http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/25/BA2111VQOI.DTL&tsp=1
Suit against ‘Savage Nation’ radio host tossed
(07-25) 17:42 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage against a Muslim rights group that reprinted his attacks against Islam and called for an advertising boycott.
Savage, who has about 8 million listeners a week on 400 stations for his syndicated “Savage Nation” program, sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations in December for copyright infringement.
The organization had posted four minutes of excerpts from an Oct. 29 broadcast in which he called the Quran a “hateful little book” and a “document of slavery.” He said Muslims were “screaming for the blood of Christians or Jews or anyone they hate.”
The council cited Savage’s remarks in urging advertisers to boycott the program. Its members say Savage has since lost $1 million in advertising.
The broadcaster claimed in his lawsuit that the Muslim rights group had misappropriated his words and used them for its own fund-raising purposes, damaging the value of his copyrighted material.
He also claimed in his suit that the group was engaged in racketeering, describing it as a “mouthpiece of international terror” that helped to fund the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The council called those allegations preposterous, denied any connection to terrorism and said Savage was trying to intimidate and silence a critical voice.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco said anyone who listens to a public broadcast is entitled to take excerpts and use them for purposes of comment and criticism. Reprinting small portions of a copyrighted work for those purposes helps to put it in context and benefits both the public and the target of the criticism, Illston said.
She also said Savage offered no evidence that copying and posting the excepts affected his commercial market for the Oct. 29 broadcast.(MORE)
3 Comments
For anyone who loves freedom, the defeat of the Savage lawsuit is a cause for celebration.
Savage hookwinked us all by telling us that this lawsuit was a cause for free speech. Yeah, it was about free speech but it was CAIR’s free speech that was being infringed, not Savage’s. Indeed, if Savage had prevailed, first amendment rights would have lessened for all of us.
America is such a great country that we even extend free speech to questionable organisations like CAIR.
Michael Savage is an ENEMY of free speech:
http://tinyurl.com/27ladx
The judge doesn’t seem to understand logic. No, the CAIR advertising boycott campaign wouldn’t hurt The Savage Nation on October 29. The boycott may hurt future revenue.
I along with many of Michael Savages audience will boycott the advertisers who boycott the Savage Nation.
Islamo fascists go back to where you came from.
Mick,
Thank you for acknowledging the power of boycotts. Savage’s latest verbal assault against people with autism have caused even more advertisers to drop him.
You also have the right to not do business with any, who offend your sensitivities and values. That’s part of the blessings of us not living in a state controlled economy such as North Korea.
Now, in regards to your “Islamo fascists” comment, there is no historically between my religion and fascism. Fascism is a system that elevates national ethnic identity under an authoritative banner – the world’s two most famous fascist leaders historically were Mussolini and Hitler, two European men who professed Christianity. Of course, nothing was Christ-like about their rule. And it would not be proper to call them Christo-fascists.
As far as going “back to where you came from”, if this was directed towards me, where should I go? I’m the offspring of the slaves, who helped build this country, slaves who were brought here in chains by European slavemasters. I have family members that have fought in every war that our nation has been in since the Spanish-American War. My great-grandfather was attached with the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII. I’ve served in the US military also. It’s safe to say that I’m more American than you!