[Imc-web] Re: [Imc-staff] New York Times Syndicate--trademark infringement

[Wendy Edwards]

Dear Mr. Wren,

To be honest, I find the claim about actual and potential damage
to the NYT to be dubious.  It's more plausible that John Shelton
Ivany may be using numerous mentions on the web to defraud people.
Trying to force outside websites to remove any mention of his
name smacks of bullying and censorship.  However, I'd point out
that Indy Media is an open publishing newswire, which means that
anyone can posts stories and features.  Therefore, if you'd like
to publish a story about Ivany and his "list," you'd be welcome to
do so.  It would almost certainly be more visible than a 3-year-old
archived email.  Our main site is located at http://www.ucimc.org
and there's a "publish" link at the top.  Specifically, the link is
at http://www.ucimc.org/newswire/index.php?function=publish
Since one of the UCIMC mailing lists was involved, I think that it
would be appropriate to check the "local interest" box.

Wendy Edwards



On Fri, Dec 23, 2005 at 12:14:38PM -0500, Gayden Wren/CORPHQ/NYTIMES wrote:
> Dear Ms. Edwards:
> 
>       I have actually read the page (and more than 200 like it) in some
> detail.  This entire affair has been extraordinarily time-consuming and
> dreadfully unpleasant, especially because of the scores of conversations
> I've been forced to have with artists whom I had to inform that the
> highest-profile review they'd ever gotten was fraudulent.  As you can
> imagine, being the spreader of such bad news is not pleasant.
>       You are, of course, correct in your reading of the citation in
> question, which we also quoted in our letter.  You will note that the
> letter carefully stated that this statement (which is, of course,
> completely untrue) "supports" the infringement, rather than was itself an
> infringement.  Had it mentioned The New York Times Syndicate specifically,
> it would have been an actual infringement, albeit an unintentional one on
> your part.
>       Mr. Ivany's methodology, when anyone questioned his bona fides, was
> to suggest that, to save time, they run a Web check on his name.  When we
> first investigated it, there were 109 Web citations identifying him as a
> Times writer (now down to four) and 122 identifying him as a syndicated
> writer, as a columnist appearing in hundreds of newspapers and so forth
> (now down to 11).  All of these tended to buttress his claims, causing
> innocent people to believe that he was what he claimed to be and setting
> them up for future disappointment.
>       (His motivation, incidentally, seems to have been to get record
> companies, and occasionally movie studios and book publishers, to send him
> free sample copies of their releases.  Initially we feared that he was
> charging artists for positive reviews in his "column"--in reality simply a
> weekly spam e-mail--but so far as we can determine this was not the case.)
>       Obviously, your good-faith mailing (the result of good-faith
> information supplied by Mr. King) could reasonably be interpreted as
> validating a present or future claim by Mr. Ivany that he is or used to be
> a writer syndicated by The New York Times Syndicate.
>       As you now know that not to be the case, I hope and trust that you
> will assist us in seeing that this information--now, obviously, long
> outdated--is removed from the archive site as quickly as possible.
>       If I can provide any further information, please give me a call at
> (212) 499-3329.
> 
>       And, lest we forget, happy holidays!
> 
>                                           Sincerely,
> 
>                                           Gayden Wren
> 
> 
> 
>