Suit Filed in Fake Story About OU QBs
By Randy Ellis, The Oklahoman
Jul. 15–The Oklahoma Publishing Co. and a sportswriter Monday sued a Nebraska football fan who admitted creating a fake Internet article about two University of Oklahoma quarterbacks.
The 10-count civil lawsuit accuses James W. Conradt of libel, copyright violations and trademark infringements.
Conradt has expressed remorse over the hoax and announced he was taking down his Husker Web site.
“I am sorry for any trouble this has caused,” Conradt said in a statement on www.darthhusker.com. “Please consider this to be an official retraction and correction.”
OPUBCO is a leading provider of news and information in Oklahoma through its newspaper, The Oklahoman, and Web site, NewsOK.Com.
The publishing company and sportswriter Jake Trotter sued Conradt in federal court in Oklahoma City.
Conradt published a “defamatory” article on the Internet July 9 that falsely stated University of Oklahoma quarterbacks Sam Bradford and Landry Jones had been arrested for intent to distribute cocaine, the lawsuit alleges.
Conradt allegedly put a link to the article on his Web site and an online sports message board.
The lawsuit claims Conradt used Oklahoman staff writer Jake Trotter’s byline and various OPUBCO trademarks to give the bogus Internet article the appearance of legitimacy.
Conradt placed Trotter in a false light and damaged his reputation and occupation by publishing the story, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages. The lawsuit also asks a federal judge to order Conradt not to misuse OPUBCO trademarks in the future, to require Conradt to prepare a written report stating how he will comply with that order, and to order Conradt to publish “corrective advertising” to compensate for the harm he allegedly caused.
Conradt, 36, is a Nebraska fan who works as a computing services manager in the information technology department at the University of Texas. He could not be reached for comment Monday evening or today.
Last week, Conradt admitted to Oklahoman columnist Berry Tramel in a telephone interview that Conradt was responsible for the hoax. He said he wasn’t thinking.
“I want to express my deepest apologies to the families,” Conradt said last Wednesday. “That’s the thing I’m regretful about. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
The lawsuit claims Conradt was “well aware of the dangers that can be caused by posting harmful attacks anonymously on the Internet.”
It points to a Jan. 10, 2005 article in the Lincoln Journal Star, a Nebraska newspaper, in which Conradt was quoted discussing how easily people can post untrue rumors on Internet message boards.
“I think anonymity brings out the worst in people,” Conradt was quoted as saying. “There are no consequences for saying what you say. I think that’s probably where the whole concept of flaming comes from. They probably didn’t have that in the old days around the coffee pot at work, the profanity-laced, ultra-negative outbursts.”
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