DON'T BE SCAMMED!
An important warning for all genuine seekers after Truth and lovers of the books of J Michaud PhD
In 2019 a presumptuous scam was perpetrated in which copies of our FREE online Occult studies course were sold on eBay purporting to be copies of Occult Enigmas by J Michaud PhD. Owning to the swift action of one of our regular readers who made a complaint against eBay for copyright infringement, the book containing our course has since been delisted. But this does NOT mean that the same or similar items may not be offered for sale by unscrupulous sellers in future. Consequently, we have retained this edited version of our original article, first published on 6 June 2019, to serve as a permanent warning to all lovers of the Michaud books to remain vigilant.
In the spring and early summer of 2019 our FREE online Occult studies course was being sold on eBay under the title Occult Enigmas for £145 (nearly $200). The perpetrators of this scam—which caught some of our readers—trade under the name 'Hiberniantrading'. They were selling our course without our approval or permission in a printed on demand book purporting to be Occult Enigmas by J Michaud PhD.
They claimed: "This is a high quality facsimilie (sic) reprinted copy of Occult Enigmas by J. Michaud PhD, actual copy delivered will vary in appearance from listed photograph." The photograph referred to by the seller is the cover of the original 1939 edition of Occult Enigmas published by the UMA Press in London. But this is not the book buyers received! Nor is it a facsimile reprinted copy of Occult Enigmas. What buyers actually got was a cheaply produced, badly printed, perfect-bound book in black hardcover with no title printed on it which contains a copy of OUR Occult studies course. The same course which we have made freely available to all on our website since April 2012!
The book sold by 'Hiberniantrading' refers frequently to a 'sidebar' it does not contain. This glaring omission means it has barely half the content of our online course. Moreover, our course contains three articles which do not appear in the original 1939 edition of Occult Enigmas at all. These are the Path to the Light, the Occult Jungle and Occult Studies and Meditation—all written by us. Finally, the book Hiberniantrading were selling contains many references to our articles, none of which are included in it. From this it is clear that it is neither a facsimile of Dr Michaud's Occult Enigmas nor a faithful copy of our Occult studies course. Rather it is a cheaply printed, badly typeset, nasty little book which makes snake oil look like an honest product.
This proves that the contents of the book 'Hiberniantrading' were selling were illegally copied from our website before being edited and printed on demand. The perpetrators of this profitable little scam have made sure there is no identifying information in the book. There is no publisher's name, publication date, printer's name, copyright attribution or statement, no ISBN number, and not even any page numbers. No reputable and honest publisher would omit this information by accident. The inescapable conclusion is that the perpetrators knew they were breaking the law but deliberately set out to cover their tracks to avoid being found out and prosecuted. This means it is almost impossible to identify them without spending a great deal of time and money. Even if all the individuals involved were identified, there is no guarantee that they could be prevented from continuing to infringe our copyright for their financial gain. The sad fact is that once something is published online it is fair game for anyone to re-use, misuse or profit from. This is the price authors now pay to publish their work on the (relatively) un-policed Internet. We don't have Apple Computer or Samsung's resources to employ teams of international lawyers to protect and enforce our legal rights.
A not so Golden Star. . .updated 2022
Before we conclude this warning, we wish to add that the same eBay trader was also selling 'reprints' of The Golden Star, briefly reviewed in the sidebar at right. Once again these were described as "...a high quality facsimilie (sic) reprinted copy of The Golden Star by J. Michaud PhD. Visually will vary from in displayed photograph." We should say it will! Like the nasty little book which the seller claimed in their deleted listing was a 'facsimile' of Occult Enigmas, this too bears little resemblance to the original edition of The Golden Star published by the UMA Press in London in 1946. To add insult to injury the seller was asking £135 ($182) for their reprint! Please don't waste your money on such scams. Especially not now as we update this page in February 2022 when you can buy a new, quality hardcover edition of The Golden Star direct from the publisher for £ 21. That's not a misprint — just £ 21 ($30). What is more, the book has been free to read online for over ten years at thegoldenstar.org and can now be downloaded from the same website as a FREE PDF.
Readers may be surprised to learn that Dr Michaud never made a single penny from his writing during his lifetime. He would be disgusted that unscrupulous sellers are profiting from his books, but then, as we have seen, they and their partners in crime do not seem concerned with honesty, decency or legality. Lack of decency also applies to those speculators who offer original editions of The Golden Star for sale to the highest bidder on eBay from time to time. When we were writing this article in 2019 one such copy was sold for over £2,000 ($2,500). Good as the book is, no one should pay such high prices for it, especially now that a new edition is available at a price even the poorest can afford. So we say to all sincere seekers after Truth and lovers of Goodness—please don't line the pockets of these greedy speculators! One final word—or two words: CAVEAT EMPTOR! For those who know no Latin or have never been scammed or fleeced, this phrase means 'Let the buyer beware'. We would add, perhaps unnecessarily, that if something seems too good to be true it usually IS.
Readers unfamiliar with the English occultist, composer, musician and publisher, Dr J Michaud (1884-1961), or the occult books and short stories he wrote during his lifetime, will find links to more information about him and his work in the Further reading list at the bottom of the sidebar.
© Copyright occult-mysteries.org. Article published 8 June 2019. Updated 5 February 2022.
