[Imc-tech] Re: [Imc-newsroom] Please remove me from your website

[Mike Lehman]

Max,
The Steering group discussed your concerns at our meeting today.
Unfortunately, we will probably not be able to help you with your
request to alter a story on our website. 
Nadine Malik is not listed in the student-staff directory at the UI or
on the Daily Illini staff directory so we are unable to contact her.
Perhaps you misunderstood her in your conversation, as she was working
on (as you can plainly see from the article) a story on letters to the
editor in the DI. Whatever the case, a writer may use their work in any
fashion and in any venue, even if they are actually employed by a
certain entity and identify as such, unless they are contracturally
prohibited from doing so by that entity. I have no idea if that is the
case with the DI or what her status with the DI might be.

Since the qoutes from you do not appear to be speech that is illegal nor
of a defamatory (and hence libelous in) nature we must stand by the
First Amendment right of Nadine as a writer to use what material she has
gathered in ways she sees fit. If you have contact information for her
(since we don't), you are welcome to contact her and request that she
herself ask us that the story be altered, but we cannot do so at your
request. The article remains her intellectual property and we must stand
by our website disclaimer on this, since all posters are solely
responsible for the contents of their own posts.


You are, of course, welcome to post a clarifying comment to the original
article or to work out something with Nadine herself, as she is the only
one who can request that an article which she posted be altered in any
way.
Mike Lehman

Mike Lehman wrote:
> 
> Max,
> We'll take up your request at the Steering group meeting this Sunday.
> You are of course welcome to attend the meeting (which starts at noon)
> so that you can present your side of the issue. I imagine that we will
> contact Nadine to get her side of the story before we take any action,
> however.
> 
> A rereading of the comments makes it appear that she may have been
> quoting either your letter or the DI itself. If that is the case,
> perhaps some better attribution of the source may be in order. However,
> I can't see us removing something that is publically available
> information. Likewise, the material doesn't appear to be of a libelous
> nature. In any case, we will attempt to ascertain if there is a basis to
> remove this and take action accordingly. Generally, we are reluctant to
> edit any story without the consent of the author unless it is a clear
> violation of our website use policy or unless it falls into the very
> limited area of speech that is illegal under US law.
> Mike Lehman
> 
> mfollmer wrote:
> >
> > To the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center News and tech departments:
> >
> > It has come to my attention that my name, and comments made to a DI reporter
> > are contained on one of the pages on your website, as part of a series
> > entitled "Hate Propaganda" part 3 of 4
> > (http://print.ucimc.org/front.php3?article_id=213&group=webcast). The young
> > woman, Nadine Malik, who's name appears on the byline, called me in the spring
> > and identified herself as a reporter for the Daily Illini. While I consented
> > to have my name and comments printed in the DI, I never gave my consent to
> > appear on your website. She never identified herself as being affiliated with
> > your group, or made it known that she was working on a story for you. Had she
> > fully disclosed her intentions, I would not have given her permission to use
> > my name. Please remove my name and my comments from your website immediately.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Max Follmer