The Village Magazine / Privilege Media Group International

[angelahoy]

COMPLAINT ABOUT: The Village Magazine / thevillagemagazine.com AND
Privilege Media Group International, Inc. / PMGIntl.com

The following letter was sent out on Jun 23, 2005 and again on July 11, 2005.

From: Angela Hoy
To: JM@PMGIntl.com (and other email addresses for this firm)
Subject: (Fwd) Complaint about Privilege Media Group International, Inc

From: Angela Hoy
To: JM@PMGIntl.com (and other email addresses for this firm)
Subject: Complaint about Privilege Media Group International, Inc. and The Village Magazine
Date sent: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 22:10:06 -0400

Complaint about The Village Magazine and Privilege Media Group International, Inc.

June 22, 2005

Jonathan Michel, Editor & Publisher
The Village Magazine, Inc.
HARVARD SQUARE Building
206 West Bonita Avenue, 2nd Floor
Claremont, CA 91711
P(909)626-6696
F(909)626-6625
http://www.thevillagemagazine.com

and

Jonathan Michel, President & CEO
Privilege Media Group International, Inc.
9899 Little Santa Monica, Suite 177
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
P(310)772-8189
Cell (310)871-4075
F(310)388-1684
JM@PMGIntl.com
http://www.PMGIntl.com

WritersWeekly.com has received a complaint about: The Village Magazine / thevillagemagazine.com AND Privilege Media Group International, Inc. / PMGIntl.com

WritersWeekly.com is a publication that publishes information for and about freelance writers. The publication is the largest-circulation freelance writing ezine in the world.

As part of that information, WritersWeekly.com publishes a Warnings section on its website and in its newsletter. This warning section contains reports about publications that are unprofessional in dealing with writers, have refused to pay writers money owed to them, who have not abided by their contracts, or who have unfair contract terms. These reports are used by WritersWeekly.com's subscribers to decide which publications they should and should not work with.

Your firm has been submitted to us for inclusion in the WritersWeekly.com Whispers and Warnings section.

Step one of our investigation of this report is to gather all relevant
correspondence between your publication and the person submitting the complaint so that we can piece together that person's side of the story.
Step one of our investigation has been completed.

L.H. (name removed for publication) alleges you owe him $75.00. He also alleges you owe other writers money and that you've evading their collection attempts.

-----------------
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
-----------------

The second step in our investigation is to send this communication to your firm to get its side of the story. If you have evidence disputing these allegations, or would like to make your own statement about these allegations for publication in our report, please email angela@writersweekly.com within two business days. All correspondence for our investigations must be in writing and is subject to publication.

Our report on your firm is scheduled for inclusion in our publication next Wednesday.

If there is no response to these allegations, WritersWeekly.com will still publish this complaint, but our readers will not be able to read your side of the story.

We appreciate your prompt response in this matter.

Angela Hoy
Publisher
WritersWeekly.com

COMPLAINT FROM WRITER
I was contracted about a year ago by Johnathan Michel of The
Privelege Media Group International to write articles for a magazine, The Village. The short and I'm sure familiar story is that after publishing my article in April 2005, I still have not been paid, which is in clear violation of the signed contract. The magazine's website, e-mails, and Johnathan's cell have all been shut down with no forwarding address. His direct office line still has an answering machine and he has not returned any of my calls. I've recently been in touch with other writers on the staff
and none of them have been paid. One was told he had a right to publish all of our work for free and she threatened to sue with no response. All of the correspondences and e-mails are well-documented.
-L.H.

UPDATE: PUBLISHER'S RESPONSE

From: "Johnathan Michel"
Subject: Your Web site listing
Date sent: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 09:37:47 -0700
Organization: Privilege Media Group International, Inc.

Dear Angela:

I don't know who the writer is reporting such claim about our publication (TheVILLAGE Magazine). If you have information to substantiate said claim please provide immediately so that we may address said issue immediately. In any case, I must insist that you cease and desist such libelous commentary on your Web site immediately.

Sincerely,
J.M.

WRITERSWEEKLY'S RESPONSE

To: "Johnathan Michel"
Subject: Re: Your Web site listing / Privilege Media Group
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 13:51:33 -0400

Below is the email we sent to you on 7/11/05 and 6/23/05.
You, nor anybody, responded to our emails.

We sent him a copy of the original email but he never again bothered to respond to this particular complaint, despite an additional note sent to him requesting a response.

[angelahoy]

Another Complaint about The Village Magazine / Privilege Media Group

July 25, 2005

Jonathan Michel, Editor & Publisher
The Village Magazine, Inc.
HARVARD SQUARE Building
206 West Bonita Avenue, 2nd Floor
Claremont, CA 91711
P(909)626-6696
F(909)626-6625
http://www.thevillagemagazine.com

and

Jonathan Michel, President & CEO
Privilege Media Group International, Inc.
9899 Little Santa Monica, Suite 177
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
P(310)772-8189
Cell (310)871-4075
F(310)388-1684
JM@PMGIntl.com
http://www.PMGIntl.com

WritersWeekly.com has received ANOTHER complaint about:
The Village Magazine / thevillagemagazine.com AND
Privilege Media Group International, Inc. / PMGIntl.com

WritersWeekly.com is a publication that publishes information for and
about freelance writers. The publication is the largest-circulation
freelance writing ezine in the world.

As part of that information, WritersWeekly.com publishes a Warnings
section on its website and in its newsletter. This warning section
contains reports about publications that are unprofessional in dealing
with writers, have refused to pay writers money owed to them, who have
not abided by their contracts, or who have unfair contract terms.
These reports are used by WritersWeekly.com's subscribers
to decide which publications they should and should not work with.

Your firm has been submitted to us for inclusion in the
WritersWeekly.com Whispers and Warnings section.

Step one of our investigation of this report is to gather all relevant
correspondence between your publication and the person submitting the
complaint so that we can piece together that person's side of the story.
Step one of our investigation has been completed.

