Michael Yon

I followed Michael's blog page RELIGIOUSLY throughout his embedment(?) with the fierce and aggressive men of the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment-aka "Duece Four".
Yon was embedded for over five months, and unlike the MSM, gave those of us at home, a clear and vivid picture of the day-to-day lifestyle of some of our warriors, and of some of pretty horrific battles in Mosul.
During one such battle, Yon picked up a weapon, and FIRED IT!!!... A BIG "no-no" from the Army for an embedded reporter, but he did what came naturally; Yon is a former Army Green Beret.
Yon also took some amazing and heart-wrenching photographs. One was of a soldier, obviously grief-stricken, cradling a dying Iraqi child, swaddled in a striped blanket.
That photo was distributed, in May, by the Army, to DOZENS of publications, and I've seen it copied on many a web-blog.
It is that VERY photo that seems to be a subject of a strange debate, with an odd fellow being called in to referee.
Yon claims he never intended for the Army to distribute the photo commercially and apparently, is seeking damages.
A U.S. Army attorney has countered that Yon signed a "hold harmless" waiver that absolved the government of responsibility for any injury.
Yon says that the Army's arguments are "preposterous", and I tend to agree.
However, a Boston, muckity-muck copyright attorney contends that the photos are automatically copyrighted, but that the waiver Yon signed could complicate his claims.
Here's the stickler; Yon downloaded his images and blog posts on a GOVERNMENT computer server. So, does that mean that his lawful ownership of written work, or photographic images are then null and void?
We all know that the "rights" of military members are (at times), arguably "different" than those of a "regular" citizen, but how do Yon's "rights" figure into this argument?
Read the whole story here. And here is an article on Yon by the Army Times.
The "odd" referee Yon is calling upon? Ted Kennedy.