We've Been Sued by Christopher Morales

Last Wednesday I was directed to an article on Autograph Alert that, beyond saying the usual things they say about this site and me, seemingly "outed" one of our members whose comments they didn't like. At the end of the article, they wrote:

"By the time you read this story,
Cyrkin will have the first of a major rude awakening,
one he has invited and is well deserved."

The next morning I received an email from a court services firm asking for an appointment to serve me with legal papers. I arranged to be served this Wednesday. And I had a copy of the suit sent to me.

I have been sued by Christopher Morales, the autograph authenticator I have called, "the forger's best friend." Morales is joining me to his lawsuit against Roger Epperson alleging:

libel
slander
business disparagement
tortuous interference with prospective business relations, and
civil conspiracy.

I don't look forward to this or any lawsuit. Who does? But I feel it's my duty, and all of ours, to do everything we can to protect collectors, fans and the autograph hobby against forgeries. So, like Roger has, I'll defend the lawsuit vigorously—and I will not stop speaking out.

I stand behind everything I've ever said or published about Christopher Morales, and the forgery industry that uses him. I would be surprised if even one-percent of the autographs he has authenticated are genuine. But this is Morales's opportunity to prove that I am wrong; that most of the autographs he authenticates ARE genuine—and that we are "out to get him."

The truth is on our side.

Sincerely,

Steve Cyrkin
Editor & Publisher

10 members like this

Comment by roger epperson on March 23, 2011 at 9:47am: DB, trust me you don't want to spend the money it takes to do just what I am doing much less anything more. Good thought though!

Comment by Paul S. on March 23, 2011 at 12:35pm: How come nobody has even thought about a class-action lawsuit against these authenticators and auction houses that have done so much harm to the hobby and made a pretty nice fortune? Go to www.myccsa.com and type in MORALES in the browse function and just gaze with amazement all these rarities that are sold month after month for pennies on the dollar. Where is this stuff coming from? Be sure to ask Chris this, who thinks Babe Ruth signed jerseys and pants selling for a few hundred dollars is rather common in the marketplace. Every person that buys and sells autographs, instead of their next purchase, should donate the money to fund these battles. I hope we are better off for this in the long run and good luck Steve and Roger.

Comment by Earl R Spencer on March 23, 2011 at 2:44pm: you know it brother!

i'm in Canada and I have heard a lot about this

man and what he has done to some people.

E.R.S.

Comment by Earl R Spencer on March 23, 2011 at 2:48pm: I know for a fact the Babe signed baseballs

but never heard of him doing anything else ,like hats and shirts .

It just wasn't done so much back then

Comment by Earl R Spencer on March 23, 2011 at 2:50pm: More power to you both,and

may the good Lord put a hand in

on your side.

Comment by Richard Kim on March 23, 2011 at 4:20pm: The problems with this whole issue are:

(1) Who are the victims - people who actually own/purchased the fake items?

(Without the victim, there is no crime.)

(2) After the auction is over, the only evidence left are the screen shots from the website.

That is why I have created the Memorabilia Registry (MemReg.com) . It would be great if the person who ACTUALLY owns the item to register them in the public domain, so that now we can all take a look knowing that the SOMEONE actually has the physical evidence in their hands. I have seen many pictures of the fake items - but no one seems to claim that you actually HAVE that item. So please register the item, claim the ownership - and then try to claim its authenticity. We can then start to build evidence against forgers and the whole community will be able to make our own determination.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 23, 2011 at 5:00pm: R Kim,

I went to your site--nice. The largest images I saw were maybe 400 pixels wide. Do you have larger settings available?

Comment by Richard S. Simon on March 23, 2011 at 5:04pm: I hope this will be the autograph war to end all autograph wars.

The last war to end all wars did not exactly turn out as hoped but we are all hoping for a positive conclusion to this one.

Having already been through three legal wars I am aware of everything that is involved.

It is unfortunate that the hobby of collecting autographs has descended to this level but we live in a litigious society.

The truth will win out in the end.

Comment by Richard Kim on March 23, 2011 at 5:13pm: Steve - In order to provide some "standardization", we have limited the size of the scanned picture - so that all item information can be presented in an uniform fashion. However, you can attach as many additional pictures for an item, so if needed, multiple close-ups of the details can be attached for forensic analysis, if desired. You can also attach any COAs, pictures with the celebrity, etc. so that the owner can claim the provenance.

Comment by Richard Kim on March 23, 2011 at 5:32pm: Greg - I agree, this "war" will never end, hence, we need a long-term approach to this solution. Once all "good autographs" (and bad autograph exemplars) have been registered and cataloged (and their owners identified), then any "new or unexpected" items that will pop-up in the future (for example, when a celebrity dies), will be met with much skepticism and will be harder to be swindled by bad forgers, sellers and authenticators.

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