Al Franken RULES!!! Info inside, plus I need help!

[bspence]

Fox News' lawsuit against Al Franken is online now.
(http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/ip/foxpenguin80703cmp.pdf)

It's hilarious. Most of the suit seems like an ad for Fox News and their merchandise. Do we need to know about their collection of neckwear?

Here's what I'm wondering though. In the document, it says that Al attacked people of Fox News at the White House Correspondent's dinner, specifically Alan Colmes. I hate Alan Colmes!! They couldn't have found a bigger wiener to represent the left (if they could, they would've)!

So does anyone have a link to where Franken attacked Colmes?

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1. And don't forget!

Friday is "Fair and Balanced" day!! Put "Fair and Balanced" remarks on everything you post (and wherever else you can think to put it!)

Graphitti's cool (not that I'm endorsing it, mind you).

[VermontDem2004]

2. I read somewhere

where you can't legally copyright phrases, but maybe I am wrong.

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4. Totally agree

My trademarks are 'far and wide', 'large and small', 'neither here nor there'...you get the picture.

[MUAD_DIB]

7. FAUX doesn't have a case ...at least I don't think so.

Al Franken's subtitle: "A fair and balanced view of the right."

It doesn't say Al Franken: "Fair and Balanced."


Also I think that copyright law is different when it comes to publishing and book titles.


Am I wrong here?

[Eloriel]

10. Copyright and Trademark are two very different things

Both are Intellectual Property, though.

No, phrases, ideas and titles (e.g., book or song titles) can't be copyrighted.

Trademarks can cover phrases, but one of the things that I personally think maks Fox's case weak is that it's my understanding that if you want to trademark something you have to protect the usage of that trademark vigorously, insisting that people who use the trademarked word or phrase ALWAYS include the Trademark symbol and that it belongs to you. I don't think Fox has done this.

I should say I'm not an attorney and my limited understanding is from about a decade ago when I did a little research on copyright and trademark issues.

Eloriel

[JNelson6563]

3. well we could file a litany

of the folks those morons have attacked. The thing about neo-cons is they are constantly projecting. How transparent they are, walking around with their freudian slips showing all the time like that!

Julie

[indie]

5. Fox needs new attorneys...

sheesh, this reads like the diatribe of a 14 year old girl who just realized someone was wearing the same color shirt as her (without her permission). 3 lawyers put this together for fox, that's 9 years of law school, and all they could come up with is 'no one likes him'. how many ad-hominems are you aloud to use before they laugh you out of the bar. check out count 6 #77 & 79.

[Generic Other]

11. The writing style sounds distinctly like O'Reilly's turgid whiny prose

This sounds more like a crybaby's snivelling than a lawsuit.

Unfair and Unbalanced. That certainly describes the line-up at Faux.

I have it on good authority that a group representing all foxes currently living in the wild is suing the tv station for infringement on their name. Vulpes Vulpes v. Fox News.

Here's their spokesman being asked what he thinks of O'Reilly.

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6. Crapola

The only thing I've found is this witty exchange:

Franken: “Clinton’s military did pretty well in Iraq, huh?”
Wolfowitz: “Fuck you.”

[FredScuttle]

8. The charge that Al "attacked" anyone at the WH dinner...

is, to me, purely GOP-spun myth. As I understand it from the Salon report at the time, Franken approached Wolfowitz at the dinner and presumably said "Clinton's military did pretty well in Iraq, huh?" To which Wolfowitz replied "Fuck you"

If Franken said anything to Colmes, I hope it was "Get a fucking spine, you eunuch jelly blob!"

I think the wheels were set in motion the next day at Dr. StrangeRove's lair to spin this as "Franken attacks Wolfowitz" Drudge had a blind item on it with this ridiculous spin on his page for about 10 minutes before he pulled it off (no doubt averse to another defamation suit). Don't you think if this story (prominent liberal Democrat out of control at WH correspondents dinner) had any merit, it would have on 24/7 on Faux News (and picked up by the Faux affiliates MSNBC and CNN)?

[nclib]

9. This can't be real.

It's got to be a parody, right?

[Brian Sweat]

12. I don't have any idea whether or not the lawsuit has merit,

but the brief seems like a joke to me. Granted, I am not a lawyer, but I cannot believe that a judge would take this seriously. Was this prepared by a lawyer?

[goddess40]

16. Depends if the right owns the judge NT

.