J.D. (name removed for publication but provided to publisher above) alleges you owe him $75.00. See complete allegation under my signature.

-----------------
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
-----------------

The second step in our investigation is to send this communication to
your firm to get its side of the story. If you have evidence
disputing these allegations, or would like to make your own
statement about these allegations for publication in our report,
please email angela@writersweekly.com within two business days.
All correspondence for our investigations must be in writing and is
subject to publication.

Our report on your firm is scheduled for inclusion in our publication
next Wednesday.

If there is no response to these allegations, WritersWeekly.com will
still publish this complaint, but our readers will not be able to read
your side of the story.

We appreciate your prompt response in this matter.

Angela Hoy
Publisher
WritersWeekly.com

WRITER'S COMPLAINT

Dear Angela,

At last someone is complaining about The Village Magazine. In April
2004, I was asked by Johnathon Michel to write a Mother's Day political
piece. I did so and then when I saw that Mother's Day had passed and
nothing had been published, I contacted Michel and asked him what was
up.

Ignoring the fact that the Mother's Day article had not been published,
actually the entire magazine had not been published, he asked me to
rewrite the piece for Father's Day! OK, I shrugged, I know how to
rewrite. I used to work for the Associated Press.

I did the requested rewrite, then Father's Day passed and no
publication, no check.

I then did the unthinkable, according to Michel, and began emailing
other authors he had contacted regarding their relationship with The Village.
Shortly I received an email from Michel threatening me with legal action
for contacting these folks. I then sent a blistering email questioning
Michel's professionalism and his lack of communication with his writers.
No response, of course.

Their upfront presentation to interest writers was quite professional,
but it turned out to be so much bull when nothing was published and
Johnathon Michel refused to talk about it.

The base for an article was supposed to be $75 payment on acceptance,
but it could go up to $300 depending on how many editions it was printed
in.

Thanks,
J.D.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PUBLISHER'S RESPONSE

From: "Johnathan Michel" >
Subject: Re: Another Complaint about Privilege Media Group International / The Village Magazine
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 13:12:37 -0700
Organization: Privilege Media Group International, Inc.

Dear Angela:

(J.D.) submitted a piece of work to us for consideration in 2004, however, we never published his work. In fact, we were very clear to advise (J.D.) of our decision NOT to publish his work. I find his assertion very disturbing. I further find your "service" to be rather unethical. In many ways you are extorting publishers to defend themselves against bogus claims by disgruntled writers with the threat of publishing negative commentary. I shall engage our legal counsel immediately to see what legal actions we need to take against you and your service in order to cease and desist such slander and libel.

Regretfully yours,
J.M.

WRITER RESPONDS TO PUBLISHER'S STATEMENT

Hi Angela,

Thanks for the update on Johnathan Michel. FYI, he never, ever, indicated that he wouldn't publish my article. This jerk is full of it.

Peace,
J.M.

WRITERSWEEKLY'S RESPONSE

From: Angela Hoy
To: "Johnathan Michel"
Subject: Re: Another Complaint about Privilege Media Group International / The Village Magazine

Hi Johnathan,

(J.D.) forwarded us correspondence exchanged between
your firm and himself. We are in possession of:

1. The letter you sent to (J.D.), which states: "After much consideration, we have
decided we would like for you to contribute your talents to the future success
of our new magazine. Please access the Writer's Agreement via our website...

2. The actual writer's agreement, which quotes a $75 flat fee per article

3. The actual "job order" for the Mother's Day issue article

4. The email you sent to (J.D. after he submitted the article
which states, "First and foremost, great piece of work."

5. An email dated three weeks later where you tell him he's
welcome to pitch new ideas for the June 2004 issue

Please advise.

And, I'm still waiting for you to respond to the first complaint
we received about your company. I still haven't heard from
your attorney. Feel free to forward this correspondence to him/her
as well. Please respond within 3 business days with your statement
for publication as we plan to publish this additional complaint
about your company on Wednesday.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

As of this writing, the publisher has not responded to our email above.

[angelahoy]

PUBLISHER RESPONDS AGAIN

From: "Johnathan Michel" <jm@pmgintl.com>
Cc: <legal@pmgintl.com>
Subject: TheVILLAGE Magazine
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 21:22:49 -0700
Organization: Privilege Media Group International, Inc.

Dear Angela:

This is my final request that you cease and desist the false, libelous and
defamatory information listed on your Web site about TheVILLAGE Magazine,
Privilege Media Group International, Inc., and myself, Johnathan Michel. This
is a final request before legal action is taken against you and your Web
site --- writersweekly.com

Regretfully yours,
J.M.

WRITERSWEEKLY RESPONDS

Hi Johnathan,

I'm not removing anything from the website. We've received two complaints
about your company. You've ignored most of my emails. I've posted
your "rebuttal" emails, when you've bothered to send them. Our readers
can read everything and make their own determination about what
transpired. If you'd like to send another statement for publication, we'll
be very happy to publish it.

And, once again, I'm still waiting for you to respond to the email below.

Please do contact your attorney so I can provide the writers with information
on how to contact him/her concerning the money they claim you owe them.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

From: Angela Hoy
To: "Johnathan Michel" <jm@pmgintl.com>
Subject: Re: Another Complaint about Privilege Media Group International / The Village Magazine
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 14:42:06 -0400

Hi Johnathan,

Mr. Dwyer forwarded us correspondence exchanged between
your firm and himself. We are in possession of:

1. The letter you sent to Mr. Dwyer, which states: "After much consideration, we have
decided we would like for you to contribute your talents to the future success
of our new magazine. Please access the Writer's Agreement via our website...

2. The actual writer's agreement, which quotes a $75 flat fee per article

3. The actual "job order" for the Mother's Day issue article

4. The email you sent to Mr. Dwyer after he submitted the article
which states, "First and foremost, great piece of work."

5. An email dated three weeks later where you tell him he's
welcome to pitch new ideas for the June 2004 issue

Please advise.

