Regarding William Allen Lasher and his novel Unlawful Presence: A Killer Robot Thriller
Just when you think that William Allen Lasher cannot prove himself to be any more of an ass…
I received a copy of this DMCA Takedown Notice through Cloudflare (not my actual webhost, but my Automatic Platform Optimization (APO) provider, who would forward it to my actual hosting provider as well as send me a copy):
Dear Cloudflare:
I’m a construction contractor and writer. I hired Lorenzo Sperlonga to create original artwork for my novel “Unlawful Presence: A Killer Robot Thriller.” You can find it on Amazon.
Lorenzo is a world-famous artist who’s done covers for Playboy, Penthouse, and Heavy Metal magazines. He created the cover for my novel on canvas and sold me the rights to use the image online for a considerable sum of money. Lorenzo still owns the original painting.
I came across a malicious website in my novel’s search results called lousybookcovers.com. The website not only stole the image but they also are libeling the artwork, the book, and me in a malicious manner.
The “lousy book covers” page in question needs to come down immediately. It is a blatant violation of the DMCA and is not “fair use” as the website owner claims. If it is not removed, I will notify Mr. Sperlonga and his attorney, and together, we will take civil action against the website owner and hosting company. The malicious nature of said website makes this an extremely serious issue. Damages claimed could be in the millions.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Truly,
William A. Lasher
William, you are an ass. You are an ass from top to bottom, left to right, inside and outside.
You claim to be a writer, but here’s a word you use without understanding: “Libel.”
Nothing I posted was malicious or libelous. I said nothing untrue about the cover (which is pretty much THE DEFINITION of “libel”), and I said nothing at all about you or the novel itself. I simply didn’t think the cover was good. THE END.
Of course now, having had personal interaction with your fetid self, I can say from actual experience that you are a festering boil on the anus of humanity, without the sense that God granted an inbred paramecium. You went on a frothing tirade, claiming all sorts of “clever” things about my background, talents, sexuality, etc., and then you had the temerity to claim that MY post was malicious? If you ever become cognizant of the ludicrous irony here, the weight of it will probably crush your (It’s okay, you can go and look up the big words. I’ll still be here when you get back.)
How is it not “fair use,” Billy-the-Shithead? Because you WAAAAAAAH don’t like it? Aw, gee, wipe your sniffles and pull up your big-girl panties.
But hey, if it makes you feel all manly like you have half a functioning gonad, go ahead and threaten attorneys. I HAVE ONE. Pull me to court, and I will make sure that your your flabby ass is paddled for all the world to see.
Bring it, Loser Boy.
Thanks Nathan for teaching me new words, like “paramecium”! Mr. Lasher has no business being a writer if he can’t take criticism! It sucks to get bad reviews, but it happens. Man up, William, and quit obsessing over this website. I’m not a good designer either and I even submitted my own cover for this website to mock! I read your sample, and it’s not very good. I’m no expert either – both of us could benefit from a wring course! Feel free to read, and bash (if you must), my works on https://vocal.media/authors/brad-foster.
Mr. Lasher needs to read up on the legal definition of “fair use.” I doubt his request will go anywhere.
Nathan, while I understand your frustration over this, I’d urge you to be careful with your replies. You have every right to show us Mr. Lasher’s outbursts, but please don’t allow him to drag you down to his level. Let his absurd behavior speak for itself.
Actually, Mr. Lasher should be thanking you for the publicity, because your site actually links his cover back to his Amazon product page. Dosen’t that make you an affiliate? 😉
Anyway, Mr. Lasher has made it painfully clear that he paid a lot of money for that image, and not even for exclusive use, apparently. It leaves me wondering if all his drama is rooted in frustration over taking a big financial loss.
The difference, Bruce, is that I didn’t lob insults toward Lasher’s person until AFTER Lasher had demonstrated that he’s both vindictive and dangerously ignorant. But I still didn’t make assumptions or derogatory comments about facts not in evidence (eg, his sexuality, residence, or hair color).
I could be wrong, here, but I suspect that poor Mr. Sperlonga is going to have a heart attack about the emails from Mr. Lasher that have been reproduced here.
I mean, their names will now be inextricably linked together and I can’t fathom anyone who works “on the net” being thrilled with that sort of publicity.
Sure are some weird contradictions in this screed.
He commissioned the painting, but doesn’t own it. He only licensed the right to use it on his cover. But then, the original painting is offered for sale (at a discount) on the artist’s website.
Besides, here is what the US Copyright Office says about “fair usage”: “Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports.” I draw attention to “commentary” and “criticism.”
This page is actually a sequel to “ADMIN: The self-pwn is strong with this one” (April 1, 2021) and the first shots fired across Nathan’s bow by Lasher make Nathan’s responses here seem tame and civil.
https://lousybookcovers.com/?p=1923185
Lasher’s understanding of “fair use” of copyrighted material in commentary or criticism is as unconstitutional as Righthaven’s and Righthaven lost big time trying to enforce its narrow exclusive view of reprinting exerpts from news articles in criticism, commentaries or op-eds.
So… You can buy a car for less than $ 2,000, but you can’t get the exclusivity of an artwork for that same amount?
I know art is like any other job: it must be well paid; but, man, we are talking about two grand. Even on Pixiv or Artstation you can get exclusivity for way less than that.
In other hand, this is escalating quickly. We (and for we I’m talking about Mr. Lasher) need to calm down before this transforms on an Empress Theresa code.
I have to say, not having the exclusivity for a $2K drawing or piece of cover art would probably make me insane, too. Two Thou is a lotta dough.
Granted, that’s not what is making Mr. Lasher angry here; he’s angry that some of us don’t like Miss Bazooms on the cover, or think that it’s just…well, let’s face it, silly. The responses thus far do seem wildly out of proportion. I mean, hell, if the book is selling, with Miss Bazooms on the cover, why not laugh it off?
El Cochinote: honestly, this is already in Empress Theresa range. Well within it. Up there with Greek Seamen, too. I know that there’s a third wild-ass story about reviews and angry authors, too, but I can’t recall it right now.
C’mon, Nathan, tell us how you really feel.
Mr. Lasher seems rather calm when attempting to convince an entity (Cloudfare) to take action and remove something from the internet when his internet rage ranting could not. I’m still trying to wrap my head around commissioning a piece of art and only getting a license to use it online rather than owning the original art and exclusive rights.
i’d bet money this dude thinks cancel culture is a Bad Thing. Unless of course, he’s the one trying to “cancel” someone, then it’s just fair, or something
“Damages claimed could be in the millions.” Is this man the lost third brother of Digital Homicide games?
What’s he gonna do, claim that that quoting him verbatim makes him look like a bigoted manchild?
On top of all that, the original post was over a year ago. Talk about topical.