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Fox Sues Al Franken...

And yet another company legal department wastes money forgetting the "fair use" doctrine.

They realize, of course, that the controversy will only boost sales of Franken's book. Thank you, Fox News!
:D
 
From the article linked above...
In its fair and balanced way, Fox News refers in its suit to Franken as an "unstable" and "shrill" "C-level commentator" who is "not a well-respected voice in American politics."

The attorneys do concede that Franken "achieved some renown as a comedy writer in the 1970s when he worked for the television program 'Saturday Night Live' " but add he since "has attempted to remake himself into a political commentator" and "is neither a journalist nor a television news personality." (Note the distinction being made between "journalist" and "television news personality.")
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Just curious -- I'm no lawyer, but is any of this relevant to copyright infringement? Why would it be referenced in the suit?
 
hgc said:
From the article linked above...
Just curious -- I'm no lawyer, but is any of this relevant to copyright infringement? Why would it be referenced in the suit?
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Good question.
Al Franken could be a C level commentator or an A level one, it really doesn't matter to this issue, does it?
 
"But can you print 'Fire' in a crowded theatre?" —Michael Cloud
 
I do have a problem with the article, it seems to blend factual reporting with editorial commentary, which is just the sort of thing those that cry "liberal media" are complaining about... I don't want to lend straw to their strawman, as it were...

Anyone else troubled by this?
 
It's a column, which I think is pretty well understood to mean that it's an opinion piece, so I have no problem with the article from that perspective.

I do have a problem with Fox insisting that no one can describe something as "fair and balanced" without their permission. It's my fair and balanced opinion that Fox can bite me.
 
Sorry, I should have identified it...the item came from the Wash Post's "Style" section (like the arts) soft news, opinion, criticism, celebrity gossip, etc. THis was not a hard news story, nor was it placed as one by the editors...in this respect, it is different than papers like the NYPost....
 
Michael Redman said:
It's a column, which I think is pretty well understood to mean that it's an opinion piece, so I have no problem with the article from that perspective.

I do have a problem with Fox insisting that no one can describe something as "fair and balanced" without their permission. It's my fair and balanced opinion that Fox can bite me.
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I remember reading in interview with Franken where he was discussing his previous book, "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot." He mentioned that it seemed the concept of irony was lost on many of the right wingers who accused him of unfairly attacking Limbaugh in the title. It guess the "fair and balanced" Fox News has a problem with irony as well.

I once received a fruit basket from Roger Ailes, chairman of FNC (mistakenly btw, it was meant for someone else in my building). If you're reading this Mr. Ailes, it was a pretty sorry basket. And that's my fair and balanced opinion. :)


Mike
 
CNN's take on it

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/books/08/12/foxnews.lawsuit.ap/index.html

Fox News Channel has sued liberal humorist Al Franken and the Penguin Group to stop them from using the phrase "fair and balanced" in the title of his upcoming book.

Filed Monday in Manhattan, the trademark infringement lawsuit seeks to force a Penguin publisher, Dutton books, to rename the book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." It also asks for unspecified damages.

Fox News registered "Fair & Balanced" as a trademark in 1995, the lawsuit said.

Franken's "intent is clear -- to exploit Fox News' trademark, confuse the public as to the origins of the book and, accordingly, boost sales of the book," it said.
.....
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Lawyers- do they have a case?
 
A writer for Slate praises the columnist who wrote the original article in this post:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2086810/

one quote:
Using her pen like a lacrosse stick, de Moraes head-smacks her self-important subjects. Entertainment and news executives are always "suits," whom she regards as preening and ridiculous liars. Covering the summer TV press tour in Los Angeles, she notes that the critics have invented "Press Tour Bingo," assigning a bingo letter to each cliché they expect the execs to mouth. When NBC entertainment chief Jeff Zucker discloses to a group of TV beat writers that a Friends cast member is getting his own show and says, "I cannot think of a bigger announcement this summer," de Moraes cheap-shots him with the aside that his comment came "48 hours after Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez announced that U.S. forces had killed the sons of Saddam Hussein." She describes CBS chairman and CEO Les Moonves as "a former actor who can actually chew scenery while his mouth is covered by duct tape." After reporting at length the MSNBC-Fox News feud over the latest bit of Geraldo Rivera battlefield grandstanding, de Moraes deadpans, "In their spare time yesterday, both news networks covered the carnage in Iraq."
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I always thought Fox's use of the phrase "fair and balanced" was itself a parody. Along with "we report, you decide." Do they mean to say that they believe themselves to be serious about this?


...And I always thought they were the subtle, satirical spinoff from comedy central. Sorta "the daily show" without a "laugh" sign.
 
Latest reports say that Franken is laughing at the lawsuit.

Franken might consider asking the court for sanctions in this matter. More likely, Fox will eventually "settle" the suit and tacitily claim victory without discussing the exact terms of the settlement.
 
Of course, FOX could not do anything more to help sales of his book and make themselves a laughingstock. If I was suspicious, I would think they were in cahoots!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030813/ap_on_en_tv/publishing_franken_lawsuit_6

Al Franken, the humorist being sued by Fox News Channel for use of the phrase "fair and balanced," said Tuesday he doesn't mind the legal action.
....

Franken also thanked Fox "for all the publicity." As of Tuesday night, "Lies" had reached No. 4 on the bestseller list of Amazon.com, one ranking ahead of the latest Harry Potter book.

In its court papers, Fox described the author and liberal commentator as "neither a journalist nor a television news personality. He is not a well-respected voice in American politics; rather, he appears to be shrill and unstable. His views lack any serious depth or insight."

Fox alleged that Franken was "either intoxicated or deranged" when he attacked the network and conservative host Bill O'Reilly at an April press correspondents dinner. The lawsuit also says that Franken has been described as "increasingly unfunny."

"As far as the personal attacks go," Franken responded, "when I read `intoxicated or deranged' and `shrill and unstable' in their complaint, I thought for a moment I was a Fox commentator.

....
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Clearly, this is an important strategic move by Fox to benefit some of their comentators...the next time one of them opines negatively on frivolous law suits, they will have at least one dramatic example at which they may point....
 
Why am I not surprised that Fox has no idea what is appropriate to say in a legal document?

This should be fun. More humiliation for O'Reilly? Count me in.
 
...And I always thought they were the subtle, satirical spinoff from comedy central. Sorta "the daily show" without a "laugh" sign.
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Actually, there isn't a laugh sign on the Daily Show. They tell you on the way in to only laugh when you find something funny (though they do tell you to laugh loud so the microphones pick it up). That's why you regularly see jokes that fall flat and John making recoveries.

I do seem to recall John Stewart making a comment about Fox being the other fake news organization, or some such. I find it difficult to disagree with him. Somehow, despite never actually having a live feed from a news event The Daily Show manages better coverage than most news programs. :D
 
Upchurch said:
So, I take it that no one on this board considers Fox a trustworthy news source?
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I think it's kind of like pro wrestling. At some point, even its most vocal adherents have to admit it's all rigged.
 
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