And, I'm still waiting for you to respond to the first complaint
we received about your company. I still haven't heard from
your attorney. Feel free to forward this correspondence to him/her
as well. Please respond within 3 business days with your statement
for publication as we plan to publish this additional complaint
about your company on Wednesday.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

[angelahoy]

PUBLISHER RESPONDS

WritersWeekly.com has removed the writers' names from the email below. The publisher obviously knows who they are, however.

From: "Johnathan Michel" <jm@pmgintl.com>
To: Angela Hoy, <legal@pmgintl.com>
Subject: Re: TheVILLAGE Magazine / PMG Intl.
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 13:08:43 -0700
Organization: Privilege Media Group International, Inc.

Dear Angela:

First and foremost, I find your response extremely arrogant and
unprofessional. The "service" which www.writersweekly.com provides to the
publishing community is nothing less than a blackmail service, and I am
confident a court of law will agree with us as we move forward in legal
action against you and your "service".

Your disclaimer says it all..."If you have evidence disputing these
allegations, or would like to make your own statement about these
allegations for publication in our report, please email
angela - at - writersweekly.com within two business days. All correspondence for
our investigations must be in writing and is subject to publication."

You are not a journalist who is interested in the facts but rather a
irresponsible service for disseminating false allegations. Shame on you!

As so far as Mr. D. is concerned, he is well aware of the facts on why we
decided NOT to publish his article. I won't argue the matter in your forum
as we regard our business relationships with our writers as private and
confidential---not for exploitation.

Mr. H's article was NOT published in any additions of TheVILLAGE
Magazine, but he was given credit for his work, and as courtesy we edited
and uploaded his article onto our Web site as per the terms and conditions
of our Writer's Agreement. Again, I won't argue the matter in your forum as
we regard our business relationships with our writers as private and
confidential---not for exploitation.

Regards,
J.M.

WRITERSWEEKLY RESPONDS

Hi Johnathan,

Thank you for finally sending your rebuttal. I will make sure our readers have the
opportunity to read your side of the story. Mr. D. disagrees with
you and stands by his position that you never rejected his story. It's
his constitutional right to tell his side of the story and he did provide us
with documentation of his claims. See the list in my previous email.

Regarding Mr. H's article, you must know that putting
someone's article on your website IS considered publication.

If you don't agree with the information that has been provided to us by
these individuals, I strongly suggest you contact them directly and
request they withdraw their statements. They've been aware of
this entire exchange all along and neither one has budged on their
opinions and position, nor have they requested we remove their statements
from the website.

Each side has had ample opportunity to tell their side of the story and
we have published each side's statements as they've been sent to us.

Also, who is legal@pmgintl.com? I'm still waiting to hear from
your attorney. Mr. H. and Mr. D. would very much like his/her
contact information.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

[angelahoy]

PUBLISHER RESPONDS AGAIN, TELLING WRITERS TO CONTACT HIS "LEGAL COUNSEL"

From: "Johnathan Michel" <jm@pmgintl.com>
Subject: Re: TheVILLAGE Magazine / PMG Intl.
Date sent: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 14:45:37 -0700
Organization: Privilege Media Group International, Inc.

Dear Angela:

Should Mr. D. or Mr. H. wish to contact me directly they know how to
reach me, or they may also e-mail our legal counsel at legal@pmgintl.com.
You should also be aware, however, while it is one's constitutional right to
"tell his side of the story," it is not one's constitutional right to
intentionally lie or defame another's character or business with the
malicious intent to injure another's character or business by disseminating
libelous slander. Your willingness to publish such libelous slander makes
you a party to these actions, and therefore holds you responsible.
Accordingly, therefore, I suggest you reconsider you position in continuing
to publish such libelous slander, or I shall have no other option but to
seek legal action against you, writersweekly.com, Mr. D. and Mr. H.

Regretfully yours,
J.M.

MEANWHILE, ONE OF THE WRITERS RESPONDS TO THE ONGOING CORRESPONDENCE

From: "Jim D."
To: Angela Hoy
Subject: Johnathan
Date sent:Thu, 27 Oct 2005 08:36:56 -0600

Dear Angela,

Just finished reading the series of emails between you and Johnathan.
His assertion that he told me why he would not run my article and that
he told me that he wouldn't run my article is a bunch of crap. He never
contacted me with such information. If he claims to have sent me an
email regarding this, I would like to see it. My trying to contact him last
year was a waste, since he never responded.

Much thanks for your efforts.

Peace,
Jim D.

WRITERSWEEKLY RESPONDS TO JOHNATHAN

From: Angela Hoy
To: jm@pmgintl.com
Subject: Re: TheVILLAGE Magazine / PMG Intl.
Date sent: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 18:09:43 -0400

Mr. D. and Mr. H. stand by their stories. If you believe they
are lying, I suggest you contact them. Just because you say they're
lying (they say you're lying) doesn't mean I must remove the allegations
about you from our website. I have posted every statement you've
sent to me. You've had ample opportunity to tell your side of
the story and so have they.

What is your attorney's name? We need a name to go with the
email address.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

PUBLISHER NEVER RESPONDED SO WRITERSWEELY CONTACTED HIS "LEGAL COUNSEL" DIRECTLY

From: Angela Hoy
To: legal@pmgintl.com
Subject: (Fwd) Re: TheVILLAGE Magazine / PMG Intl.

Attn: Attorney of Johnathan Michel

Please see correspondence below and provide us with your name
so we can give it to Mr. D. and Mr. H. I've asked Mr. Michel
to have you contact me many times but he hasn't, and won't give
me your name.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

"LEGAL COUNSEL" RESPONDS

From: "PMG Legal " <legal@pmgintl.com>
To: Angela Hoy
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: TheVILLAGE Magazine / PMG Intl.
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:11:14 -0700

Dear Ms. Hoy:

Thank you for your communication. We do not, however, relinquish
information requested by third parties. We shall contact our client,
Privilege Media Group International, Inc., to review the information
you have submitted and consider the scope of your request as
deemed appropriate.

