One of the most disappointing things about our case was the number of people who could have lifted a finger to help, but did nothing. Plenty of people knew that John Szczepaniak was living in France when he committed his libel. To our knowledge, not a single one has reached out to us or informed others of what they knew.
Versus John Szczepaniak
Updates on court proceedings against John Szczepaniak
Monday, February 19, 2018
Final Update?
Monday, January 29, 2018
Trial Update #11
We never did hear back from the Cour de Cassation. We can only assume that the court confirmed its jurisdictional incompetence and dropped the matter, completely. So, as of 2018, that's how things sit: John Szczepaniak has escaped a libel trial in France, and it is too late to sue him for libel in the UK.
This is disappointing, but we are satisfied that we achieved several of our objectives and content to put the matter behind us. If interest in the case picks up again, we may post additional information.
As always, I am available to answer any questions via LinkedIn.
Friday, February 10, 2017
Trial Update #10
Obviously, this blog will remain public as long as John Szczepaniak's libel remains on Kickstarter. If anyone wants further details about the case, feel free to contact me.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Trial Update #9
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Trial Update #8
[EDIT 7/19]
... Almost a week later and still no word from the Cour de Cassation. Registered mail in Japan is very prompt. There may be delays on the French side. Stay tuned.
[EDIT 7/28]
Still no word from the court. Our liason in France suspects they put off drafting a letter until after the summer holidays. Funny. It's been three years since Hanako began her brief stint as coordinator for John, and here we are, still waiting for the court...
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Trial Update #7
Thank you for your continuing interest.
Sincerely,
Monday, November 23, 2015
Letter of Claim
Monday, November 16, 2015
Crowdsourced Investigation: A General Request
Thank you,
Friday, October 30, 2015
Latest Appeal Failed
We are profoundly disappointed by Poitier's judgment. For two years our lives have been tainted by the shiftless (and apparently homeless) John Szczepaniak, who even today shows no remorse, no sense of responsibility, and no willingness to retract or repair his libel. So the libel remains, and Kickstarter mostly ignores us.
I do not accept this outcome. I have convinced my wife, Agness, to go forward with a final appeal to the Cour de Cassation in France. The process will likely take another two years. I expect we will be the only people reading this blog when the final appeal is heard. I am fine with that.
As soon as I get a greenlight from our lawyers, I will publish our Letter of Claim against John Szczepaniak in the UK. This English document provides a good summary of Mr. Szczepaniak's core libel. It was translated and entered as evidence in France, and has never been disputed in court. I hope everyone will take the time to read it. If you have questions, I am happy to answer them via LinkedIn.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Trial Update #6
Monday, September 7, 2015
New Trial Date
On a more interesting note, last week we were alerted to two new developments:
- Basic details of our case against John Szczepaniak were added to the "Controversies" section of the Wikipedia entry for Kickstarter.
- Kickstarter deleted several of the more egregious passages from John’s updates of November 2013, March 2014, and May 2014.
It’s hard to say whether these events are linked. The deleted lines represent only a fraction of the defamatory claims made by John, but they certainly fall under the category of “personal attacks”. Perhaps the appearance of our case on Wikipedia has finally motivated Kickstarter to enforce their policy against such attacks.
We will provide a rundown of all of Kickstarter's edits to John’s posts in a future update.
Friday, June 19, 2015
Message to Project Backers
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
FAQ Part II: One year later
Today, we wanted to answer publicly some of the questions that have come to us privately over the last year. We will also append this content to our Joint Public Statement from April 2014.
FAQ Part II
(June 17, 2015)Prior to John's attacks, the history of interaction between John and Agness consisted entirely of John asking for favours, and Agness granting them. The last favour Agness granted was giving him Hanako's personal contact info, so that he could consult her directly. Six months later, John throws Hanako and her colleagues under the bus, and includes Agness purely out of spite.
Do we have regrets? Yes. Hanako regrets that she continued to ask John for things when she should have demanded them. Agness regrets granting John's request to interview her in 2011.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Trial: Redux
Never stop fighting until the fight is done.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Intermission
Stay tuned. This may be a larger case than we expected.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Verdict
We still don't know whether the court has issued a ruling on the libel itself. I will post again once we have a fuller understanding of the decision.