"I'd rather just focus on writing comics," a young man told me when I asked him why he responded to a lawsuit threat by starting a rather successful charity fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and the National Wildlife Federation. Sounds strange and somewhat illogical, right?
Well, keep reading, because — over $100,000 in donations later — it's probably the most reasonable decision you'll encounter on the Internet today.
Even though many people don't recognize his name, 29-year-old Matthew "The Oatmeal" Inman is a popular cartoonist. You've probably seen plenty of his work — such as "10 Words You Need To Stop Misspelling," "What It's Like To Own An Apple Product," or "Cat vs Internet" — in your Facebook feed, on Twitter, or on your favorite blog at some point. It's almost impossible to avoid Inman online.
The popularity of Inman's work does have downsides though: Occasionally some websites will repost it without asking or crediting him. More often than not, these websites will even profit from this practice.
About a year ago, Inman got fed up with a website — called FunnyJunk — which had become particularly prone to re-hosting and monetizing his work. He wrote a blog post declaring that FunnyJunk had "practically stolen [his] entire website." The website's owner responded by claiming that Inman was threatening to sue him and removing any content which referenced "The Oatmeal."
Even though plenty of his content remained on FunnyJunk, without any reference to his pseudonym, Inman just didn't have energy to file DMCA takedown notices to deal with it. "Let's just leave it alone, I thought," he told me. "That's how it was for a year."
But oddly enough, the folks behind FunnyJunk decided they wanted to revisit the whole situation, almost exactly a year later. Inman discovered this when someone knocked on his door to serve him with papers about a week ago. "It was 8 p.m. — I was having a sushi-making night," Inman explained. The owner of FunnyJunk was threatening to file a federal lawsuit unless Inman paid $20,000 in damages.
"Is it going to get worse," Inman wondered. He consulted a lawyer and sat on the letter for about a week before finally posting it online, along with his rebuttal and an explanation of what he'll do. (His lawyer also mailed a formal reply to FunnyJunk's representative as well, of course.)
"I don't want to get tied up in courtroom nonsense. I don't want to pay more money to my lawyer," Inman declared in that blog post. He outlined why he believed that it was silly that FunnyJunk is demanding money "for hosting [his] unlicensed comics […] for the past three years."
"I've got a better idea," he wrote. "I'm going to try and raise $20,000 in donations. I'm going to take a photo of the raised money. I'm going to mail you that photo, along with this drawing of your mom seducing a Kodiak bear. I'm going to take the money and donate one half to the National Wildlife Federation and the other half to the American Cancer Society."

The Oatmeal
Inman dubbed his response "Operation BearLove Good Cancer Bad" and gave it a 15-day deadline. He announced it on Monday, at about 1 p.m. PT. About one hour later, he'd met the $20,000 fundraising goal. About 24 hours later, he'd raised over $117,000 with donations coming from over 8,000 people.

IndeiGoGo
When I reached out to FunnyJunk's lawyer, Charles Carreon, to discuss the situation, he explained that he'd removed his contact information from his website due to the large number of people who'd contacted him after Inman's blog post went online.
"I really did not expect that he would marshal an army of people who would besiege my website and send me a string of obscene emails," he says.
"I'm completely unfamiliar really with this style of responding to a legal threat — I've never really seen it before," Carreon explains. "I don't like seeing anyone referring to my mother as a sexual deviant," he added, referencing the drawing Inman posted.
Carreon tells me that Inman's blog post was interpreted as a complaint — similar to a DMCA takedown notice — and that the content the cartoonist listed in it was removed from the FunnyJunk website promptly. He also explains that he believes Inman's fundraiser to be a violation of the terms of service of IndieGoGo, the website being used to collect donations, and has sent a request to disable the fundraising campaign. (The fundraising website has only responded with an automated message so far.)
"I don't think that what I did was unreasonable," Carreon says while discussing the initial demands sent to Inman. He tells me that while this situation is unique, he is typically open to negotiation. He ended the conversation with a promise to keep me updated on how things are resolved and on whether he takes any legal action against the folks who have been harassing him since Inman's "BearLove Good Cancer Bad" fundraising campaign started.
"It's an education in the power of mob psychology and the Internet," Carreon told me.
In the meantime, Inman is trying to figure out how to explain that he needs to withdraw over $100,000 so that he can photograph it next to a drawing of someone's mother attempting to sweet-talk a bear.
"I think I might need an armored truck," he mused.

Tibbsy wrote:Wait, let me get this straight. Some website posted comics from a cartoonist without asking, the cartoonist asks them to stop but doesn't pursue it.

How then can the website then sue the cartoonist for damages? That's the part that boggles my mind...

This is an amusingly interesting way to get back at them though, I wish him luck!

purplefood wrote:
Because he said nasty things about them which were true...
Basically FJ stepped on an Internet landmine... with their man parts...