Very truly yours,
Legal Counsel
PMG International, Inc.

ANGELA RESPONDS

To: "PMG Legal " <legal@pmgintl.com>, <JM@pmgintl.com>
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: TheVILLAGE Magazine / PMG Intl.
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 16:30:09 -0400

Well, hello there, "Legal Counsel",

I've never heard of an attorney who refuses to provide their
name...which means you're not a real attorney. If you were,
you wouldn't hesitate to give me your name. I strongly suggest
you give me your real name and bar number immediately because
I'm about to report you, Johnathan, to the California State Bar for
practicing law without a license.

PMG Intl. must be in deep financial trouble if you (the "legal counsel")
has to share a computer with Johnathan. Smart move, John! Did you
really think I wouldn't check up on that?!

I'll be notifying the bar by close of business tomorrow, Friday,
October 27, 2005 if I haven't heard from you by then.

If you are indeed Johnathan, I expect an apology for this
misleading and illegal behavior.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

LEGAL COUNSEL RESPONDS

From: "PMG Legal " <legal@pmgintl.com>
To: Angela Hoy
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: TheVILLAGE Magazine / PMG Intl.
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 14:41:08 -0700
Organization: Privilege Media Group International, Inc.

Dear Ms. Hoy:

While I do not quite understand the scope of your comments and accusations,
let me first clarify the facts. I am a law school intern specializing in
entertainment law at La Verne University School of Law. My responsibility as
Legal Counsel, pro per, for PMG International, Inc. is to review any and all
submissions received by me during the term of my internship and make
recommendations to my client based on my understandings of federal and state
law. These recommendations are then taken under consideration by my
client/employer (PMG International, Inc.) on whether or not to engage their
attorney(s) for further action or resolve. As you will note, I did not
address nor sign my e-mail response to your inquiry as "attorney-at-law,"
nor did I refer to myself as either "Esq." or "attorney for."

Rest assured, however, upon reading your exchanges of e-mails by and between
yourself and Mr. Michel, I will strongly suggest that he also consider
filing suit against you for harassment.

Very truly yours,
Legal Counsel - PMG International, Inc.

ANGELA RESPONDS (note: "legal counsel/intern" never responded to this email, which was sent last Friday):

To: legal@pmgintl.com, JM@pmgintl.com
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: TheVILLAGE Magazine / PMG Intl.
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 18:32:14 -0400

Hi "intern",

Legal counsel means an attorney or lawyer who is admitted to the practice
of law in California and is an active member of the State Bar of California.

DEFINITIONS:

"Legal counsel" means an attorney, or firm of attorneys, duly authorized
to practice law in the state and admitted to practice before the highest
court in the state.

"Legal counsel" means any attorney at law licensed to practice law in the
jurisdiction of any State.

Shall I continue?

Legal counsel implies legal counselor, which implies you are a
licensed attorney. Representing yourself as an attorney when
you are not an attorney is illegal. You now admit you're only an
intern, not an attorney. Also, representing someone in a "legal"
capacity while not sharing your real name is unethical. I will be
forwarding this entire exchange to La Verne University School
of Law and the California State Bar. I'm sure they'll be quite
interested in this conversation and they won't have a hard time
finding out who you are, if you really exist. I suspect you don't
and that you're just another one of Johnathan's personalities.

Johnathan (you) haven't requested I cease contacting him. I'm sure
if you were really a legal intern, you'd know that you can't be sued
for harassment when the opposing party hasn't asked you not
to contact them further. (I won a harassment case just this year.)
On the contrary, Johnathan has harassed me repeatedly on
numerous occasions and has refused to pay for work ordered
and delivered. He's committed theft of service. That is why we
have publicized his company.

Enjoy the correspondence you'll receive from La Verne University
School of Law and from the California State Bar.

If you want me to stop contacting you, just say the word. But
I'll expect the same from you.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

AND, NOT SURPRISINGLY, WE RECEIVED YET **ANOTHER** COMPLAINT ABOUT THIS COMPANY!!



To: JM@PMGIntl.com
Subject: Complaint #3 about The Village Magazine / Privilege Media Group
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 10:26:29 -0500

October 31, 2005

Jonathan Michel, Editor & Publisher
The Village Magazine, Inc.
HARVARD SQUARE Building
206 West Bonita Avenue, 2nd Floor
Claremont, CA 91711
P(909)626-6696
F(909)626-6625
http://www.thevillagemagazine.com

and

Jonathan Michel, President & CEO
Privilege Media Group International, Inc.
9899 Little Santa Monica, Suite 177
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
P(310)772-8189
Cell (310)871-4075
F(310)388-1684
JM@PMGIntl.com
http://www.PMGIntl.com

WritersWeekly.com has received A THIRD complaint about:
The Village Magazine / thevillagemagazine.com AND
Privilege Media Group International, Inc. / PMGIntl.com

WritersWeekly.com is a publication that publishes information for and
about freelance writers. The publication is the largest-circulation
freelance writing ezine in the world.

As part of that information, WritersWeekly.com publishes a Warnings
section on its website and in its newsletter. This warning section
contains reports about publications that are unprofessional in dealing
with
writers, have refused to pay writers money owed to them, who have
not abided by their contracts, or who have unfair contract terms.
These reports are used by WritersWeekly.com's subscribers
to decide which publications they should and should not work with.

Your firm has been submitted to us for inclusion in the
WritersWeekly.com Whispers and Warnings section.

Step one of our investigation of this report is to gather all relevant
correspondence between your publication and the person submitting the
complaint so that we can piece together that person's side of the story.
Step one of our investigation has been completed.

H.C. alleges you owe her $100.00. See complete allegation
under my signature. I'm sure you already know that publishing an
article online IS publishing it and publishing an article online
without payment or permission is copyright infringement.

-----------------
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
-----------------

The second step in our investigation is to send this communication to
your firm to get its side of the story. If you have evidence
disputing these allegations, or would like to make your own
statement about these allegations for publication in our report,
please email angela@writersweekly.com within two business days.
All correspondence for our investigations must be in writing and is
subject to publication.

