -- bystanders.

"I ask that hereafter no one comment on this case until it goes to the [9th] Circuit. I will say nothing in public or in print of any nature, including internet. (Please note: several interviews were given previously, that have not yet surfaced. It is my assurance to one and all, that from this point forward, my side of this will be silent.)

"I ask all of you to respect this proper progress toward a legal and binding cessation of all problems between the Defendants and myself."

Groth confirmed the moratorium via e-mail:

"We have agreed to hold our fire until we determined if the mediation resolved matters. This was evidently thought prudent after the exchange that appeared on The Beat."

Both Groth and Ellison are evidently referring to these comments in response to a weblog posting at The Beat.

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This entry was written and placed by David P. Welsh as a favor to this site, without editorial oversight or intrusion.
 
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