In the time between where we last left things and now, there have been two major updates. Firstly, as spotted by Dexerto, Bricks & Minifigs has issued a lawsuit against Ben and Bryan Mansell, the owner of the missing $200,000 Star Wars Lego collection, accusing the two of creating a “coordinated multi-platform campaign” against the company that contains “false accusations, fabricated claims, deceptive practices and manufactured confrontations to extort money, racketeer, profiteer and damage [the] Plaintiffs and their business interests.”
The timelines here are important to make note of, as the latest update in Bricks & Minifigs’ lawsuit, a verified motion to “compel mediation and then arbitration,” was issued on May 27, and directly mentions Reckless Ben’s content on Patreon. Jack Conte’s video was uploaded yesterday on June 2, which means that the Patreon CEO is aware of the fact that Reckless Ben’s videos are involved in a recently issued lawsuit.
Plus, Conte specifically notes in the video that the Bricks & Minifigs takedown notice was issued on “May 29,” after the latest update in the lawsuit. This makes it all the more juicy that Conte has chosen to publicly refuse Bricks & Minifigs’ takedown notice and, in turn, potentially goad them into suing Patreon.
“After an extensive review and investigation by Patreon’s Trust and Safety team, we have, in fact, unfortunately determined that Bricks & Minifigs can stuff it,” stated Conte. “We’re keeping Ben’s page up, and if Bricks & Minifigs doesn’t like that, they can sue us. Patreon out.”
On one hand, it’s obviously pretty ballsy for Conte to make a statement like this, but on the other hand…it just comes across as a good business decision to me. Worst case scenario, Bricks & Minifigs successfully sues Patreon and gets some money. However, if Patreon had decided to remove Reckless Ben’s content, the outrage and negative press online would do far more damage to the brand than Bricks & Minifigs would ever get out of them in court. Plus, this way, at least Conte gets to be the internet’s hero for 24 hours.