Our report on your firm is scheduled for inclusion in our publication
next Wednesday.

If there is no response to these allegations, WritersWeekly.com will
still publish this complaint, but our readers will not be able to read
your side of the story.

We appreciate your prompt response in this matter.

Angela Hoy
Publisher
WritersWeekly.com

WRITER'S COMPLAINT (writer's name is removed for publication but WAS provided to the publisher in the complaint above)
Angela --

Johnathan Michel owes me $100 for my article about popular
weight loss centers.

He finally answered me after I sent the invoice demanding payment to
everyone listed on his web site. I am enclosing his response here. I
wrote and told him this was all a lie, that I have not written for free
in thirty years, and did not need the exposure from his magazine since I have
been published since age 17. I told him this was copyright infringement and
demanded my article be removed from the site or he would hear from my lawyer. I
also contacted various job boards I belonged to and posted this information
on my blog at Blogit.com. A few days later, the web site was shut down.
Publish whatever information you like--the man is a scam artist.
At any rate here is the letter I received:

Dear H.:

Yes --- I checked into the matter further.

You should have received an e-mail from our Intern Publishing Associate,
Kate Bridges, several months ago (09/04) regarding your article. Your
article, among others, were posted on our Web site only as an "upload
test" and has not been published in any of the editions of our print
magazine publication(s), TheVILLAGE Magazine. Our Web site is NOT an "on-line"
magazine Web site, but rather a corporate based Web site. Although we
intend to make our Web site an on-line magazine Web site in 2006, it has
been to date and continues to be for this year (2005) a corporate based Web site
only for our business contact purposes.

The articles we chose to use in our "upload test" were those articles
which we felt merited consideration for possible future publication, but
of which did not quite make the cut for our print magazine publication at the
time they were submitted. We thought it would be nice, however, to afford
select writers some FREE media exposure for their time and effort by
up-loading their articles, photos and bio tags --- yours included. Our Web site
will be undergoing an upgrade in Summer 2005 and your article, photo and bio
tag will be deleted at that time. If, however, you would like for us to do
that prior, we would be happy to oblige.

As you are well aware, submission of articles DOES NOT guarantee
publication. While I found your original article merited consideration
for publication, it required editing for content and grammar which is what
we invested in order to read as it does now on our Web site but may still
require additional editing or development before we can consider it for
publication in our print magazine publication.

Unfortunately, when we are on a press-run deadline we have to pass on
those articles which are not a solid read from the date of submission,
and invest the necessary time and expense to edit them later for future
consideration. This sometimes requires that the writers develop the piece
in a different or more particular direction. This process, as you can well appreciate,
takes a considerable amount of time. And, since we don't run the same editorial
coverage monthly in our print magazine publication(s), we have to wait
until the subject matter of the article is appropriate to be re-introduced
to our editorial calendar for consideration.

You should be aware, however, that should we elect to publish your
article in our print magazine publication in 2005, we are very prompt about
paying our writers based on the expressed terms and conditions of our Writer's
Agreement, which is Net 30 days upon publication (print) date.

I hope this information helps you better understand our process, and I
again apologize for the breakdown in communication which I understood was
made clear in September 2004 by our Intern Publishing Associate, Kate
Bridges.

Sincerely,
J.M.

----- Original Message -----
From: H.C.
To: JM@pmgintl.com
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 10:04 AM
Subject: Re: Past Due Invoice

Any news on where that check is? Still haven't received it.

H.C.

-------Original Message-------

From: Johnathan Michel
Date: 05/13/05 15:33:55
To: H.C.
Subject: Re: Past Due Invoice

H:

I will have to look into the status of your payment and get back to you
next week.

Regards,
J.M.

[angelahoy]

Below is what H. posted to her blog about The Village Magazine / PMG Intl. / Johnathan Michel

Since her blogging host requires visitors to register to read posts, she has allowed us to repost this information here.


Angela--below is everything I wrote on my blog about The Village situation:

Wednesday, May 11, 2005
A HEADS-UP FOR FELLOW FREELANCE WRITERS....................................
I am letting all of you know about a publication that does not hold to its contract regarding payment to contributors.

The e-magazine, The Village Magazine, does not pay its contributors within the contracted 30 days after publication. To this date, I have yet to receive the money owed me by this company and they refuse to answer my letters requesting information regarding the delay. If you should come across this e-mag in any job listing boards, I recommend that you bypass this one. Having to beg or threaten for payment can be rather tedious.

~~~~~

Tuesday, May 24, 2005
BLOGGER GETS EXPLANATION FOR NON-PAYMENT FOR SERVICES RENDERED
I finally got a response back from the publisher at The Village Magazine regarding why they haven't paid me yet. It seems there has been a breakdown in communications in the past (almost) year since I took the assignment. Below is his e-mail to me, and my response which included what he had agreed upon with me in previous e-mails.

~~~~~

Dear H.:

Yes --- I checked into the matter further.

You should have received an e-mail from our Intern Publishing Associate, Kate Bridges, several months ago (09/04) regarding your article. Your article, among others, were posted on our Web site only as an "upload test" and has not been published in any of the editions of our print magazine publication(s), TheVILLAGE Magazine. Our Web site is NOT an "on-line" magazine Web site, but rather a corporate based Web site. Although we intend to make our Web site an on-line magazine Web site in 2006, it has been to date and continues to be for this year (2005) a corporate based Web site
only for our business contact purposes.

The articles we chose to use in our "upload test" were those articles which we felt merited consideration for possible future publication, but of which did not quite make the cut for our print magazine publication at the time they were submitted. We thought it would be nice, however, to afford select writers some FREE media exposure for their time and effort by up-loading their articles, photos and bio tags --- yours included. Our Web site will be undergoing an upgrade in Summer 2005 and your article, photo and bio tag will be deleted at that time. If, however, you would like for us to do
that prior, we would be happy to oblige.

