LFL Sues GenCon

The Madman · **Posted:** Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:37 pm

Lucasfilm Sues Gen Con
Posted by Dustin on February 15, 2008 at 08:15 PM CST:
Had a good friend send in this link to Gamerchicksrule.com where they've posted some juicy news about Lucasfilm suing Gen Con. Here's a brief snippet...

Quote:

"There's some big news that just came onto the radar: Lucasfilm is suing Gen Con over issues with Celebration IV! While the case is stamped January 10th, this is the first I've heard anything about it. You can read the full complaint but here are the allegations.

1. Gen Con failed to uphold its legal obligations in terms of financial reporting, accounting and payments to Lucasfilm ($500,000 in damages)
2. Gen Con did not give auction proceeds to Make-A-Wish as they had agreed to do ($150,000 in damages)
3. Gen Con did not give Lucasfilm their share of the auction proceeds ($150,000 in damages)
4. Gen Con did this all unjustly ($150,000 in damages)"

more details on
http://www.rebelscum.com

Xanthan · **Joined:** Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:42 pm **Posts:** 928

Wow, that is a lot of money, I hope this doesn't hinder the next Gencon events too much this year.

Sithborg · **Joined:** Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:45 pm **Posts:** 3886

It won't effect Gencon too much (short of maybe cancelling the Europe one). Celebration V, however...

punxnbutter · **Posted:** Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:52 pm

I have a hard time believing GenCon would try to walk away with over $150,000 in charitable proceeds....I hope this is some sort of accounting mistake and LFL is trying to make them realize the grave mistake made. How could a company expect to get away with selling someone else's property for charity and not forward the profits onward??

Looking closely at the actual claim this seems to have been quite deliberate on genCon's part though. Very sad stuff here for not a whole lot of money.

Grand Moff Boris · **Joined:** Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:08 pm **Posts:** 8395

punxnbutter wrote:

I have a hard time believing GenCon would try to walk away with over $150,000 in charitable proceeds....I hope this is some sort of accounting mistake and LFL is trying to make them realize the grave mistake made. How could a company expect to get away with selling someone else's property for charity and not forward the profits onward??

Looking closely at the actual claim this seems to have been quite deliberate on genCon's part though. Very sad stuff here for not a whole lot of money.

Keep in mind that all we've seen is the claim filed. These are just LFL's allegations, and without knowing what the contract states, or what GenCon's rebuttals are, they are just opinions of wrong doing at this point.

Ugavine · **Posted:** Sat Feb 16, 2008 7:22 am

Boris wrote:

Keep in mind that all we've seen is the claim filed. These are just LFL's allegations, and without knowing what the contract states, or what GenCon's rebuttals are, they are just opinions of wrong doing at this point.

This is very true.

I just hope GenCon were not holding back promised Charity funds, that would just be so wrong.

punxnbutter · **Posted:** Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:43 am

Ugavine wrote:

Boris wrote:

Keep in mind that all we've seen is the claim filed. These are just LFL's allegations, and without knowing what the contract states, or what GenCon's rebuttals are, they are just opinions of wrong doing at this point.

This is very true.

I just hope GenCon were not holding back promised Charity funds, that would just be so wrong.

Agreed....it's probably an accounting error or not being timely in regards to the contract payment schedule which is what I originally stated. You have to imagine that there's been at least 6 months of paperwork/notices going between these two companies before the suit was filed in Jan and there's been enough bad blood generated to bring a nasty charge in court.

This is one case I wouldn't mind getting pulled for jury duty on

I'm sure it won't go to trial though.

DarkLordVerjal · **Posted:** Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:59 am

LFL is NOTORIOUS for being rude and pushy. For a lack of better terms.

punxnbutter · **Posted:** Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:51 pm

Well having a business partner come up short or being shifty with the numbers for 800K or so would make me a bit pushy too. LFL does have a tendency to get overzealous with other things though. Adding in 150K for charity makes it worse....

Is it true that GenCon filed chapter 11 this year?

The Madman · **Posted:** Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:43 pm

yes,
For some reason I can't cut and past a working link-
but the article was posted yesterday as well

Gemini1179 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:55 am **Posts:** 691

Hopefully it's intended as a wake-up call for Gencon to light a fire under them to get their paperwork straightened out. Also, I think it's good that LFL is basically indicating that they don't want the kids to be left high and dry on promises that aren't fulfilled.

ChonChuuk · **Posted:** Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:29 pm

The thing to keep in mind is that all figures are what they are asking for in damages. These amounts do not necessarily relate to actal figures of any kind.

Think of the woman who is suing Best Buy for $54million because they lost her $1000 laptop.

Gemini1179 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:55 am **Posts:** 691

ChonChuuk wrote:

Think of the woman who is suing Best Buy for $54million because they lost her $1000 laptop.

*shakes head* A nice example for people everywhere... Too many people are looking for that big payday... /end Rant

Grand Moff Boris · **Joined:** Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:08 pm **Posts:** 8395

ChonChuuk wrote:

Think of the woman who is suing Best Buy for $54million because they lost her $1000 laptop.

Well I agree that is excessive and even the woman admits she won't get that much but there is more at stake than just her laptop. I would hate to think what would happen to me if someone stole my PC. There is a lot of personal information access there, and identity theft is her point of concern (and rightly so).

punxnbutter · **Posted:** Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:17 pm

here's a link directly to GenCon about Chapter 11. Sounds like a bit of sour grapes and management not wanting to be accountable for their situation (blame LFL). The majority of this problem probably came from over-extending for cons in diff areas from Indy and Celebration IV being the straw that broke their back. Lucas may been overly aggressive to get money due to them, but there should be no surprises there.http://www.gencon.com/2008/corporate/news-pr/releases/2008/2008.02.15.Press.aspx

http://www.forbeck.com/2008/02/15/gen-con-woes/ interesting tidbit from some dude to claims to be chummy with the head honcho

ChonChuuk · **Posted:** Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:22 pm

Boris wrote:

ChonChuuk wrote:

Think of the woman who is suing Best Buy for $54million because they lost her $1000 laptop.

Well I agree that is excessive and even the woman admits she won't get that much but there is more at stake than just her laptop. I would hate to think what would happen to me if someone stole my PC. There is a lot of personal information access there, and identity theft is her point of concern (and rightly so).

I agree Boris. This was strictly to point out the difference in Damages and Actual Value.

I would hate to have someone else receive my laptop/desktop. I believe it was Tony Parker of the S.A. Spurs that had Best Buy give his laptop to someone else when he took it in to be repaired. (Not to get too off point.)

barzillai · **Joined:** Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:04 pm **Posts:** 326

Somehow I'm not surprised that Gen Con's accounting practices are not up to LFL's standards. If LFL is notorious for being rude and pushy, then I'd say that the entire gaming industry is notorious for being a bit clueless about running a business and earning a profit. More passion than business sense sometimes, you know.

Grand Moff Boris · **Joined:** Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:08 pm **Posts:** 8395

For those who may not have seen this and want a good laugh:

http://www.gencon.com/2007/socal/press/Open-Letter.aspx

My favorite part is near the end where he says the key to success is Indy and "standing side to side with... friends at LFL." :lol:

punxnbutter · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:11 pm

That was an interesting blog...all this talk about how he can "live like a rockstar" riding on the coat tails of someone's game creation, the real point of business is to employ families and help them live the dream, and unions suck to work with/people want to work for too much money.

It seems to be a shame that SoCal didn't work out, but the core program can go on.

LFL Sues GenCon

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