You betcha I’m innocent.
A North Jersey newspaper company on Friday slapped Sarah Palin with a lawsuit alleging the former vice-presidential candidate and her political action committee posted copies of an iconic 9/11 photograph on their websites without permission.
The trademark-infringement suit, filed in Manhattan federal court by North Jersey Media Group, alleges Palin posted a copyrighted photo of firefighters raising the American flag on the ruins of the World Trade Center on her PAC’s website, her official Facebook page and other web pages.
North Jersey Media Group’s holdings include The Woodland Park, NJ-based The Record and the Herald News. The photo was taken by Thomas E. Franklin and appeared on the front page of the Sept. 12, 2001 edition of The Record. It earned him Pulitzer Prize nomination and was the focus of a CNN documentary “The Flag” that aired on Sunday.
“North Jersey Media Group is concerned about the infringement of its photograph and people taking credit of the photo who are not entitled to,” the company’s lawyer William Dunnegan said.
Reps for Palin’s PAC could not be reached for comment.
The photo remained posted on Palin’s Facebook page on Friday. One Facebook user told the Post that they tried to ask a question about the lawsuit via the Facebook page and their comment was quickly deleted. They were also blocked from adding future comments.