As you are well aware, submission of articles DOES NOT guarantee publication. While I found your original article merited consideration for publication, it required editing for content and grammar which is what we invested in order to read as it does now on our Web site but may still require additional editing or development before we can consider it for
publication in our print magazine publication.

Unfortunately, when we are on a press-run deadline we have to pass on those articles which are not a solid read from the date of submission, and invest the necessary time and expense to edit them later for future consideration. This sometimes requires that the writers develop the piece in a different or more particular direction. This process, as you can well appreciate, takes a considerable amount of time. And, since we don't run the same editorial coverage monthly in our print magazine publication(s), we have to wait until the subject matter of the article is appropriate to be re-introduced to our editorial calendar for consideration.

You should be aware, however, that should we elect to publish your article in our print magazine publication in 2005, we are very prompt about paying our writers based on the expressed terms and conditions of our Writer's Agreement, which is Net 30 days upon publication (print) date.

I hope this information helps you better understand our process, and I again apologize for the breakdown in communication which I understood was made clear in September 2004 by our Intern Publishing Associate, Kate Bridges.

Sincerely,
J.M.

~~~~~

What a load of horse hockey!! I wrote back:

Mr. Michel - I did not receive the communication from Kate Bridges that you indicated--and had I done so, I would have told her she did not have my permission to publish the article on your site. The agreement you and I had last August was that my article would be published online and I would be paid $100 for it. I was never informed of the rest of this rigamarole.

~~~~~

"H.:

Since we are a start-up publication, we have a very limited budget. We pay $100 for each article/story of a word count of 1,000 - 1,500, including photos. I realize it's now much, but we can only pay what we can afford at the moment.

The deadline for the story/article is September 7, 2004. Thanks again for your interest.

Best regards,
J.M."

~~~~~

In fact, in January you indicated I was going to be paid for the article:

~~~~~

"H.:

Your article is scheduled to be published in our January 2005 issue. We issue payment Net 30 after publication. We will update your address for our records accordingly.

Best regards,
J.M."

~~~~~

As a writer for 29 years and a newspaper editor, I do not need any more exposure, nor do I want my work published for free. I have been paid for everything I've written since I was 17 years old. Remove my article from your web site immediately. I have contacted the job boards I use and informed them of your deceptive practices.

~~~~~

Monday, June 20, 2005

ONLINE MAG DUPES OTHER CONTRIBUTORS BESIDES THIS BLOGGER.....
The Village Magazine, who refused payment to me for an article I wrote for their premier issue, has also refused payment to other contributors. I received an e-mail from one of the other contributors, and include it here:

Fellow Writers And Correspondents,

I was a contributor for The Village for what was supposed to be the September/October 2004 Health & Fitness issue. I only have your e-mails from a mass e-mail sent by the publisher awhile back regarding bios that I had saved. After a few inquiries to the publisher, I was informed that the issue had been delayed until April/May 2005. According to the contract, $75 should have been paid to all contributors 30 days after publication.

