[Infowarrior] - Fox News Sued For Copyright Infringement

[Richard Forno]

Quote of the Article -- "Fox sanctimoniously operates unencumbered by  
the very copyright restrictions it seeks to impose on its  
competitors," the lawsuit states.    --rf


Fox News Sued For Copyright Infringement
ANTHONY McCARTNEY | 01/ 8/10 01:02 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/08/fox-news-sued-for-copyrig_n_416347.html
LOS ANGELES — A former adviser to Michael Jackson sued Fox News on  
Thursday for copyright infringement, claiming the cable channel aired  
portions of an interview with the singer's ex-wife without proper  
payment or permission.

The lawsuit in federal court by producer F. Marc Schaffel seeks  
damages from Fox News for airing portions of the 2003 interview with  
Debbie Rowe after Jackson's death in June. The filing states the  
interview made up a significant amount of Geraldo Rivera's July 5 show.

Schaffel, who once sued Jackson and won a judgment against him, owns  
the copyright to the Rowe interview. Portions of the interview were  
aired on the Fox network in 2003 as part of a special intended to  
balance out a damaging interview aired earlier that year.

A spokesman for Fox News, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News  
Corp., said the channel does not comment on pending litigation. The  
lawsuit states Fox News has claimed a "fair use" right to air the  
footage as part of news programming.

The filing chides Murdoch, who has threatened to sue the British  
Broadcasting Corp. and others for copyright infringement because he  
claims they are stealing content from his company's newspapers.

"Fox sanctimoniously operates unencumbered by the very copyright  
restrictions it seeks to impose on its competitors," the lawsuit states.

Schaffel owns the copyright to two tapes containing the 2003 interview  
with Rowe, according to copyright records. Portions of the interview  
were part of a special titled, "Take Two: The Footage You Were Never  
Meant to See." It aired on Fox after Disney-owned ABC aired an  
interview with Jackson by Martin Bashir in which the singer spoke  
about allowing children to sleep in his bed at Neverland Ranch but  
that the practice was non-sexual.

Schaffel won a split judgment against Jackson in 2006 after suing over  
work that included producing footage for the 2003 Fox special. A jury  
awarded Schaffel $900,000, but also awarded the pop singer $200,000 as  
part of a countersuit.