The Current State of ‘Ryan Kopf v Nerd & Tie’ (We Need Your Help)

Minor Update (7/2019): Since so many have asked, yes — this is still ongoing.

So, as some of you may remember, I and my Nerd & Tie podcast co-host Pher Sturz are being sued by AnimeCon.org owner and CEO Ryan Kopf. This has been ongoing for almost a year in various forms, and we’ve written about it repeatedly (most recently when it was refiled in Illinois this last July). We haven’t been updating our coverage that much, because it hasn’t been that exciting to talk about — and the net result has kind of put things in a stasis. Notably though, Kopf has updated his complaint against us.

You can find details in our prior coverage, but it boils down to this: AnimeCon.org/Chrono LC Ceo and owner Ryan Kopf (who currently runs Anime-Zap!, AniMinneapolis, Anime Midwest, QC Anime-zing!, Con Alt Delete, Meta Con, Yoi Con, and Kanpai!Con) doesn’t like some of the negative press we’ve written about his conventions. I (as the sole owner of Nerd & Tie) am being sued over these articles, while Pher was added to the suit after promoting my initial GoFundMe on Facebook.

If you’re wondering what’s happening now then, we just got the case transferred to another court, but because of that it means the whole thing is going to drag on even longer (well into the spring summer). Mounting a legal defense is exceptionally expensive though, regardless of whether or not you’re in the right – so we’ve been fundraising both directly and through a GoFundMe.

Right now we’ve raised a combined $2148 (and I’m grateful to everyone who has donated), but it’s nowhere near what we need. It is vital we get to at least $5000 to keep the lights on here. Even if you can only give a few dollars, it’d be massively appreciated if you could pitch in. If you’re willing, you can fund our GoFundMe at GoFund.Me/nerdandtie, or if you want to give directly let us know.

Please help us keep this ship sailing.