Let’s have a little adult conversation here, the bullshit has got to stop, it is crazy on all sides, and in my 50+ years in this city I have watched this shit boil and simmer, boil and simmer, boil and simmer, and it just gets ugly and nasty, so let’s grow up and act like the people we want others to be.
Yesterday morning a website called “Recall Mike Summers” went up on the Internet. Greg Mahoney posted the site on Facebook, and how foolish it was. Unwittingly, Greg was broadcasting something he did not agree with, which is foolish enough, but also set into gear a machine that was not going to be stopped or slowed down. Betsy Voinovich sent me a message, “Did you see recallmikesummers.com on Facebook?” I said I hadn’t so I went there.
A simple site above calling for the signing of a petition to recall Mike Summers.
For the record this is a patently idiotic idea. I am sure the people who came up with it never bothered to look at the order of succession, or it would have been a "Four More Years For Mike" website. I have huge differences with Mayor Summers on many things, but as I have often stated, I would give him another four years when placed next to other names in the wings.
It doesn’t matter, FREE SPEECH I support. BUT, they had stolen 3 images from the Lakewood Observer, and all of our images and stories are copyrighted, and protected under international copyright laws. The Observer is very protective of our property and the intellectual property of those who contribute. If you don’t believe me, ask the Lakewood High Band, the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, Chris Bindel, Ivor Karabatkovic, Ed FitzGerald, and others about it. This project is built on intellectual property and we will always back the creator in any way we can, even through the courts. Those who steal, and re-post Lakewood Observer material, simply do not understand the project, and\or are afraid to enter our realm of discussion so post to their aggregate sites, or page.
For the record, I do not believe we ever said no to a request made in writing, with the exception of the Lakewood Observer brand and trademarks, which we have taken legal action on many times, and always refuse unless we are part of the promotion. So I immediately called Lakewood Observer legal to get a cease and desist order placed on the individual or group for illegal use. One of my lawyers, Matt Markling, was the first to call back, and I explained the issue and he said he would look into it.
TRANSPARENCY - The website was registered under a hidden name through Go-Daddy, so that it took legal action to notify the owner(s) of the site that we were demanding a cease-and-desist to the web site owner for all images that belonged to Lakewood Observer, Inc. or myself. Matt Markling has always been a proponent of Transparency and Intellectual Property Rights and he got on it. Within hours, the photos were gone, hours later the website was gone.
It would be my understanding that when the owner of the note got a letter from Go-Daddy that the photos had been traced back, he realized you cannot hide on the Internet, that laws, theft, slander, libel, still exist, and a person cannot really hide. This city desperately needs transparency and a real conversation, perhaps the owner(s) of the site realized the greatest disinfectant is sunshine.
DEDICATION TO THOSE PRINCIPLES - I told Matt Markling heads would roll on this one. He never said, “Who cares about Mike Summers?” He never said “Screw Mike Summers…” He said, “Stay by your phone, I'll handle this...” Minutes later I got a call from Go-Daddy on my listed phone number, I confirmed my password and that he was my attorney of record on this, they hung up. Two hours later as I said, the images were down, two more hours later the website down. People in this city have got to put away their differences when it comes to doing the right thing. Too many people in this town keep quiet, cover up and even worse go along with things they are personally against because of peer pressure, connections to one of the people, a sick clubbiness that permeates this town and stops good people from doing good things that are right for this community.
Now after the photos came down, I got a call at the Observer offices. The person on the other end was apologizing for stealing the photos, and was asking us not to sue, as they were taken down. I spoke with the person who wished to be anonymous, and he said the same thing so many people say, “They were on the internet, I thought I could just use them.” That is a great falsehood. “I wasn’t using them for commercial reasons.” Another great falsehood. People cannot take images without permission. Think of the lawsuit of Bruce Spingsteen and Chris Christie, Chris Christie playing Springsteen music at his rallies made it seem like the Boss had given him permission. An artist/writer/photographer always remains in control of their work, but it is only as good as the enforcement of those copyrights. Anyway, I asked him, “Who would you rather have in office?” He had no answer, merely saying, “Just trying to make him listen to residents.”
I will admit on the streets of Lakewood there is a growing concern over a growing disconnect between City Hall and residents. But throwing rocks behind a mask is not the way to fix it. The way to fix it is to state the problem, put your name on it, and keep with it. You cannot ask for transparency behind a hidden site, a hidden agenda or a fun name. You must be willing to lead by example, and demand the same from our elected officials. I said, if you believe in what you are saying, take the site down and do it correctly. Own it. Two hours later the site came down, and I got another call. “You are right, I hope I didn't cause you any trouble using your photos. Use my name if you need to.” I stopped him. I told him he had done the right thing, there was no reason to go any further.
He hung up, and as I mentioned, later the site came down.
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