Three contributors sue a co-author for joint authorship of a comic book stain removal guide

The complaint

James Wulgaert, Joseph John Topczewski, and Chris Allan Trump v. Michael Frederik Sorensen, No. 1:26-cv-11477 (N.D. Ill., Eastern Division), was filed September 18, 2026, ECF No. 1 (46 pages). The plaintiffs demand a jury trial. The docket shows the case is assigned to Judge Georgia N. Alexakis.

The work

The complaint concerns "Comic Book Stain Removal and Whitening: Supplemental Guide to Comic Book CPR" and two later editions the defendant published. The plaintiffs allege that all four men collaborated on the guide in 2021 and 2022: Wulgaert wrote the text on the Heat Overlay Press process and its origins, Topczewski wrote the safety, stain categorization, methods, and cockling text, and Trump wrote the Blue LED chapter, and each supplied photographs. The Copyright Office public record for TX 9-510-125 lists all four men as authors and claimants of the guide. The plaintiffs say they claim only their written expression and photographs, not the stain removal techniques themselves.

What the complaint alleges

The plaintiffs allege that the defendant allocated chapters to them in writing, gave them author credentials on Amazon, and described them as co-authors. They allege that in January 2025 he removed them from the Facebook group where a revision was under way, then published a Second Edition crediting himself alone and a Third Edition, both carrying forward their text and photographs with their names removed. The complaint says he has collected all revenue from all three editions, has made only two payments to contributors, and has refused every request for an accounting.

Claims and relief

The seven counts seek a declaratory judgment of joint authorship and co-ownership; an accounting of co-owner proceeds; in the alternative, copyright infringement of each plaintiff's separately owned contributions; relief for removal of copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. § 1202(b); in the alternative, breach of an implied-in-fact compensation agreement and unjust enrichment; and, for Topczewski alone, relief under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f) for an alleged knowing misrepresentation in a takedown notice sent to YouTube.

On the docket

The court set an initial status hearing for December 3, 2026, with a joint initial status report due November 23, 2026. A summons to the defendant issued on October 23, 2026.