[Spiff]

Carl, It was found by a FReeper who did the work and searched through some photo archives. I suspect that Corbis isn't the only place that FReeper searched. I suspect that FReeper had to go through many photos looking for John Kerry in them. There is no question that NewsMax deserves some credit for getting the news out that the photo exists. However, give credit where credit is due. The bottom line is that if that FReeper had not taken the time and effort to find the photo there would still be no photo of Fonda and Kerry together for NewsMax to post. It would still be waiting in the Corbis archive, unfound and unpublished.

[Carl/NewsMax]

Again, NewsMax credits FR more than any other commericial news source does. I wish the sources that routinely steal stuff from my column were half as respectful when it comes to giving credit as NewsMax is.

But in this case, there's one important detail you seem to be deliberately overlooking. It was against the law to reprint that photo without permission from Corbis. Whoever did so on FR, they did it ILLEGALLY.

If you would have preferred I had credited FR with theft of intellectual property - fine. But I suspect those who own and run this Web site wouldn't have appreciated the lawsuit such crediting might have invited.

I suspect the Washington Times was trying to do FR the same favor by alluding to the fact that the photo had also turned up elsewhere on the Internet - without identifying FR by name.

For the record, NewsMax said it had "obtained" the photo, not that it had unearthed it. And the Times said only that NewsMax had published it, not that it had done so exclusively.