Charles Carreon is officially suing me and and the charities I'm raising money for
Dear Charles Carreon,

You're making things worse.

This dispute was originally between myself and FunnyJunk. After the fundraiser was a success, I figured you and FunnyJunk would stop there. This would have been an ideal exit for you. It wouldn't have been a particularly graceful exit, but an exit nonetheless.

So when did this transform from Oatmeal VS FunnyJunk to Carreon VS the internet? I'm going to take a wild shot in the dark here and guess that it's when you announced to a journalist at MSNBC that you were trying to shut down a charity fundraiser which would benefit cancer victims and endangered wildlife. THAT was the moment when the tide of public opinion focused on you instead of FunnyJunk. I never encouraged anyone to attack, harass, or otherwise contact you. In fact in my original letter I blurred out your contact information and I linked to your Wikipedia page instead of your website. If I've directed energy anywhere it's been to the fundraiser page.

And to anyone else who is reading this: it goes without saying, but stop harassing Carreon. Be lawful and civil in your interactions with him.
If you want to help, go donate.

You're upset, I get it. My original response to the FunnyJunk letter was probably humiliating, and following your comments, I gather that you allegedly received a slew of nasty emails and phone calls. People who are upset often say and do very stupid things, and perhaps that's why you told the journalist at MSNBC you were attempting to shut down my fundraiser. Perhaps that's why last night you went ahead and filed a lawsuit against myself, the National Wildlife Federation, and the American Cancer Society.

Your lawsuit is meritless and it'll probably just get dismissed, but I'm guessing you're just going to keep trying until you find an angle that sticks with a judge. My advice: take a few weeks off, stop saying crazy gak to journalists, and come back when you've calmed down. Write an apology to whomever you feel is appropriate, or just don't write anything ever again.

Maybe start your own charity fundraiser as way of apology. I'd donate.

Hugs and sexy bear kisses,

-The Oatmeal

Scrabb wrote:My name is Charles Carreon,


I am suing DakkaDakka and all past, current and future users for defamation and probable future harassment. Evidence for this should not be required, but look no further than the fact that my Initials, C.C. are not used in the website link name dakkadakka and instead K.K. is being used. An initial set I need not remind anyone is alarmingly close to K.K.K.

I will require ninety percent of all participants net worth in forty-eight hours. Reading this message signifies you are also at fault and owe me money.


Yours insincerely, Charles Carreon.

Scrabb wrote:My name is Charles Carreon,


I am suing DakkaDakka and all past, current and future users for defamation and probable future harassment. Evidence for this should not be required, but look no further than the fact that my Initials, C.C. are not used in the website link name dakkadakka and instead K.K. is being used. An initial set I need not remind anyone is alarmingly close to K.K.K.

I will require ninety percent of all participants net worth in forty-eight hours. Reading this message signifies you are also at fault and owe me money.


Yours insincerely, Charles Carreon.

Avatar 720 wrote:

Scrabb wrote:My name is Charles Carreon,


I am suing DakkaDakka and all past, current and future users for defamation and probable future harassment. Evidence for this should not be required, but look no further than the fact that my Initials, C.C. are not used in the website link name dakkadakka and instead K.K. is being used. An initial set I need not remind anyone is alarmingly close to K.K.K.

I will require ninety percent of all participants net worth in forty-eight hours. Reading this message signifies you are also at fault and owe me money.


Yours insincerely, Charles Carreon.

Ninety percent of their net worth?

Here's 5p, and i'm being generous.

"I've got a better idea," he wrote. "I'm going to try and raise $20,000 in donations. I'm going to take a photo of the raised money. I'm going to mail you that photo, along with this drawing of your mom seducing a Kodiak bear. I'm going to take the money and donate one half to the National Wildlife Federation and the other half to the American Cancer Society."

Perhaps that's why last night you went ahead and filed a lawsuit against myself, the National Wildlife Federation, and the American Cancer Society.

Carreon's Wife wrote:These Techdirt nazi scumbags are doing to Charles what they did to the Jewish lawyers in Nazi Germany. Accusing him of greed and being responsible for the entire economic mess that our country is in. I mean, that is crazy!...

In addition to working for himself, Charles is working for You the People on this one, because who in the world would want this to happen to them? It's a very, very bad thing that's happening on the Internet right now to us, and it could happen to you. They're even threatening our children. One girl was so violent and threatening, said she was going to make my daughter lose her job, that she had to take the entire conversation to her HR manager. These people are BAD, BAD PEOPLE, these Matt Inman people. They are true Internet terrorists. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't involve a lot of the Anonymous people.

Carreon's Wife wrote:
This attack against FunnyJunk and Charles Carreon is an attack against law and order. Matt Inman is an Internet anarchist. Fascists always love an anarchist.