Good for the goose, also good for the gander?

Navy SEALs Sue AP Over Detainee Photos
By Robert Jablon, Associated Press Writer

It appears the ol' double standard is alive and well with the AP and other MSM. In a time when more and more print media are cracking down on blogger commentary, screaming copyright infringements with merely an excerpt or, on occasion, a link to them as a source, some Navy Seals are getting back their own - facing down the media giants with as much aplomb as they do Islamic terrorists.

A federal lawsuit filed by several Navy SEALs and the wife of a special forces member claims The Associated Press violated copyright and privacy laws and endangered the servicemen's lives by publishing photographs of them with Iraqi prisoners.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in San Diego, seeks unspecified damages. It also asks the court to bar the AP from further use of the photos and to require the news agency to protect the SEALs' identities.

It replaces a lawsuit filed in state court in December to add the federal copyright infringement allegations, said plaintiffs' attorney James W. Huston.

It's getting to be commonplace today... dumping the State courts in favor of Federal jurisdiction in the attempt to get recourse.

Just so we clarify the intents of the AP's writer and user of the photos, Seth Hettena , the photos that accompanied Mr. Hettena's story was that of some Navy Seals "sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees and also what appear to be bloodied prisoners — one with a gun to his head."

My my... now what message would Mr. Hettena be trying to send by using these particular photos? Is there a question in any one's mind that the photos were deliberately chosen to demean the American soldiers, despite the fact there was nothing illegal being done (verified by a Navy investigation)? The slant and intent of the AP writer could not be more obvious.

These photos are reported to have been taken by another Seal, and brought back from Iraq by a spouse of one keeping the photos in a digital album. They were subsequently posted on an internet album site which the woman believed required password access. In other words, she did not intend for some roving reporter to latch onto the photos and use them without permission and were not either formally copyrighted, nor registerd at that time.

It goes without saying that counsel for the media giant insists the lawsuit, claiming violation of copyright and privacy laws, and deliberately endangering the servicemen's lives, calls the claims "groundless. Indeed, they go further, stating...

"The pictures are of obvious public interest. AP obtained them in a completely proper way and was right to publish them."

Public interest? Apparently the AP journalist feels the public is interested in perpetuation of the notion that all of our servicemen are intent on torture, if sitting on a terrorist with a hood can be classified as such. But, since Abu Ghraib has died down, the media appears to ever be sifting thru anything that can portray our soldiers as twisted militants who enjoy doling out torture.

But let's examine that goose-gander mentality...

Bloggers also obtain excerpts and articles in a "competely proper way", and yet the 4th balance of power, as the MSM likes to think of itself, still attempts to slam the door shut in the blog world's faces with frivolous lawsuits not dissimilar to this.

While I hold little hope that the liberal judicial branch will rule in the Seals' favor, I applaud their slap at the big boys. And I hope to see more of it in the future.