Green Ronin launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover its legal defense in a campaign to reclaim inventory amid Diamond’s bankruptcy.
As the bankruptcy proceedings for Diamond Comic Distributors progress, more and more of the tabletop industry is swept up in it. Today, Green Ronin Publishing, makers of the Expanse RPG and the upcoming Fifth Season RPG, published a crowdfunding campaign. Its aim is to help cover legal costs in the bankruptcy battle. Green Ronin’s aim? Reclaiming inventory from the tabletop distribution giant after Diamond filed a motion to claim ownership of its “consignment inventory” to pay off its largest creditors.
Green Ronin Launches Crowdfunding Campaign For Legal Defense Fund
Green Ronin’s crowdfunding campaign is the latest in a wave of tabletop publishers announcing the dire straits that Diamond’s filing may put them in. Previously, Paizo announced that its books would not be available for wider retail, thanks to the distributor’s bankruptcy. But it goes further. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, Diamond filed to take ownership of its consignment inventory. Why is this a big deal?
Consignment inventory is stock that a distributor normally stores and sells, but doesn’t own. Working through retail stores, it sells the merchandise, paying the manufacturer and retail stores after the product has been sold. In most cases, unsold stock would be returned to the original owners, the individual publishers and manufacturers in this case.
However, Diamond has filed a claim that these publishers have not “satisfied the requirements under applicable law to perfect their interests” in the inventory. Meaning that Diamond could claim ownership of the unsold stock “free and clear of the consignor’s interests”. Meaning it can be sold to pay off its larger creditors. They would be more likely to be prioritized in a case like this.
What the Publisher Has to Say
“My name is Nicole Lindroos, co-owner of Green Ronin Publishing. Diamond Comic Distributors’ recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy has impacted over 100 independent publishers, including Green Ronin, putting us in a very precarious position. Diamond is attempting to use a legal technicality to claim ownership of millions of dollars worth of consigned inventory, which amounts to several hundreds of thousands of dollars for Green Ronin Publishing alone. This is stock that we still own and have not been paid for.
This is a dire financial threat to our company, not just today, but well into the future. We must secure legal representation immediately before the deadline to do so passes.
While there is no “good” time for someone to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of your property to sell for the benefit of their biggest creditors, it is especially challenging given that Gen Con is weeks away. Gen Con is not just a convention for us, it’s our most important annual event for connecting with TTRPG enthusiasts, our business partners, and our community, and this year is no exception. We’re launching new products and have already committed significant funds to cover everything from booth space, travel (flights, rooms), and most critically, the production of new books and merchandise specifically for the show floor.
AdvertisementDiamond’s bankruptcy and this legal action also mean that Green Ronin has lost its book trade distributor. We are looking for a new partner, but that will take some time. Book trade sales of literary licenses, currently The Fifth Season and The Expanse, are a key part of our strategies for those games. This is especially bad timing for The Fifth Season RPG because we recently received final approvals from N.K. Jemisin and the game is ready to go to print.
We simply don’t have the cash on hand to do all of this, pay for an attorney, or participate in any collective legal actions with other publishers in our same position.
The banks are stopping at nothing to wring every last dollar out of Diamond – including taking several hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Green Ronin product to sell in order to pay Diamond’s debts – but they can’t do that, and we’ve got a legal agreement that says as much. Now, we just need to secure a law firm to represent us in the courts.
The funds raised through this campaign will be used directly to cover the escalating legal fees associated with fighting Diamond’s claim in bankruptcy court. This includes attorney retainers, court filing fees, and the costs of pursuing every possible avenue to recover our inventory and protect Green Ronin’s assets.”
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And yeah, the timing of all of this couldn’t be worse for RPG publishers. As Green Ronin’s co-owner, Nicole Lindroos emphasizes, Gen Con is one of the biggest events in tabletop gaming. And it’s right around the corner.
As is a scheduled hearing with the Bankruptcy court. The set is date as July 21st to hear objections from vendors involved in Diamond’s case. Now, Green Ronin, Paizo, and more than a hundred other vendors have precious little time to put objections together. Every second and every dollar seems to count in this whirlwind of a case.
More on the Diamond Bankruptcy as it develops!
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