All of the articles had been published online as of late April, but no print issue or payment was ever sent. And as of about a week and a half ago, the website has been taken down and all e-mail addresses shut down. I left a message on the publisher, Johnathan Michel's direct line but have yet to hear back from him regarding the situation. I am just trying to find out if anyone else has been having issues with the magazine before I move forward. I will completely understand if you would rather keep any issues to yourself, but since the business dealings have seemed suspicious so far...I wanted to double-check my facts. Thanks in advance for your time.

~~~~~

I wrote back to him and the other contributors:

Lewis - I wrote to Jonathan numerous times--and finally resorted to sending e-mails to everyone on his staff until the man had to answer me. I had been told that I would be paid $100 within 30 days of publication on the web site. I kept invoicing him--he ignored them. Finally he wrote back and said that the web site articles were "upload test" articles, and did not denote acceptance by Village for the print mag. I was never informed that there was a print mag. I was hired to write an online article. He said his assistant sent out an e-mail to everyone informing us of this. I never received it--and apparently neither did you.

He said I should appreciate the free exposure, and in the meantime, should they choose to use my article in the print mag, then I would be paid. I wrote back and told him that as a published author and editor for 29 years I did not need free exposure. I told him to remove my article from the online site, or pay me--or he would be hearing from my lawyer for copyright fraud--as I was not paid for said article and he did not have my permission to use it without payment. I did not hear back from him.

I did tell him that I was contacting job boards and reporting his duplicity. I hope they have folded. They continually misled me as to publication date--and then payment. Let me know if you hear from the bum.

[angelahoy]

EMAIL SENT TO PUBLISHER ON 11/18/05:

November 18, 2005

Jonathan Michel, Editor & Publisher
The Village Magazine, Inc.
HARVARD SQUARE Building
206 West Bonita Avenue, 2nd Floor
Claremont, CA 91711
P(909)626-6696
F(909)626-6625
http://www.thevillagemagazine.com

and

Jonathan Michel, President & CEO
Privilege Media Group International, Inc.
9899 Little Santa Monica, Suite 177
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
P(310)772-8189
Cell (310)871-4075
F(310)388-1684
JM@PMGIntl.com
http://www.PMGIntl.com

WritersWeekly.com has received A FOURTH complaint about:
The Village Magazine / thevillagemagazine.com AND
Privilege Media Group International, Inc. / PMGIntl.com

WritersWeekly.com is a publication that publishes information for and
about freelance writers. The publication is the largest-circulation
freelance writing ezine in the world.

As part of that information, WritersWeekly.com publishes a Warnings
section on its website and in its newsletter. This warning section
contains reports about publications that are unprofessional in dealing
with writers, have refused to pay writers money owed to them, who have
not abided by their contracts, or who have unfair contract terms.
These reports are used by WritersWeekly.com's subscribers
to decide which publications they should and should not work with.

Your firm has been submitted to us for inclusion in the
WritersWeekly.com Whispers and Warnings section.

Step one of our investigation of this report is to gather all relevant
correspondence between your publication and the person submitting the
complaint so that we can piece together that person's side of the story.
Step one of our investigation has been completed.

C.C. (name removed for publication but provided to
the publisher) alleges you owe her $100.00. See complete
allegation under my signature. We've already told you that publishing
an article online IS publishing it and publishing an article online
without payment or permission is copyright infringement. You owe
payment to all the writers whose articles you published online.

You've admitted publishing articles from several writers online and
you sent them all the same email claiming you don't owe them money.
It is our opinion that this disturbing pattern of ordering articles,
publishing them online, claiming they're not "published" and not
paying for work ordered and delivered is not only unethical, but
also illegal.

-----------------
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
-----------------

The second step in our investigation is to send this communication to
your firm to get its side of the story. If you have evidence
disputing these allegations, or would like to make your own
statement about these allegations for publication in our report,
please email angela@writersweekly.com within two business days.
All correspondence for our investigations must be in writing and is
subject to publication.

Our report on your firm is scheduled for inclusion in our publication
next Wednesday.

If there is no response to these allegations, WritersWeekly.com will
still publish this complaint, but our readers will not be able to read
your side of the story.

We appreciate your prompt response in this matter.

Angela Hoy
Publisher
WritersWeekly.com


Date sent: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 23:41:40 -0500
Subject: FW: Village Magazine/ overdue payment
From: C.C.
To: <angela@writersweekly.com>

Hi Angela,

I, too, have had problems with Village Magazine. I received this
ridiculous email from Michel. I also have saved more of the previous
correspondence.

He owes me $100...here is the rest of the correspondence.

Thanks for your newsletters!

Best,
C.C.

------ Forwarded Message
From: Johnathan Michel <JM@pmgintl.com>
Organization: Privilege Media Group International, Inc.
Reply-To: Johnathan Michel <JM@pmgintl.com>
Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 08:56:57 -0700
To: C.C.
<Publisher@thevillagemagazine.com>
Cc: <Brian.Ribolli@thevillagemagazine.com>,
<Julia.Hall@villagemagazine.com>, <Kevin.Jackson@thevillagemagazine.com>,
<Jaime.Rothberg@thevillagemagazine.com>
Subject: Re: Village Magazine/ overdue payment

Dear [C.C.],

You should have received an e-mail from our Intern Publishing Associate,
Kate Bridges, several months ago (09/04) regarding your article. Your
article, among others, were posted on our Web site only as an "upload test"
and has not been published in any of the editions of our print magazine
publication(s), TheVILLAGE Magazine. Our Web site is NOT an "on-line"
magazine Web site, but rather a corporate based Web site. Although we intend
to make our Web site an on-line magazine Web site in 2006, it has been to
date and continues to be for this year (2005) a corporate based Web site
only for our business.

The articles we chose to use in our "upload test" were those articles which
we felt merited consideration for possible future publication, but of which
did not quite make the cut for our print magazine publication at the time
they were submitted. We thought it would be nice, however, to afford select
writers some FREE media exposure for their time and effort by up-loading
their articles, photos and bio tags --- yours included. Our Web site will be
undergoing an upgrade in Summer 2005 and your article, photo and bio tag
will be deleted at that time. If, however, you would like for us to do that
prior, we would be happy to oblige.

As you are well aware, submission of articles DOES NOT guarantee
publication. While I found your original article merited consideration for
publication, it required editing for content and grammar which is what we
invested in order to read as it does now on our Web site but may still
require additional editing or development before we can consider it for
publication in our print magazine publication.

Unfortunately, when we are on press-run deadline we have to pass on those
articles which are not a solid read from the date of submission, and invest
the necessary time and expense to edit them later for future consideration.
This sometimes requires that the writers develop the piece in a different or
more particular direction. This process, as you can well appreciate, takes a
considerable amount of time. And, since we don't run the same editorial
coverage monthly in our print magazine publication(s), we have to wait until
the subject matter of the article is appropriate to be re-introduced to our
editorial calendar for consideration.

You should be aware, however, that should we elect to publish your article
