Michael Yon blasts SHOCK Magazine for Illegal Use of Picture
Michael Yon takes great umbrage and is completely disgusted at the run around and despicable behavior of one of the worlds largest magazine publishing empires, HFM, which is a French company.
This company decided to use a copyrighted picture that Michael Yon took, without his permission or his consent, to use as a frontpage draw for its new publication SHOCK.
The image most magazines shy away from?
Michael Yon destroys that rediculous notion by stating this:
The picture that was used was of the photograph of Major Mark Bieger cradling a young Iraqi girl Farah, who was mortally wounded in an insurgent car bomb attack that brutally targeted a group of children who had run out to greet the soldiers on patrol. Something that is done quite a bit, that rarely gets reported on.
Just viewing the photograph is enough to make a strong man weep.
Yet this 'publication' called SHOCK, used it as a frontpage cover for its first issue it kicked off in the US and Canada, with the following smeared across the photograph, as Michael Yon puts it, sensationalizing the headline:
The picture and article accompaning it tries to make comparisons of the the War in Iraq and the Vietnam War, and uses Michael Yon's prize photo (without his consent or permission) to try and show the comparisons between the two wars.
When Michael Yon contacted the company to have them remove the picture and the issue from the newstands, they arrogantly refused.
When Michael yon published information on the company, it's editors, it's advertisers, and how to get a hold of them to let your displeasure with thier actions be known, they threatened Michael Yon.
It boogles the mind at the extreme arrogance of this company. They STEAL Michael Yon's copyrighted material, publish without his permission or his consent, but the have the auducity to threaten him with libel?!?!
Is it the arrogance of a company, or perhaps arrogance because it is a French company and Michael Yon is not a famous actor with lots of money to throw against a conglomerate?
So let's help Michael get the word out, and let these retailers know we don't appreciate smearing the troops with theft of pictures that show the troops as human beings, so you can smear them in a trashy publication.
Until they pull this garbage from their shelves, I will no longer support these retailers with my money. I urge you to follow your conscious when you have dealings with these retailers, and remember what they have on their shelves - supports this trash.
The first issue has only five advertisers:
JVC
(click link for contact information)
Additonal contact information for JVC:
Bowflex
Girls Gone Wild (not going to provide a link to their site)
So if you wish to make your voice heard and your displeasure known at these companies associating themselves with this type of 'publication' that has done this to Michael Yon and the active smearing of the troops, let your voices ring out.
But be polite, firm displeasure without debasing yourself with hate-filled emails and phone calls, will get your message across better.
This company decided to use a copyrighted picture that Michael Yon took, without his permission or his consent, to use as a frontpage draw for its new publication SHOCK.
Mike Hammer, SHOCK’s editor-in-chief, was on CNN the other day, relishing his role as “a thing of low brow beauty,” as he bragged to correspondent Jeanie Moos that “We find images that most magazines shy away from.”
The image most magazines shy away from?
Michael Yon destroys that rediculous notion by stating this:
Oh really? Then why launch with a cover photograph that ran on the front page of more than 50 US newspapers, was the Time Magazine online Viewer’s Choice Photo of the Year image, was selected by MSNBC for its 2005 Year in Photographs feature and that was submitted for a Pulitzer?
The picture that was used was of the photograph of Major Mark Bieger cradling a young Iraqi girl Farah, who was mortally wounded in an insurgent car bomb attack that brutally targeted a group of children who had run out to greet the soldiers on patrol. Something that is done quite a bit, that rarely gets reported on.
Just viewing the photograph is enough to make a strong man weep.
Yet this 'publication' called SHOCK, used it as a frontpage cover for its first issue it kicked off in the US and Canada, with the following smeared across the photograph, as Michael Yon puts it, sensationalizing the headline:
WAR IS STILL HELL!
Jarring Proof that Iraq is the new Vietnam.
The picture and article accompaning it tries to make comparisons of the the War in Iraq and the Vietnam War, and uses Michael Yon's prize photo (without his consent or permission) to try and show the comparisons between the two wars.
When Michael Yon contacted the company to have them remove the picture and the issue from the newstands, they arrogantly refused.
