As many readers may be aware, Artesian Builds, a system integrator based in the United States, has suspended sales, staff and business in general. This normally wouldn’t have a huge impact on our SFF world – system integrators generally use larger cases as a rule. Unfortunately, the fantastic Pluto, a wood, aluminium and steel 13L chassis we featured here, was being sold exclusively on their platform. This partnership had, until now, been beneficial for forum user Shatrod, the designer of the Pluto.
From the designer;
Hello, everyone.
I wanted to wait until all of the paperwork has been finalized however decided it would be best to address the situation up front.
For transparency, I want to clarify the exact nature of my relationship with Artesian Builds, as stated in our contract. “DS” are my initials.
3.1 Ownership
(A) Artesian acknowledges DS’s exclusive ownership of PC Cases, Panels, and Other Projects
(B) Artesian acknowledges that DS owns all assets created before and during the term of this Agreement.5.1 No Agency, Partnership, Joint Venture, Employee-Employer Relationship’ etc. This Agreement is intended strictly as a license and service-provider agreement, and no other arrangement or relationship is intended by this Agreement
The situation is a significant setback, but after coming this far I do not want to let this project just disappear; Especially not like this. I am currently exploring other options for the future of this endeavor. What that future may be is still unclear, I am not ruling out the possibility of starting my own company. I will be able to comment more on the current OEM after some paperwork with artesian is settled, if anyone is interested.
This brings me to the paperwork. Please see another excerpt from the contract:
6.3 Events of Termination. This Agreement terminates upon expiration of the term under Section 6.1 or at any time by the written agreement of the parties.
6.4 (B): Upon termination, DS agrees to negotiate in good faith terms of under which Artesian would be permitted to continue use of the pc Cases, Panels, ant Other Projects, and Artesian agrees to negotiate in good faith terms under which Artesian would assist DS in transitioning use of PC Cases, Panels, and Other projects to another entityI have requested the termination of this licensing agreement with Artesian. I have also requested a meeting to discuss in good faith what will happen with the existing stock of the cases. It is my intent to argue that any outstanding orders must be fulfilled or refunded, however the meeting has not happened yet nor was it explicitly agreed to. The feedback I have received from the Artesian legal counsel is that they will attempt to formalize the termination next week. Please understand this is an expectation, and not final until documented and signed. I will provide more updates as they become available.
(I quote in full, please see here for the original post)
This is a huge setback for a creator, especially in our small (pun intended) niche. We here at SFF Network support creators big and small, and hope for the best for this project and the future for the designer. Give the project thread some love here.
