Dear Ms. Welwood:

I have been provided a copy of a municipal newsletter circulating in your community with yet another version of events regarding Mr. Fielder’s use of my intellectual property. I am thoroughly confused by the story I read. He states that he “found some practical information on the internet that provided guidance for municipalities” and that the “Manitoba Municipal Administrators liked the information and asked him to share it”.

When I contacted Mr. Fielder upon finding out he had taken my property and was utilizing it with his name as the author he stated, “I took it from another municipal website”. Let’s be clear, the plan he put forward to his Council as his is a word for word copy of my work and not “information used for guidance.” If indeed this was to be a generic use of good information, why then did he place his name on the title page as the author of the plan? Mr. Fielder says he was not aware the plan belonged to my company when he took it as his own, perhaps this is true, however he was definitely aware the work was not his own – and he led everyone to believe it was.

He then states that “he shared it with the disclaimer that he was not the author and thanked the original author for the material”. I printed the plan with his name on it right from the MMA website when I was notified and there was no disclaimer on it. A disclaimer would go on the document being shared so why is it not on the downloaded copy I printed directly from the website he shared it on? Why have I never heard about this disclaimer until now? If this is the case why did MMA not tell me about this when I called them in August of 2020 and informed them they were advertising my work on their website? I am curious why this is the first anyone has heard of the disclaimer? Mr. Fielder states that he offered me a “written and verbal apology”. Mr. Fielder has never apologized for his actions. I had one conversation with him when I discovered the theft of my work, at no time did he apologize and at no time did he state he had forwarded it with a disclaimer noting it was not his work.

If Mr. Fielder innocently used work that was not his, added in a disclaimer and shared it with an Association because he was “asked to do so” then why when he discovered that the plan belonged to me, did he not immediately inform his council of his actions. The information provided to all of you in the newsletter certainly sounds innocent, so my question is why did he not inform your council – his employer of what had transpired. His silence on this matter until confronted with the truth really speaks volumes more than anyone can say.

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