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Bob Dylan AUTOPEN Info To Help With Returns / Refunds - Simon & Schuster, Premiere, and Coles

***URGENT UPDATE

Three Articles Published by Chris Willman at Variety
 
 
 
 
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A message posted by Bob Dylan to his Facebook account
 
To my fans and followers,
 
I’ve been made aware that there’s some controversy about signatures on some of my recent artwork prints and on a limited-edition of Philosophy Of Modern Song. I’ve hand-signed each and every art print over the years, and there’s never been a problem.
However, in 2019 I had a bad case of vertigo and it continued into the pandemic years. It takes a crew of five working in close quarters with me to help enable these signing sessions, and we could not find a safe and workable way to complete what I needed to do while the virus was raging. So, during the pandemic, it was impossible to sign anything and the vertigo didn’t help. With contractual deadlines looming, the idea of using an auto-pen was suggested to me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ in the art and literary worlds.
Using a machine was an error in judgment and I want to rectify it immediately. I’m working with Simon & Schuster and my gallery partners to do just that.
 
With my deepest regrets,
Bob Dylan

 

Previous update 
Some users have uncovered potential autopen use within Bob Dylan's expensive art prints. Please check your prints if you own one and post a picture on this thread if you have any concerns.

here is a link to one of his art prints in question

https://www.castlefineart.com/art/bob-dylan/cactus

*UPDATE -  Let this be a warning to ALL publishers and celebrities in the future. We are sick and tired of these autopen releases. Our community has had enough and absolutely will not stand for this practice to continue any longer!!! 

I want to point out that Coles Books needs to be commended. They made sure to look out for their customers and refused to ship these out if they came from the same S&S stock, which they did. It was also an easy process to cancel orders beforehand if you wished. Coles. on behalf of everyone, I want to thank you for having integrity and watching out for all of us.

I can NOT say the same about Premiere Collectibles. They refused to honor cancelation requests until it was known these books were in fact autopenned. They advertise themselves claiming they are collectors themselves. This is not true. They are a retailer first and only care about your money. There have been other autopen incidents where they absolutely refused to accept blame, stating items were real when they were clearly deemed autopen by the community. Be careful with future purchases with Premiere Collectibles.

This email came directly from Jonathan Karp at Simon and Schuster. If anyone still wishes to send him a message, here is his email address as well.

jonathan.karp@simonandschuster.com

We apologize for the mistake that was made and are offering a full refund of your purchase.  Please keep your copy of The Philosophy of Modern Song at no cost. We hope you will enjoy reading it.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Karp

Here are 51 articles and counting detailing our combined efforts on this forum

New York Post - Screenshot.jpg

New York Times - Screenshot.jpg

Los Angeles Times - Screenshot.jpg

Washington Post - Screenshot.jpg

Rolling Stone - Screenshot.jpg

Rolling Stone pt2 - Screenshot.jpg

Billboard - Screenshot.jpg

Billboard pt2 - Screenshot.jpg

Variety - Screenshot.jpg

Variety pt2 - Screenshot.jpg

Variety pt3 - Screenshot.jpg

USA Today - Screenshot.jpg

The Daily Beast - Screenshot.jpg

People - Screenshot.jpg

Daily Mail - Screenshot.jpg

Ultimate Classic Rock - Screenshot.jpg

Yahoo - Screenshot.jpg

Inside Hook - Screenshot.jpg

Poetic Justice - Screenshot.jpg

Exclaim - Screenshot.jpg

The Music Universe - Screenshot.jpg

Literary Hub - Screenshot.jpg

Stereogum - Screenshot.jpg

Esquire - Screenshot.jpg

Boing Boing - Screenshot.jpg

NME pt1 - Screenshot.jpg

NME pt2 - Screenshot.jpg

I Heart Radio - Screenshot.jpg

Publishers Lunch - Subscription required

Spiegel - Translated Screenshot.jpg

Boston 25 - Screenshot.jpg

Spin - Screenshot.jpg

Uproxx - Screenshot.jpg

Newser - Screenshot.jpg

Vigour Times - Screenshot.jpg

Pitchfork - Screenshot.jpg

UPI pt1 - Screenshot.jpg

UPI pt2 - Screenshot.jpg

Daily Caller - Screenshot.jpg

Far Out Magazine - Screenshot.jpg

Gulf News - Screenshot.jpg

Breitbart - Screenshot.jpg

American Songwriter - Screenshot.jpg

American Top 40 - Screenshot.jpg

We Got This Covered - Screenshot.jpg

Healthcare Buisness - Screenshot.jpg

Music News - Screenshot.jpg

Music Times - Screenshot.jpg

Happy Mag - Screenshot.jpg

Sydney Morning Herald - Screenshot.jpg

The Guardian - Screenshot.jpg

--------------------------------------------

ORIGINAL POST

I am creating this thread as a comprehensive all in 1 link for returns, refunds, chargebacks and claims made regarding the "signed" edition of Bob Dylan - The Philosophy Of Modern Song. Please use this link to email Simon & Schuster, Coles, and Premiere Collectables as 100% proof these were signed using an autopen machine. 

