The cats are vacationing in Mexico to recuperate from the stresses of the past year. I allowed them to purchase airline tickets using my MileagePlus account, and I have given them one of my credit cards to use while they are on vacation. They have promised that they will not charge more than $1,500 on the card, which has a much higher limit.
Before they left I overheard them making a reservation at a rather expensive resort, and I am a little concerned about the possibility that they might forget about our agreement limiting their use of my credit card. Maybe I should notify the credit card company, but, surely, I can trust the cats to honor their promise, and would I be responsible, anyway, if they charge beyond their authorization?
Before they left, we received 250 copies of our little (72 page) book, “Practical Lessons in the Law,” with all of the stories that I have written about the cats and which they assembled for publication. In the book we have photographs of the cats, of course, and photos of Bowser, the Old Tom and PeeWee. I was careful to get consents to use the visages of Bowser and PeeWee from their owners, but since the Old Tom doesn’t appear to have an owner I wasn’t able to get consent to use his photo. I decided to include his photo, anyway, without authorization. Surely, that shouldn’t cause a problem.
Since the cats defaulted on their promissory note to me for the $1,500 that I loaned them to file bankruptcy, I have taken possession of their interest in our publishing business, including the 250 copies of our little book. I know that this is skipping a few steps in the legal process, but they owe me the money so I took the books. There can’t be anything wrong with that.
I have decided to give away the books to anyone who wants one while they last and before the cats return from Mexico. Anyone who would like a copy can pick one up, for free, at my office. Surely, the cats couldn’t assert a claim against you for receiving a book, for free, just because the book was taken by me from our publishing company without authority to do so. Stop by and get one. Just don’t leave your name or any identifying information in case I’m wrong.
© Allen Drescher