When Michael yon published information on the company, it's editors, it's advertisers, and how to get a hold of them to let your displeasure with thier actions be known, they threatened Michael Yon.
It boogles the mind at the extreme arrogance of this company. They STEAL Michael Yon's copyrighted material, publish without his permission or his consent, but the have the auducity to threaten him with libel?!?!
HFM not only refused, they intimated in writing that they may have a claim against me for defamation based on the complaints they received from third parties about their unauthorized use of my photo. My attorney, John Mason, began taking the necessary legal steps in this fight, and for the first few days of the dispute, I remained silent apart from the one statement published on my website, out of respect for the process of law.
Is it the arrogance of a company, or perhaps arrogance because it is a French company and Michael Yon is not a famous actor with lots of money to throw against a conglomerate?
So let's help Michael get the word out, and let these retailers know we don't appreciate smearing the troops with theft of pictures that show the troops as human beings, so you can smear them in a trashy publication.
You can purchase a print copy of SHOCK at the following retailers:
7 Eleven
Border Books
Brooks Drug Stores
Chapters Books (Canada)
Eastern Lobby Shops
Eckerd Drug Stores
Fry's Electronics
Grand Union
Hastings
Hudson News
King Kullen
King Soopers
Kroger Max Convenience Stores
Miejer's Supermarkets
Pathmark Quick Check
Ralph's Supermarkets
Rite Aid Drug Stores
Stop n' Shop
Tower Records
Universal News
Value Drug Mart
All airport and train station terminals
Until they pull this garbage from their shelves, I will no longer support these retailers with my money. I urge you to follow your conscious when you have dealings with these retailers, and remember what they have on their shelves - supports this trash.
PdnOnline (Photo District News)
The print edition of Shock is driven by big, bold photographs, mostly from wire services and photo agencies. "Life magazine for the new millennium," is how editor in chief Mike Hammer, formerly of Stuff, described Shock in a recent Wall Street Journal article.
Shock's masthead lists Cherie Cincilla as the photo director, Scott St. John as a talent coordinator/photographer and Stacey D'Alessi as a photo researcher.
The first issue has only five advertisers:
JVC
(click link for contact information)
Additonal contact information for JVC:
JVC Headquarters &
East Coast Sales
1700 Valley Road,
Wayne, NJ 07470
Phone: (973) 317-5000
Fax: (973) 317-5030
Email: proinfo@jvc.com
JVC Midwest Sales
705 Enterprise Street ,
Aurora, IL 60504
Phone: (630) 851-7800
Fax: (630) 851-0130
JVC West Coast Sales
5665 Corporate Ave.,
Cypress, CA 90630
(714) 527-7500
Fax: (714) 952-2391
JVC Professional
Worldwide Contacts
JVC International
Headquaters
Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.
IPSMD (International Prof.
Systems Marketing Division)
12, 3-Chome, Moriya-cho,
Kanagawa-ku
Yokohama 221-8528, JAPAN
Phone: +81 (0)45-450-2310
Fax: +81-(0)45-450-2309
Bowflex
Additional names of the Corporate Directors and Chairmans of the Company
Gregg Hammann
President and Chief Executive Officer
Tim Hawkins
President, Fitness Equipment Business
Gregg Hammann
Chairman
Media and Public Relations Contact Information for Bowflex
Ron D. Arp
SVP, Corporate Communications
Nautilus, Inc.
16400 SE Nautilus Drive
Vancouver, WA 98683
(360) 859-2514
E-Mail: rarp@nautilus.com
Girls Gone Wild (not going to provide a link to their site)
Corporate Links
Mantra Films, Inc. is located in
Los Angeles, California.
Retail Sales:
Tom Schon, V.P., Sales
E-mail: thomass@mantraent.com
Media info:
info@mantraent.com
press@mantraent.com
So if you wish to make your voice heard and your displeasure known at these companies associating themselves with this type of 'publication' that has done this to Michael Yon and the active smearing of the troops, let your voices ring out.
But be polite, firm displeasure without debasing yourself with hate-filled emails and phone calls, will get your message across better.
posted by sanity | 2:45 AM
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