[nostamj]

13. cannot display that page!

got it once, read the first page of the brief (which DID seem like a joke, "world famous"???)

but it froze my browser. subsequent attempts open a blank window (and freeze the browser).

anyone know if it exists elsewhere? can someone post the full text??

[HFishbine]

14. Some great lines from the suit

"...since Franken's reputation as a political commentator is not of the same calliber as the stellar reputations of FNC's on-air talent..."

The appropriate letters do not exit on my keyboard to convey the extent of my laughter at this one.

"FNC has been dedicated to presenting news in what it believes to be an unbiased fashion, eschewing ideological or political affiliation..."

And I won't travel beyond what I believe to be the edge of the flat earth.

"At present, FNC has over 80 million subscribers..."

FNC doesn't have a single subscriber. I subscribe to extended cable for sports and the Daily Show. But nobody subscribes to FNC the way one would subscribe to HBO.

"FNC continually employs the phrase "Fair and Balanced" throughout it (sic) programming."

And on it neckties. And, gosh darn it, it just not fair for that Franken to make fun of we.

"...Hume concludes every broadcast... by saying "stay tuned for news fair (sic), balanced and unafraid."

What's a news fair? And are they unafraid of satire?

"Balance is important in news and hot coffee."

They want to claim the right to balance too? Coffe drinkers, gymnasts, and drunks -- unite!

"Defendants use of the Trademark...is likely to cause confusion among the public about whether Fox News has authorized or endorsed the Book..."

Not any more.

"Defendent intended to use the Trademark to capitalize on Fox News'...reputation in order to sell the Book."

They may be right about that. See the complete title of the book.

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17. More

"Defendent intended to use the Trademark to capitalize on Fox News'...reputation in order to sell the Book."

I don't think Fox will score points with this though. A book that criticizes Fox News is naturally going to have to talk about Fox News. It's not exploiting Fox, it's discussing and debating the lack of merits that Fox has.

[Garage Queen]

22. "And I won't travel beyond what I believe to be the edge of the flat earth

Oh, man, thanks for the commentary! B-)

[CatWoman]

15. Could only find references in right wing rags

http://www.keever.info/pm/articles/Al%20Franken.htm

http://www.freedomofthought.com/archives/2003_04_29.html

[Junkdrawer]

18. Wouldn't it be ironic if this lawsuit became a vehicle to promote Al's...

book and to call into question the bias of Faux news?

Oh, wait.....never mind.

[electricmonk]

19. Idiots

They thought Lateline was serious political show. I guess to Fox it probably was though. :eyes:

[HFishbine]

20. Misquote

The suit also claims that Franken has been "decribed as a 'C-level political commentator' who is 'increasingly unfunny.'"

Actually, that's a misquote. The comments, by right-wing commentator CK Rairden ([email protected]), described Franken as "usually unfunny."

http://www.washingtondispatch.com/printer_5670.shtml

[Snellius]

21. Roger Ailes is not so stupid

As silly as this lawsuit sounds, I can't help but feel that Round Roger knows exactly what he's doing. Yes, it helps Al Franken's book, but it also fuels the kind of visceral political passions that FOX News runs on. My guess is that he's not really embarrassed but chuckling about the whole thing. Anyone who would call FOX News "fair and balanced" in the first place was taunting his critics with the kind of ridicule and sarcasm FOX is so nasty at. Besides, Bush is turning out to be a bust, and without Clinton, they're scrounging for morsels to feed their rabid fans.

[Junkdrawer]

27. But, apparently, Bill O'Reilly is. n/t

[LuCifer]

23. I thought rightwing peckerhead were AGAINST frivolous suits like THIS!

Is it just me? Am I just off a dirt road cuz I'm blasting the new Jane's CD???!?!?! But F me gently with a chainsaw, but I thought these were the same cockfarmers who cry like pus-bags when ANYONE sues their employer cuz UH OH their employer didn't give them SHMIT when they, say, get injured on the job!?!?!?!?!?!?

Hi kids, todays word of the day is:

HYPOCRITES!!!!!!!!

Oh man, I hope these rightwing s-bags rot in a nice deep firey pit of hell.

Lu Cifer

[samsingh]

24. his book is still #1 on Amazon

3 days running

[corarose]

25. Faux props a corpse up & calls it Alan Colmes & they have a puppeteer

Moving his lips. Didn't you know Alan Colmes is hmmm well hell he does look like he died a few years ago.

He is another talking head.

[tpub]

26. This usage is protected by the First Amendment

There's no way this lawsuit has a chance.

Hello, Faux News, it's called: SATIRE!