SCP Community,



A Russian man has illegally registered an illegitimate trademark for SCP within the Eurasian Customs Union. He has used this trademark to threaten and extort legitimate sellers of SCP merchandise. In addition, he has committed copyright infringement by violating the SCP content license: Creative Commons Share-alike 3.0. We first updated the community about this situation 6 months ago, and now it has escalated.



This man has recently resumed his efforts to threaten and extort competitors, and has now begun to threaten SCP itself. He used the illegitimate trademark to shut down the official social media page of the Russian branch of the SCP Foundation Wiki, as well as a separate fan-page. We attempted to negotiate with VK, the social media company in question, but so long as the trademark registration stands they will abide by it. Now, he has followed this by making a ridiculous demand to be administrator of the Russian wiki, and that said wiki be twisted into an advertisement for his merchandise rather than the writing community that it is.



These actions threaten not only the Russian wiki, but every SCP branch, writer, and fan around the world. We stand with SCP-RU, reject these threats, and are organizing a lawsuit to annul his false trademark, prevent copyright infringement, and protect the community. As an organization of volunteers, this is a measure we do not often pursue due to the costs involved.



Last May, we received many offers from generous SCP fans offering to donate to a legal fund. At the time we did not accept any offers, as we believed the situation could be resolved via diplomacy. With these new developments, this is no longer possible. As such, we humbly ask that anyone who loves SCP and has some money to spare donate to our legal fund in order to protect our global community.



The goal amount was determined via the advice of our legal counsel based on the costs of similar cases in the past. As SCP is not a formally incorporated legal entity, the funds raised will be placed into a personal account of SCP Master Administrator John Beattie. From there, the funds will be transferred as needed to SCP-RU's lawyer, Svyatoslav Chusov of the Hour of Justice firm.



The funds raised will be used to engage Svyatoslav Chusov of the Hour of Justice firm as the legal representative of Dimitriy Zelten, the administrator of SCP-RU and the representative of SCP in Russia, for the duration of this lawsuit. They will also be used to pay the fees for the creation of a formal legal position on the case, the drafting of a statement of claim, the filing fee for the lawsuit, the fee for gathering of case materials, and the fees for full representation and accompaniment during a trial. Finally, they will be used to obtain expert witnesses related to the technical or cultural facts of the case should their testimony be necessary. In the event that any money raised in this fundraiser remains following the conclusion of the lawsuit and any associated appeals, it will be held in an account specifically earmarked for the collective legal defense of the SCP Foundation branches.



The SCP community maintains a unified front against these threats. Please spread the word about this situation on social media using the hashtag #standwithscpru. With your help, SCP will continue to thrive.

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