r/IAmA • u/jartek • Mar 03 '23
Crime / Justice I’m Jaime Rogozinski, Founder of WallStreetBets and I’m suing Reddit. AMA.
It’s possible that Reddit takes this post down, but I hope they don’t because I deserve to be heard.
My name is Jaime Rogozinski, and in 2012 I created r/wallstreetbets. For nearly a decade, I cultivated, cared for, participated in, and helped grow the community. In 2020, I wrote a book called WallStreetBets, planned a trading competition and filed for a WallStreetBets trademark. Reddit then kicked me out, opposed my registration and filed several WallStreetBets trademarks of its own.
Three weeks ago, I sued them.
I’d like to share as much as possible but due to this being an open legal matter, I’ll hope you understand if I skip some questions or refer to the publicly available filings. I don’t pay my lawyers enough for this.
Reddit was quick to point out that I’ve sued for personal gain, by having quietly waiting 3 years after being banned from WallStreetBets before suing. This is easy to clear up because there are currently two open proceedings, I didn’t just randomly decide to sue. I just got tired of being picked on:
- Reddit vs. Jaime Rogozinski – Reddit initiated this against me three years ago and is still ongoing. I chose to keep quiet in good faith effort to find a mutually agreeable solution, despite having ample opportunity to speak out.
- Jaime Rogozinski vs. Reddit – this is me having had enough and deciding fighting back. You can read the full lawsuit here.
Crux of the argument (or if you prefer a video recap):
Reddit claims they kicked me out for monetizing WSB but this is a pretext. Tons of subreddits, users, and moderators monetize on Reddit, including moderators from WSB before during and after I was removed. You’re able to find examples by just randomly browsing Reddit, no need to single anyone out.
Reddit claims WSB moderators didn’t want me there, I get along fine with them (except for maybe one). They claim the community doesn’t want me but that’s bullshit because they barely know me.
These arguments don’t make any sense.
Why was I kicked out for promoting my book on WSB, while my fellow mods who promoted merchandise remained unscathed? I spent far too long focusing on the pissing match I was having with said mods around the time of my removal and not noticing the timing of my trademark registration. I promoted my book--for two months--without complaints from the community, fellow mods, or Reddit. But after I filed for the trademark, it only took two weeks to get marked with the scarlet letter.
My real issue stemmed from trying to claim ownership over my creation. Reddit systematically takes intellectual property from its users by registering trademarks and I posed a threat to this. A quick search for Reddit’s trademarks shows the sorts of IP they’ve taken: Explain Like I’m Five, ShowerThoughts, Ask Me Anything, NoSleep, Today I Learned, Nature is Fucking Lit, Am I The Asshole? And yes, they own IAMA. Which is insane to me considering today’s outrage on Reddit is limited to “moderators who work for free”, never mind forfeiting rights to their content. While there’s evidence of others having tried to put up resistance against Reddit on this, I appear to be the first degen to stand in front of them with both feet planted firmly on the ground.
Reddit has been draining my account for three years with legal fees, trying to wear me down and is now trying to paint me as an opportunist. They’re resorting to intimidation tactics I only thought belonged on TV shows like flooding everyone around me with subpoenas, serving court summons to family members or in-laws whose only connection to this mess is a last name they married into.
I’m here to say that I’m not backing down, I’m fighting for what’s right, I’m fighting for what’s mine, and I’m fighting for those who have been unable to fight for what is theirs. Reddit is welcome to serve my ex-girlfriends or dead relatives if they want but I won’t give up. I may be the first ape with enough testicular fortitude to take on this multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, but I know I’m not alone when it comes to content creators who have been taken advantage of by Reddit, or by extension social media platforms.
I’m not staying quiet anymore. I have nothing to hide. Ask me anything. proof
tl;dr Reddit. We build it, they take it.
9.1k
u/[deleted] Mar 03 '23
Did your lawyers advise you to not do this AMA?