University of Wisconsin Green Bay Stole My Photo

7 min read

Deviation Actions

RobynRose's avatar
By
Published:
38.5K Views
UPDATE APRIL 18: Phil got back to me by email and said that the school's attorney is looking into the matter
The form letter has been removed. We have their attention.

UPDATE APRIL 18: This morning I was able to contact Phil Clampitt by phone.
He is investigating the matters and will have a reply to me by the weekend.

UPDATE APRIL 17:
The Website has removed my photo but has left my name / credit up.
This morning I phoned Victoria Goff, but was only able to leave a message.
Tomorrow I will try to phone Phil Clampitt during his office hours.
No one has responded to my emails yet.
Also, edited to change "slander" to "libel". Sorry about that.
April17 by RobynRose

Fourthestatesample by RobynRose

EDIT: The article appears to be an Onion-style comedy fake report. It has nothing to do with me, but doesn't state so. Honestly, this is libelious because these are lies published next to my photo, implying that this is me. IT IS NOT ME. This is a fake article next to a stolen photo.

UPDATE: The author of this article is NOT someone named Jayce Briton. That is a pen name for Senior Communications Journalism student and Editor of the Off the Wall column, Dylan Dobson.
Dylan Dobson also has a LinkedIn profile, seeing as how he is trying to get into journalism as a field.
Dylan Dobson is supposedly an Honors Student. I'd like to see how Phillip G. Clampit, the chair of communication or Victoria Goff, the administrator of the school newspaper will feel about his honor student status after this.


  1. You did not ask to use my photo for your article.
  2. I did not give you permission to use my photo.
  3. You did not compensate me for this use of my property.
  4. You did not tell me if this was commercial use or not.
  5. You credited my name, but did not properly link to me.
  6. You did not notify me of such usage.
  7. I do NOT allow my stock to be used as clip-art. It is for art reference only.

My images are not licensed under Creative Commons, nor do they exist in the public domain.
Any download or use of my images is bound to the rules I have stated on my front page.



Email: 4e@uwgb.edu

Phone: (920) 465-2718

Fax: (920) 465-2895

Here are some other people to contact:

Phillip G. Clampitt, Chair of Communication (Journalism falls under this)

Victoria Goff, Victoria Goff teaches journalism and advises the award-winning university newspaper, the Fourth Estate.

Waltz was placed in a barbiturate-induced coma after falling down two flights of stairs at her apartment in Schenectady, N.Y.

Waltz returned home from attending a "Lost" season three viewing party May 29, 2008. Upon entering her apartment and going to the bathroom to change out of her McCain-Palin campaign T-shirt, she noticed strange sounds coming from her bedroom. She entered the bedroom only to find her boyfriend engaged in a round of naked "Wii Fit" with the couple's next door apartment neighbor.

Waltz's family, who lives in Green Bay, had her transported to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.

"I wanted to get her as far away from that man as possible," Josephine's mother, Marilynn Waltz, said. "He'd hurt her enough."

Waltz said she holds no ill will toward her ex-boyfriend for the incident.

My name is not Josephine Waltz.
I am not 30 years old.
I am not an English teacher.
I do not have / have not had a boyfriend as described here.
I have never been in a coma.
I am not a Republican.
I am not from New York.
I do not have family in Green Bay.

I never watched Lost.

These are falsehoods published in connection to my name and photo and implied to be me.
There is no statement Anywhere on the article or on the parent column "The Fourth Wall" saying that such an article is false and written for comedy purposes. There is no statement saying that use of my image is for illustrative purposes only and that I am in no way connected to the events described.
This is libel whether intentional or not. You cannot make up false statements and attach someone's face and name to the article (in this case, my internet handle Kxhara is much more well-known than my real name, and is almost more damaging because my reputation is based on that name) without implying or insinuating that that person did the things you stated. Especially with no visible disclaimer stating that events are fictional and false.

Dylan Dobson represents the institution that is his shool's newspaper and its journalism program.

The About page of the Fourth Estate states:

Fourth Estate is the award-winning student newspaper from UW-Green Bay. The mission of Fourth Estate is to provide the campus and the Green Bay community with professionally written stories, while educating students about proper journalism ethics, editing skills and written skills.

This entire situation is embarassing. To all parties. It embarasses me by making up lies and putting my face and name next to them. It embarasses Dylan Dobson because it shows, on his part, a flagrant disregard for basic copyright law and basic journalistic etiquette; the very things his newspaper tells us that it is founded on. And finally, it embarasses the entire school program by showing us that it is producing journalism students like Dylan Dobson.

I would be much more forgiving if this were a highschool newspaper or a first-year, first-semester college student. But this journalist is a senior honors student at a university. It is April, and he is about to graduate. Dylan Dobson is one step away from becoming a professional journalist. And that scares me. And it should scare you. A professional journalist should understand the importance of and respect copyright law. They should understand the difference between comedy and slander. They should take responsibility for mistakes. More importantly, they should make every effort to not make those mistakes in the first place by doing research, reading rules and asking clarifying questions. You know, journalism. If this were the real world, Dylan Dobson would be facing much harsher consequences than a very lenient $300 fine for copyright violation, libel and identity theft.



Because nothing bad ever happens from sloppy journalism.

I'd like to point to recent events involving the boston marathon bombings as an example of the potential damage my situation can do. Several false accusations were made, plastering the photos of innocent people on newspapers and circulating through forums like Reddit. Before the real suspects were identified, there were witch-hunts organized and the accused were terrified. Black and Middle Eastern people were harassed in the streets, and were threatened with violence. All because of bad reporting and newsmedia that jumped the gun. I'm not saying that my situation and this situation are the same thing. But I am saying that the practices are similar. (not asking the right questions, spreading a photo before sources are confirmed, linking an innocent person to a crime before any evidence is found) When reporters fail to follow journalistic standards, people can get seriously hurt from simple misinformation.
© 2013 - 2024 RobynRose
Comments281
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
MauricioKanno's avatar
This is really a shame... Sorry for you. I'm a journalist, and i know how much anti-journalism this is. The person who wrote this should be sued and suffer serious consequences in his university. I'm also angry because they take so long to answer to you and punish the guy (if they will)!