Iconic photo is at center of dispute

A U.S. soldier in khaki fatigues gently cradles a bloody Iraqi girl in the muddy streets of Mosul.

Blogger Michael Yon snapped the photo May 2, 2005, moments after a suicide bomber attacked the unit he was embedded with. The little girl, Farah, died on her way to the hospital.

The next day, the picture ran in hundreds of newspapers and TV news shows throughout the world. It hit the front page of the Washington Post. USA Today. Fox News. ABC News. Time magazine.

The exposure should have been a career highlight for an independent journalist trying to get his coverage noticed. While millions of people saw the photo in their morning newspapers — and thousands more logged onto his blog — Yon could barely stand to see the picture.

"I was still upset about the bombing," he said. "There were months I couldn't even look at the photo."

He never wanted it to get out. He told Army officials they could use the photo in internal training manuals. Instead, they put it on the news wires, originally attributing it only as a U.S. Army photo without Yon's name.

The Army's decision to release the photo has Yon, widely considered one of the most pro-military voices covering the war, readying a copyright infringement lawsuit.

In an Oct. 13 letter to Yon denying his request for compensation for the alleged infringement, Army intellectual property lawyer Alan Klein wrote that Yon had given up his right for compensation when he signed the standard liability form all embedded journalists must sign.

The form states that Yon agreed to "release the (military) of any liability from and hold them harmless for any injuries I may suffer or any equipment that may be damaged as a result of my covering combat."

In his letter, Klein argues that an injury to Yon's copyright is the same as an injury to his leg or his camera.

The release frees the Army "from any liability for any injury he may suffer," Klein wrote. "The claimant asserts he was injured by the distribution of his copyrighted works to the news media. This release absolves the Army of any liability for that injury."

The Army contends that because Yon shared the photo with the soldiers in his embed unit, he should have understood the photo could be distributed further.

"(W)hen embedded journalists voluntarily share some of their photos with the Soldiers and units that they live and work with, typically through email, embeds fully understand that those individuals and units may distribute them," Lt. Col. Pamela Hart of Army Public Affairs wrote in an email.

Yon's attorney, John Mason, is trying to regain as much control over the photo as possible. He has asked dozens of news organizations to remove it from their archives unless they were willing to pay a substantial licensing fee.

Mason and Yon granted the Daily Southtown permission to run the photo for free because the paper was writing this article specifically about the photo's back-story.

If Yon moves ahead as planned with his suit against the Army, the photo could become a symbol of press rights in the military embed program.

Alicia Wagner Calzada, president of the National Press Photographers Association, said the Army's rationale for denying compensation appears questionable.

"(Yon) owns the copyright to that photograph," she said. "I would certainly never embed on the grounds of turning over my copyright to the military."

Yon wants people to know that he is not a military shill. He worries that the way his most famous photo got out to the world may have tarnished that image.

"I really am as fiercely independent as the Kurds are," he said. "The only thing I had was my independence. That was it."

The letter below is one that the General Brooks got (which apparently did the trick [courtesy of Blackfive Blog]).

Dear General Brooks, First off, let me establish some bona fides: I am a 1982 DMG RA Commission in Armor/Cavalry from University of Florida, graduate US Army Ranger School Class 3/4-83, 9 year veteran with cavalry platoon, armor company command, battalion staff, Brigade S3, etc. Father: USMA '46, both Grandfathers USMA '19, 20, Great Grandfather, USMA 1897, Uncles, cousins,etc., all USMA. "Beat Navy" were my first publicly spoken words at age 2 in the Catholic chapel at West Point (right in the middle of Father McCormick's homily!). I am as dyed-in-the-wool pro-military, pro-soldier and pro-US Army as you wiill ever find. I say this to alert you to the fact that this letter comes from an old soldier speaking to a fellow soldier, though I have been a civilian for 15 years. I know that you have placed your sons in harm's way and I value your sacrifice. I still love our soldiers, and I am so proud of them and the work they are doing on behalf of me and mine and our republic. I know, as you do, that their story is never told well, if at all, and that those who both love the soldier AND speak on their behalf in the media are rare and should be treasured.

I have been privileged to have read Michael Yon's work, seen his stunning photographs and am proud to have even corresponded with him from time to time (mainly about our shared alma mater and the Florida Gators). I am flabbergasted that the US Army has chosen to make Michael Yon a target for both maltreatment regarding his excellent and award-winning photgraph of Major Dave Bieger and Farah, as well as placing obstacles to his return to the Iraqi theater. I am unsure if you have followed Michael's work, but you will not find a more clear and unambiguous supporter of the soldiers and Marines on duty in Iraq in any publication or mediume extant. Michael is an ex-operator, so he doesn't punch out jingo-istic propaganda, but paints stunningly accurate portraits of the type of men and women you and I both know comprise our armed forces, but whose stories are seldom, if ever, told. His sories of the Deuce-Four were told with such beuty and realism that I found my palms sweating, I was so engrossed.

Sir, I know that I only see this issue from the perspective of those who love and appreciate Michael's work. There may be another side, but it certainly seems as if the US Army position as I have seen it directly quoted seems very narrowly constructed and gives little acknowledgment to the powerful impact Michael has had praising our armed forces. Frankly, it seems like it was drawn up by some JAG "Garrit-trooper" and endorsed by others of that ilk. Michael has smelled the cordite and camo-stick, on duty and even more amazingly, as a civilian. Why does he undertake such hazardous duty? Because he loves soldiers and wants the world to see them in their powerful glory and in their tender humanity. His picture of Major Bieger was the most moving picture I think I have ever seen. It captures everything that you and I know about the Army, and the story of the people who are in it. Do not deny him the credit for having taken such risks to himself and his family, just to tell that story.

I hope the US Army will reconsider it;s stance on the matter at hand, acknowledge the work as Michael's and further allow him to return to doing the job few others have the temerity or the talent to do.

Sincerely, DWP Knoxville, TN

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