• nocturne@slrpnk.net
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    2 days ago

    JP Morgan Chase claimed a lien on all products stored in Diamond’s warehouse, including nearly $10 million in Paizo inventory. We cannot currently access this inventory, pending ongoing litigation.

    Diamond’s exclusive contract prevented us from immediately moving to a new distributor, even after they stopped selling our books. A judge terminated that contract earlier this year, but Diamond has appealed, delaying resolution.

    Let me take a second to say FUCK YOU to Diamond, they were a horrible predatory company.

      • nocturne@slrpnk.net
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        24 hours ago

        I think this is going to upend the gaming industry. Paizo is far from the only publisher affected by this. Some smaller companies used Diamond for all of their warehousing.

        JPMorgan Fights Over Millions of Comic Books Locked in a Mississippi Warehouse

        Archived to remove paywall

        The Diamond drama has been costly for dozens of smaller, independent publishers who have been shut out from their stock since last year. Books and games could be sold to repay creditors if they lose — and JPMorgan is in front of Diamond’s repayment line because of its senior lien.

        Vendors succeeded in convincing a judge to pause a sale of the inventory, saying any proceeds would get scooped up by JPMorgan. But the pause has also meant publishers large and small have been cut off from accessing their products. Diamond had more than 120 consignment vendors, including Hellboy publisher Dark Horse Comics and Titan Comics, whose titles include Star Wars and Doctor Who-based comics.

        Penguin Random House imprint Boom! Studios said because its goods are being “held hostage” the publisher can’t send rewards to customers that supported one of its Kickstarter campaigns held weeks before Diamond’s bankruptcy. And at least some of the inventory has depreciated during its extended stay in the warehouse, with publishers in December saying some of the stock “loses value each and every day.”

    • notabot@piefed.social
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      1 day ago

      In this case, appealing to stop the termination is probably driven by the insolvency process and the practitioners put in place to manage it. The contract will be seen as having potential value to any buyer, so they have to fight to keep it, regardless of the harm it does to the trapoed customers like Paizo.