I would like to say right off the bat, Coles Books in the UK is handling this professionally and seem to care deeply about their customer base. They have stated that, once they are in hand, If they find evidence of them being autopenned, they will cancel all orders.. Kudos to Coles.. I wish all retailers would follow their lead. If you wish to cancel your order with them immediately instead of waiting, It seems to be an easy process.

This post will be continuously updated with new information over the next few days

Please refer to this article for the time being until more information is added

https://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1290-cjbk/news/collectors-quest...

Here is the post I created a few weeks ago with info regarding the Indigo incident.

https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/indigo-bob-dylan-po...

So far, there have been a total of 17 confirmed different templates for the autopen machine used for Bob Dylans signature. I am in the process of creating video comparisons for all 17 sets. Please post full page photos of your item as they are delivered to aid in this process 

Here are all 17 templates used by Bob Dylan - I am still looking for full page photos for numbers 8,13 and 15 thru 17 but its still best to post whatever you receive

Be aware when checking against your own copy, it has come to light that they are possibly using 1st and last names interchangeably. Bob in #2 matches perfectly with Bob in #13 while Dylan in both are different

14th variation confirmed

15th variation

16th variation - Seems to be almost an exact combination of #11 and #13 with a different vertical line in his "D" 

17th variation

Video and photo comparisons created so far

Video of set 1 Dylan1.mp4  - Photo of set 1 Dylan1.JPG

Video of set 2 Dylan2.mp4  - Photo of set 2 Dylan2.JPG

Video of set 3 Dylan3.mp4  - Photo of set 3 Dylan3.JPG

Video of set 4 Dylan4.mp4  - Photo of set 4 Dylan4.JPG

Video of set 5 Dylan5.mp4  - Photo of set 5 Dylan5.JPG

Video of set 6 Dylan6.mp4  - Photo of set 6 Dylan6.JPG

Video of set 7 Dylan7.mp4  - Photo of set 7 Dylan7.JPG

Video of set 9 Dylan9.mp4  - Photo of set 9 Dylan9.JPG

Video of set 10 Dylan10.mp4 - Photo of set 10 Dylan10.JPG

Video of set 11 Dylan11.mp4 - Photo of set 11 Dylan11.JPG

Video of set 12 Dylan12.mp4 - Photo of set 12 Dylan12.JPG

Video of set 14 Dylan14.mp4 - Photo of set 14 Dylan14.JPG

Here are the COAs stating these books were in fact hand-signed

Suzanne Baboneau for UK - Certificate Of Authenticity UK.jpg

Jonathan Karp for USA - Certificate Of Authenticity USA.JPG

Coles listing before it was removed - Coles Website Listing.jpg

Important emails:

Jonathan Karp US - CEO of Simon & Schuster
jonathan.karp@simonandschuster.com

Duane Ward of Premiere Collectables
duane@premierespeakers.com  - Others have tried duane@premierecollectables.com

Suzanne Baboneau, Managing Director
suzanne.baboneau@simonandschuster.co.uk

Ian Chapman, UK - CEO
ian.chapman@simonandschuster.co.uk

Bob Dylan's Manager

Jeff Kramer
OK Management
275 South Beverly Drive
Suite 215
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Phone: 310-535-1647


Bob Dylan's Agent

Brian Greenbaum
Creative Artists Agency
2000 Avenue Of The Stars
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Phone: 424-288-2000


Bob Dylan's Production Agent

Sony/Columbia/CBS Records
550 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 212-833-7305


Bob Dylan's Law Firm

Manatt Phelps & Phillips
11355 West Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Phone: 310-312-4000

Bob Dylan's Twitter

Tweet or privatly message Bob on his verified Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/bobdylan/

Bob Dylan's Facebook

Post or message Bob on his verified Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/bobdylan/

