Republican Official: Go Ahead, Sue Us

Scott Borgamenke, Chief of Staff for Speaker of the House Jon Husted (R-Dayton), told the Elyria Chronicle yesterday that although the issue of violating my copyright rights (by using my photograph of 57th Ohio House District candidate Matt Lundy in an attack ad without my permission) is being examined, the Republicans will carry on either way. Violating the law? Don't care. "We won't change the ad," Borgamenke said. "He can take us to court if he wants to."

This quote appears at the end of the following excerpt from today's Elyria Chronicle Telegram:

Jeff Coryell, a Cleveland Heights Democrat who blogs under the name Yellow Dog Sammy, has his own complaint about the anti-Lundy ad. He said the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee, which produced the ads, stole a picture he took of Lundy during an Aug. 21 interview at the Bob Evans restaurant in Avon and put it in the ad.

“This is theft, plain and simple,” Coryell said.

So far, he’s not getting any satisfaction. He said he has yet to hear back from Martin and can’t reach anyone with the GOP campaign committee. But he intends to wait and see what happens before he takes any further action — which the former assistant U.S. attorney said could include a copyright infringement lawsuit.

Martin said he doesn’t know if Coryell’s complaint has merit and has forwarded it to state Republicans.

[Scott] Borgemenke [chief of staff for Speaker of the House Jon Husted] said the issue is being examined, but won’t [sic] the ad won’t be changed whatever is found.

“We won’t change the ad,” he said. “He can take us to court if he wants to.”

This is how the "party of personal responsibility" treats the rule of law when it gets in their way.

UPDATE: Not caring if it's right or wrong, not trying to follow the rules, just counting on getting away with it. That's what this is about, and it explains much about the quagmire of corruption into which Columbus has fallen during twelve-plus years of Republican domination.

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