Michael Yon Suing The Army?

[NATO AIR]

wow, big army, big stupids.

http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/004121.html

Yon to Sue Army?
Greyhawk
Last year the photo was all over the web, credited to AP/US Army: Major Dave Bieger cradling Farah, the young girl killed by terrorists. But the photographer was Mike Yon, and he didn't authorize the release. Now, according to the Chicago-area Daily Southtown, Mike Yon is preparing a copyright infringement lawsuit:

The Army's decision to release the photo has Yon, widely considered one of the most pro-military voices covering the war, readying a copyright infringement lawsuit.

In an Oct. 13 letter to Yon denying his request for compensation for the alleged infringement, Army intellectual property lawyer Alan Klein wrote that Yon had given up his right for compensation when he signed the standard liability form all embedded journalists must sign.

The form states that Yon agreed to "release the (military) of any liability from and hold them harmless for any injuries I may suffer or any equipment that may be damaged as a result of my covering combat."

In his letter, Klein argues that an injury to Yon's copyright is the same as an injury to his leg or his camera.

The release frees the Army "from any liability for any injury he may suffer," Klein wrote. "The claimant asserts he was injured by the distribution of his copyrighted works to the news media. This release absolves the Army of any liability for that injury."

I'm no expert, but that defense doesn't seem fully armored.

Update: Pundit Review is calling on bloggers to support Mike Yon.

The Boston Herald reports that Yon (a Massachusetts resident) is appealing to Senator Ted Kennedy for help:

“I never authorized this distribution and immediately asked the Army to stop it,” Yon recently wrote Kennedy, the senior Massachusetts senator and a member of the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee.
<...>
A spokesman for Kennedy said the senator’s office is reviewing the matter. A lawyer for the Army could not be reached.

Yon, who paid his own way to cover events in Iraq, said the irony is that his reporting was meant to counter what he considered inaccurate mainstream-media coverage of the war.

He said the Army is now making it difficult for him to return to Iraq.
This is just one reason why the Army will probably lose the information war on Iraq.

Posted by Greyhawk at 05:30 PM |

 

[Annie]

I saw that this morning, I keep hoping the Army is going to apologize and stop this pronto. No one has done more to help get the message out of the good the soldiers have been and continue to do in Iraq. It's a shame.

 

[NATO AIR]

army does right by michael yon....

good news

http://www.punditreview.com/2006/02/04/breaking-news-army-reverses-course-does-right-by-michael-yon/

 

[pegwinn]

Good. Glad to see the Army has decided to do the right thing.

 

[Annie]

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/copyright-dispute-resolved.htm

links at site

Saturday, February 4th, 2006
Copyright Dispute Resolved

Thousands of readers might have learned about it from Jay Fitzgerald’s piece in Tuesday’s Boston Herald. Maybe it was the article Dan Lavoie wrote for last Sunday’s Southtown Free Press, or the press release issued by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Or when Kevin Whalen at Pundit Review called for blogger arms in an intransigent dispute with the Army over intellectual property rights. The growing volume of these voices gained the attention of people who could resolve the conflict.

The dispute over the unattributed and unauthorized distribution of my photographs has been resolved in principle to the satisfaction of the involved parties. The dispute had been exacerbated by Army lawyers, but once the matter was brought forefront and examined by Brigadier General Brooks, Chief of Public Affairs, it was resolved by another more senior Army attorney. At the end of the day, the Army did the right thing. I greatly appreciate the efforts of those involved, including the blogosphere and Brigadier General Brooks, whose determined attention and immediate action removed the obstacle.

As the process unfolded, I’ve seen yet again how, in a large institution, those who focus on instantaneous minutia often impel serious and damaging repercussions to the collective goal. When looking up as the avalanche they started rumbles directly at them, they often redouble their defenses. But if they had maintained a wider field of vision, escape routes would have been clear. Fortunately, with the help of media colleagues, both mainstream and alternative, we were able to divert that impending disaster.

Looking ahead and thinking of keeping us all focused on a common goal, Brigadier General Brooks assured me that should I have further problems getting embedded with the military, there is now a person to call for immediate assistance: him. Thank you, General Brooks. As to the larger issue raised by the tussle over this individual embedded writer’s claim, namely that of how the Army regards the principle of intellectual property rights, General Brooks has the authority to speak to that policy; and he assured me that he would issue a statement in the near future. I assured General Brooks that he’d find space available here to post it and a very attentive and informed audience eager to listen.