LETTER: Disgusted by campaign’s actions
By Letter to the Editor on October 10, 2012 7:45 am / 12 comments
I am disgusted by the “Adam Lawrence for Mid-Michigan” campaign.
A recent college graduate, Mr. Adam Lawrence is running for state representative for the 99th District against Kevin Cotter this November.
As a Democrat, I am thankful that I am voting absentee this year and will not have to vote for a man like Mr. Lawrence.
As a photographer, my work is my intellectual property and belongs to me unless used with my permission.
I recently watched an advertisement for the Lawrence campaign and found that he used photos I had taken of him without my permission to promote his campaign.
I kindly but sternly addressed the campaign, and the result: I was banned from the Facebook page and my comment was removed.
This is what a candidate for state government acts like? First steals intellectual property and then ignores concerns about it? How can the needs of the constituency be entrusted in a man who plays dirty politics and ignores the requests of the constituents themselves?
I grew up learning to judge a man by the content of his character, and the behavior I have witnessed from Mr. Lawrence has left me worried.
If a man has to steal property to make himself noticed, what does that say about him? I urge those who vote in this district, and every district, to research their candidates and judge them by their character.
And remember, if no candidate seems to suffice, there’s always the power of the blank ballot.
And to those who envision running for any public office one day, learn from Mr. Lawrence how NOT to act and keep it classy you might have more success.
I am co-chair of the American Civil Liberties Union RSO on campus, and my views do not represent those of the organization or the individuals within it.
Brynn McDonnell
Rockford sophomore
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12 Comments
Why are you complaining? Democrats are for the most part corrupt an unashamed liars. Whats the old proverb? “Lie down with dogs and get up with fleas.”
Did you ever ask for the picture to be removed? Or did you just put a nasty post on his Facebook page and expect him to leave it up for the world to see? Rather than taking the steps you have engaged in, a reasonable adult would have simply sent Mr. Lawrence a private message about your concern. You written terrible things and jumped to far too many conclusions before investigating this matter. Could it not have been a simple oversight? It seems like you a looking for attention at the expense of Mr. Lawrence. YOU are not a constituent as you have mentioned that your are from Rockford and will be voting there. Steal property…psshhh CHILD PLEASE!
Um, excuse me??? You have no idea what the story is behind this, and you are the one jumping to conclusions! Based on this article, it sounds as if Brynn did, in fact, go about respectfully asking for recognition – nothing in this article implies that she went about it in a “childish” manner, as you are assuming.
Send a letter to his office and complain about it.
First of all, a photo of a candidate could be considered newsworthy. Second of all, was the photo properly registered and a DMCA takedown notice sent to Facebook or did you just go off half-cocked and make a fool of yourself?
The photo in question has been on Facebook since April when Mr. Lawrence was “tagged” in it. Up until 4 hours ago you could also find it on Brynns “publicly available” photos – meaning you didn’t even have to be her friend to view it. According to Facebook’s user policy: “When you publish content or information using the Public setting, it means that you are allowing everyone, including people off of Facebook, to access and use that information, and to associate it with you.” I actually saw her post on the campaign website and it was her calling him incompetent and disgusting – never once asking for it to be taken down. Soo yeah, half-cocked fool looking for attention and drama…
That still doesn’t mean you can repost it without attribution. Someone who posts an image on Facebook still holds the copyright that he/she would for any other picture he/she took.
He doesn’t need to register his works for them to be copyrighted in the United States and permission is usually still needed even if the photo is newsworthy– see the recent decision against the artist of the Obama “HOPE” poster who used an Associated Press photo.
I agree he’s going off half-cocked here but it doesn’t really excuse the campaign’s actions, DMCA or not. Someone who can’t understand copyright law shouldn’t be making laws.
Apparently this isn’t the first time Mr. Lawrence has had an issue with Facebook: http://imgur.com/x5k04
Unreal. Apparently the candidates should have no sense of humor. You aren’t smart enough to realize that was a joke Dennis?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0V1G7Mt8q4
All of this over a picture? Brynn McDonnel it appears you need to get a life and worry about things that really matter. I know the man. He is far from being a thief. He cares about education and teachers more than most. Speaking of classy….you made a very sound point on YOUR OWN CHARACTER. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.