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Multifesto: A Henri d'Mescan Reader
Edited by Davis
Schneiderman and Phoenelia Yeer
Signed Limited Edition

New:
4/1/05 Spuyten Duyvil hit with cease and desist from Atom Press
regarding Multifesto: A Henri d’Mescan Reader.
Yes, you
read correctly. SD has been official notified of various infringements
regarding our new Henri d’Mescan/Henry Mescaline project. You can read
the
letter below for yourself. While we don’t really have the capital to
fight a
protracted
legal battle, our lawyers tell us that this is probably a bluff, at
best…or at worst, an
increasingly typical example of corporate attempts to
stifle free expression. At this
point, we will proceed with the publication of Multifesto,
and trust that testimonials
from d’Mescan himself to Atom Press will help us get this edition
published.
Wish us
luck!
--SD (read on...)
**********************************************************************
Jolson,
Farquar, & Leech LAW OFFICES
1666
Avenue of the P-Americas • New York,
NY
Re:
Multifesto: A Henri d’Mecan Reader and
the flagrant Misuse of Atom Press, Inc.'s Copyrighted manuscripts.
To Whom It Might Possibly Concern:
We are the multiple counsel to
Atom Press, Inc. ("Atom"), the completely exclusive copyright holder
and/or world licensee and/or owner and/or dispenser of all manuscripts
composed
in the period between 1958 and 1967 by one or several persons known as
Henry
Mescaline/Henri d’Mescan/David Schneiderman, originally collected, in
part, in
the Atom Press volume: Hallucigenome:
The Henry Mescaline Reader (1964). We
write
concerning the proposed 2005/6 release by Spuyten Duyvil’s of Multifesto: A Henri d’Mescan Reader,
which contains large amounts of documented materials under our
copyright
protection. Additionally,
the materials authored by “Henri d’Mescan” in
two other periods: 1) 1932-1952 (European editions), and 2)
1971-present, may
also be subject to Atom Press copyright protection.
If “Henry Mescaline” is proven to
be a pseudonym for either the WWII refugee Henri d’Mescan, or the Atom
Press
editor David Schneiderman, then a 1964 clause by Henry Mescaline
surrendering
all copyrights to “Atom Press for all production now and forever in all
forms,
both print, recorded, and as yet to be invented” will enter into force
for all
portions of the manuscripts currently in your possession.
Should this be the case, handwriting and DNA
test results forthcoming, the only materials in the Multifesto
manuscript not under our copyright would be the
editorial introductions composed by editors named Davis Schneiderman
(“Davis”)
and Phoenelia Yeer (“Yeer”). Yet, as
Atom Press did not authorize their access to d’Mescan/Mescaline/David’s
papers,
we will require the transfer of all copyrights associated with these
editorial
introductions to Atom Press.
As
we expect independent verification of the DNA and
handwriting tests within a reasonable period, Spuyten Duyvil should be
duly
informed that it is current violation of copyright provision regarding
the
section of Multifesto provisionally
titled, “Part II: The Un-American Years / From: Hallucigenome:
The Henry Mescaline Reader (1961)” with materials
excerpted from the following Henry Mescaline texts: “Introduction” to Hallucigenome: The Henry Mescaline Reader
(1964),” “Spacecats of the World, Untie!
(1958),” “Appendisectomy—“Appendices
on November 11, 1944: The Circle”
(1960),” “Tupeat, Frompeet, Repeit (1962),”
and “Abecedarium: “Fex During the
Occupation of France (1963),” along with, possibly, the materials from
the two
other periods noted above.
Any attempt to deliver any section
of the infringing manuscript to consumers represents a breach of Atom’s
intellectual property, as well as those of other artists and writers
who in
good faith transferred their copyrights to Atom. Because
of the controversial materials that Atom published from
1957-1971 (at great risk to its presses and other modes of intellectual
capital), in the United States, the Philippines, and a series of newly
emancipated African republics, authors such as Henry Mescaline
transferred
their proprietary rights to their works to our company.
In Mescaline’s case, surveillance by the OSS
and later, the CIA, necessitated that he renounce his rights to his
work since,
according to stature 247, subsection 48D of the 1949 War Repatriation
and
Seditions Act, as an illegal alien, war-criminal, and fugitive,
d’Mescan/Mescaline would retain no rights to this work upon his
prosecution, deportation,
or capture.
We take the trust that Mr.
Mescaline placed in our offices seriously, and this we will not
hesitate to
subject Spuyten Duyvil to serious legal penalties for knowing violation
of
copyright and intellectual property law. We
thus stipulate that you immediately:
- Surrender
all pre-production manuscripts, notes, archival materials,
correspondences, and all other written, printed, and electronically
produced materials between and all of the following parties: Henri
d’Mescan, Henry Mescaline, David Schneiderman, Davis Schneiderman,
Phoenelia Yeer, Tod Thilleman, and all other parties who have
corresponded with the above in any and all mediums during the
preparation, composition, and research phases of the Multifesto
project. Additionally, all
correspondence between Atom and Spuyten Duyvil, including this letter,
should also be surrendered.
- Cease and
desist from any actual or intended distribution of any and all of the
above, and/or the otherwise prohibited performance, publication,
distributions, and/or exploitation of Multifesto and
all other properties under protection by Atom.
- Provide the
contact information for any and all third parties who may have assisted
in the pre-publication and research phases of the Multifesto
project, as well as those consumers who have placed orders for advance
copies of the book.
- Provide
notice to all publications that have recently published excerpts from
the forthcoming text, including but not limited to: In Our Own Words: A Generation Defining Itself
(anthology), RealPoetik, Near South, 3 AM
Magazine, The Diagram, Spread,
Gargoyle, Unpleasant Event Schedule, Magazine Minima,
Fiction International, to the QUICK, Collage, 3rd
Bed, Absinthe Literary Review, Pindeldyboz.com,
EnterText, and Happy. These
magazines, journals, and academic texts should be duly noted of the
possible infringement on Spuyten Duyvil’s part.
- Renounce all
claims to publicity and archival materials associated with this
project, and surrender all source code from Spuyten Duyvil’s web page
to our offices.
Unless we receive comprehensive compliance with these
stipulations, Atom will pursue all remedies allowable by law.
Sincerely,
Jolson, Farquar, & Leech
**********************************************************************
This letter is intended primarily
for the specified recipient(s). It most likely contains consequential
information and may or may not be subject to the corporate-legislative
privilege and other ethereal protections. If you are not a designated
recipient, an actual person, or an incorporated individual, then you
may not
possess the ability to read, print, or fold this message. If you
receive this
warning in error, please notify the sender, only if you are authorized
to do so,
in the presence of a notary, by reply e-mail and then erase the segment
of your
hard drive that contains this message and all adjacent messages. Do
not, under
any circumstances, print and then fold the message. Thank you for your
compliance.
**********************************************************************
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