in our print magazine publication in 2005, we are very prompt about paying
our writers based on the expressed terms and conditions of our Writer's
Agreement, which is Net 30 days upon publication (print) date.

I hope this information helps you better understand our process, and I again
apologize for the breakdown in communication which I understood was made
clear in September 2004 by our Intern Publishing Associate, Kate Bridges.

Sincerely,
J.M.

----- Original Message -----
From: C.C.
To: <Publisher@thevillagemagazine.com>
Cc: <Brian.Ribolli@thevillagemagazine.com>;
<Julia.Hall@villagemagazine.com>; <Kevin.Jackson@thevillagemagazine.com>;
<Jaime.Rothberg@thevillagemagazine.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 8:51 AM
Subject: Village Magazine/ overdue payment

May 18, 2005

Dear Mr. Michel,

I have emailed you several times enquiring about my payment for my Budapest
spa article over the past few months with no response. My article has been
up on your web site since last year, but I still have not received the $100
payment that we agreed on. I am once again enclosing a copy of the invoice,
and am also forwarding this to several other people listed on your masthead,
with the hopes that someone will respond and let me know when I will be paid
for my work. Thanks for your attention.

Best regards,
C.C.

On 12/28/04 1:25 PM, "Johnathan Michel" <JM@pmgintl.com> wrote:

[C.C.]

The magazine does not go to press until after the New Year. Our issue is
due out January 13, 2005. We pay Net 30 upon publication date. Thanks for your
article. You will receive two copies of the magazine along with your
payment.

Best regards,
J.M.

----- Original Message -----
From: C.C.
To: "Johnathan Michel" <pmgintl@earthlink.net>; "Johnathan Michel"
<JM@pmgintl.com>
Sent: Monday, December 27, 2004 1:01 PM
Subject: Budapest article, invoice

Dear Johnathan,

I hope you had a relaxing holiday. I am enclosing my invoice for my
Budapest spa article (I sent it a few months ago, but never received payment). Can
you also please send me a copy of the magazine?

Do you have any interesting upcoming issues that you need content for?

Best regards,
C.C.

[angelahoy]

WARNING TO ALL WRITERS.

This joker is once again running ads online seeking writers - specifically craigslist right now. We've reported this to Craigslist but knew all of you would want to be alerted.

DON'T WRITE FOR THIS PUBLISHER!!!

[angelahoy]

EMAIL RECEIVED BY WRITERSWEEKLY ON 6/15/06:

From: lynnette hoffman
To: angela@writersweekly.com
Subject: Warning
Date sent: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 07:16:33 -0700 (PDT)

Hi-- I was glad to see that you posted a warning about Johnathan Michel--
publisher of The Village. I too wrote a story-- "A pub with no beer"-- on
a deadline, no less, which was published along with photos in the July
August 2004 (yup nearly two years ago) issue of the publication.For months
the article and my bio came up when you googled me name, but you guessed
it, I never received payment (nor the promised copies of the
publication).. Johnathan was characteristically sporatic in his
correspondence, alternating between ignoring my emails and writing back
replies that promised the check would soon be in the mail.

I must admit I had doubts about even writing the piece-- as the pay was
a pittance and the rights asked for, draconian, but I thought I'd give it
a chance to see if Johnathan's unorthadox promise of paying for each
issue the article was printed in could pay off, and also to see if it
would help me break into the US market.

The answer was no on both counts.

Johnathan ignored all emails and phone calls following up the payment,
and after about four months of pestering I gave up. I earn a full time
living as a freelance writer-- and the measly $125 was hardly worth my
time. But seeing this post made me feel guilty for not persisting for the
sake of other writers.

At any rate, I just wanted to add that I am another writer who was
scammed by Johnathan Michel.

I'm happy for you to post this on the forum if you think it would be of
use.

Cheers,
Lynnette Hoffman

[angelahoy]

PUBLISHER REPONDS:

From: "Johnathan Michel" <jm@pmgintl.com>
Subject: Cease & Desist DEMAND for FALSE Whispers And Warnings
Date sent: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 12:35:00 -0700
Send reply to: "Johnathan Michel" <jm@pmgintl.com>
Copies to: <legal@pmgintl.com>, <rbrault@obtel.com>
Organization: Privilege Media Group International, Inc.

Dear Ms. Hoy:

We have recently learned that you continue to falsely list TheVILLAGE
Magazine and Privilege Media Group International, Inc. on
WritersWeekly.com ---Whispers And Warnings. At present, you have RE-LISTED
a previously posted June 22, 2005 posting (EXHIBIT "A" - See Below) on
June 21, 2006 with the very intentional misleading tag: "And another
complaint!".

Again, there is absolutely no merit to your writer's allegations, and you
have been advised several times that the information you are intentionally
publishing on your Web site regarding TheVILLAGE Magazine and Privilege
Media Group International, Inc. is false and libelous. I responded to this
matter previously, but you purposely chose not to publish my response in
order to falsely represent a "no-response" status.

You should be aware I do have a copy of said response, including all of
our other e-mail exchanges, on file. I realize, of course, that your
ulterior motive in posting and re-posting this sort of false and libelous
information is very self-serving as it drives Internet traffic to your Web
site. Shame on you!!!

This shall represent my final demand that you cease and desist the posting
of any and all false and libelous information regarding TheVILLAGE
Magazine and Privilege Media Group International, Inc. as stated herein.

Regretfully yours,
J.M.

WRITERSWEEKLY RESPONDS:

From: Angela Hoy
To: jm@pmgintl.com
Subject: Re: Cease & Desist DEMAND for FALSE Whispers And Warnings
Date sent: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 16:26:13 -0400

I have posted every email you've sent to us and I'll post this one as well.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

[angelahoy]

PUBLISHER RESPONDS

From: "Johnathan Michel" <jm@pmgintl.com>
Subject: Re: Cease & Desist DEMAND for FALSE Whispers And Warnings
Date sent: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 13:49:20 -0700

Dear Ms. Hoy:

You are not telling the truth. We have documented e-mail exchanges from
you dated Tuesday - October 25, 2005 through Thursday - October 27, 2005 which
will certainly set the record straight once and for all.

Enough said,
J.M.

WRITERSWEEKLY RESPONDS

From: Angela Hoy
To: jm@pmgintl.com
Subject: Re: Cease & Desist DEMAND for FALSE Whispers And Warnings
Date sent: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 18:28:42 -0400

It appears you're having a hard time finding the "page down" key on
your keyboard. The emails you're referring to were posted by us on
November 1, 2005. They're still there. I will post your current note to the
forum as well.

If you don't like what people are saying about your online, I suggest you
contact them individually. It is their constitutional right to tell others
when someone owes them money. You have their contact information. They
wrote articles for you and are still waiting for payment.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

[angelahoy]

PUBLISHER RESPONDS (AND OBVIOUSLY HAS NO IDEA WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT):

From: "Johnathan Michel" <jm@pmgintl.com>
Subject: Re: Cease & Desist DEMAND for FALSE Whispers And Warnings
Date sent: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 17:23:23 -0700
Send reply to: "Johnathan Michel" <jm@pmgintl.com>

Dear Ms. Hoy:

Again, you are liar as well as a fraud and blackmailer. We have complete
original downloads of your Web site covering various dates including
November 1, 2005.

With great disgust,
J.M.

WRITERSWEEKLY WILL NO LONGER RESPOND TO THIS INDIVIDUAL. WE HAVE INSTEAD FORWARDED THIS NEW CORRESPONDENCE TO THE WRITERS WHO STILL CLAIM TO BE OWED MONEY BY THIS HIM.

[angelahoy]

WRITER RESPONDS

From: L.H.
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: Cease & Desist DEMAND for FALSE Whispers And Warning
Date sent: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 21:18:21 EDT

Angela,

Not only have I still never received payment of any kind, but I've never
gotten a response from him. I may try e-mailing him again and I'll copy
you on it.

You can post any of this. Keep me updated on any changes.

Thanks again,

L.H.