International Olympic Committee has ordered a blogger to remove a video showing the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili from his website

David Kumaritashvili, father of Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili, receives condolences from Georgia's President. (Reuters Photo)

International Business Times – The International Olympic Committee has ordered a blogger to remove a video showing the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili from his website.

During a practice run leading to this years Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Kumaritashvili flew off the track and slammed against steel support pillars around the track’s perimeter.

Stephen Pate, publisher of the online site NJN Network, published the video along with commentary about the death, and the IOC has since ordered him in an email to take it down.

The IOC asserts that it owns all the rights to all images taken at the games, and only licensed broadcasters can use them. However, Pate points to a Canadian law that allows copyrighted images to be used in news worthy cases.

“One of the rights is for news organizations to report the news, so it’s a news story,” Pate told CBC.  “The man died. Why did he die, was there negligence, what happened? And secondly, why is an international sports body trying to restrict the right of the public to see the story? And that made it a newsworthy item to write up.”

Aside from the copyright issue, the IOC also said that the footage was disrespectful to the Kumaritashvili family.

The International Luge Federation said Mr. Kumaritashvili failed to compensate properly when he slid into the last curve.

But its chairman, Josef Fendt, said later that the track was far faster than its designers ever intended it to be.

Officials shortened the track before the Olympics began to slow speeds and raised safety barriers to keep lugers on the track if they crashed.