I also found this email associated with Bob Dylans store. Its worth a try

BOBDYLAN@EPICRIGHTS.COM

Media Publications who may be eager to pick up this story - Please email them a link to this post and all related content

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/corp/contactus.html

For story pitches, please send:
News to Jim Milliot and John Maher
Soapbox ideas to Rachel Deahl
Features to features@publishersweekly.com

Related content:

Dolly Parton is also guilty of using multiple autopens in the same fashion with multiple templates over the years but with a slight twist where they manipulate the page as the autopen machine writes her signature. If we are looking to stop all future attempts at autopen usage, she needs to be held accountable just as much as Bob Dylan and S&S. Link to threads below

Here is a great example provided by Eric Keith Longo

Dolly Parton Autopen Example.jpg

http://www.feelnumb.com/2022/03/09/dolly-parton-fake-autograph-song...

https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/dolly-parton-signed...

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Replies to This Discussion

I'm still researching his signature. If the ambidextrous theory doesn't pan out, I may just switch to feeling this way. Its really strange how Nichole was fighting certain aspects. Im going to keep on gathering information and researching every aspect.. message to Bobs team - if you are watching this thread still, contact me and maybe you can buy my silence haha oops, too late

No he admitted some are autopen 

and they are from that last batch 

Hopefully they give everyone who bought the fake copy first dibs if they're actually real this time. After all this if they sent out fakes again that would be beyond dumb. So I'd probably be inclined to believe they'd be real after this mess. Hopefully not secretarial but definitely no more autopen I'd hope... at least until they improve that technology. Lol

At this point they've seen what hundreds or thousands of autograph collectors can do collectively. So trying to pass fakes again would be a terrible idea. They'd be better off not doing anything. Buy I hope they do send out real signed stuff to people who bought the fakes.

If he did sign the Book Copies  for S&S he should also sign for the Indigo Customers too!

Likewise he would obviously need to Sign every single fraudulantly sold art Print, all the many thousands of loyal, loving Bob Dylan Super Fans - who tirelessly worked many hours to afford to buy these prints and books in the first place, I used my heating oil fund to buy my Dylan Signed Indigo Book ! So was prepared to go Cold this winter for you Bob !!!

It's a shame Bob didn't lift a damn finger - he should be disgusted with himself and how he has de-frauded many thousands of loyal fans! 

I think at least the S&S customers should get something, and definitely the print people. I'm sure there's a decent amount of overlap between the Indigo and S&S buyers... or maybe they shouldn't get anything for being as dumb as I am and believing they might be real after the first time... So maybe only the print people should get anything after all lol. 

Any artists here?  Has anyone actually seen Dylan  painting any of his so ccalled materpeices in the last few years?

When i paint that masterpiece 

If he had vertigo, just take a break from signing, dont come up with a way to steal millions from your fanbase.. amazing.. Im Bob Dylan and I can rob a bank if I just tell the cops I twisted my ankle.. this is his thinking?

I've been saying this since the beginning. Dylan didn't have to do any of this.

1) He penned a book (potentially ghostwritten, IMO) that is currently getting flak from other artists (allegedly for impacting their reputations).

2) He either signed off on or was ignorant on the plan to autopen (neither is a good look), though it now seems he did know about it and excused the whole thing by claiming it was due to "vertigo", which is a cop-out.

3) When it was discovered that the Indigo batch was faked, they not only turned to a different distribution vector, but either convinced or lied through their teeth so much that multiple parties at S&S (including its President, the head of one of its largest divisions, design, marketing and PR teams) took them at their word and doubled-down on it.

4) It's had the knock-on effect of not only making Dylan look like a fool for tacitly endorsing this scheme, but led to claims/proof that some (potentially most?) of his prints are either autopen or secretarial. The jury's still out on that one.

And all of this is happening in a pandemic/post-pandemic era where artists are getting routinely caught out while trying to fleece their fans. What did Dylan's team think was going to happen?

Good job everyone . You all did god’s  work 

He has vertigo but was able to play about 100 concerts a year for two hours a night and travel worldwide but didn’t have the stamina to signs is name a few times a day ?

Or just send everyone who bought a fake signature a signed photo as a good will gesture... or even better a signed vinyl. I'll sign over my legal rights to sue if he sends me one of those... I'll sign it with a non legally binding fake signature though. Joking of course. 

At minimum a discount would be nice... but I hope they at least give everyone who wasted their time and money dealing with the fake books first dibs on anything they put out that is real. Otherwise it doesn't do the people that had faith in Bob in the first place, and those who went through the trouble much good. 

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