ARTS & FARCES internet

Media Release

For further information contact:

Karen Fraase
Phone: +1 (651) 698 0741
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Web: http://www.farces.com/

For Immediate Release

Saint Paul, Minnesota; October 30, 1995—ARTS & FARCES today announced that the company has received a six-figure judgment award in its year-long arbitration against Ventana Press, Inc. The arbitration issues revolved around ARTS & FARCES proprietor Michael Fraase’s best-selling Internet Tour Guide series, Mac Internet Tour Guide, PC Internet Tour Guide, and Windows Internet Tour Guide books published by Ventana Press, Inc. The first editions are out of print. They have been replaced with second editions over which Michael Fraase had no creative or editorial control.

Fraase charged in his arbitration complaint that Ventana had wrongfully applied its costs for second-edition authors against his first edition royalties; that Ventana had retained unreasonable reserves against returns; and that Ventana had profited from “at-cost” sales of his titles for which he received no royalty payment. The award of the arbitrator found in Fraase’s favor in each of these charges.

“This dispute with Ventana has been long and arduous, and it’s only starting,” commented Michael Fraase, proprietor and cofounder of ARTS & FARCES. “There are still payment discrepancy, copyright infringement, fraud, damage to business reputation, and Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) charges against Ventana yet to be resolved through the arbitration process.”

“Hopefully, this will send a clear signal to Ventana and other publishers that authors will vigorously defend their intellectual and creative property rights,” Fraase concluded.

“The arbitrator saw the unfairness of the publisher’s actions towards Mr. Fraase, and began restoring an equitable balance between the parties with his award,” noted Christopher Sandberg, counsel for Fraase. Sandberg is an attorney with the Minneapolis law firm of Schatz Paquin Lockridge Grindal & Holstein P.L.L.P.

About ARTS & FARCES

Saint Paul, Minnesota-based ARTS & FARCES is a multifaceted communications and professional services business specializing in information design and architecture, technical writing, publishing (print, electronic, and online), and general business and technology consulting.

In continuous operation since 1979, the firm’s clients range from one-person businesses and successful startups to major design firms and Fortune 100 companies.