Fair Use Project Sues Michael Savage For Stifling Free Speech Of His Critics

from the yet-again dept

You may recall the lawsuit earlier this year, where radio talk show host Michael Savage tried to sue one of his critics for copyright infringement. The group in question had a pretty clear fair use claim, as they were using Savage's radio broadcasts for commentary and to respond to Savage's attacks on the group. And, in fact, a judge wasted little time explaining fair use to Savage, and tossing out the lawsuit.

However, it appears that Savage hasn't yet learned his lesson on fair use, as he's apparently been sending more takedown notices to folks who use his recordings and respond critically to Savage's on-air claims. In this case, the production company Brave New Films created a similar video critiquing Savage's statements. Savage's syndicator sent out a DMCA takedown notice -- something it clearly should have known was questionable given the recent lawsuit results. So, now, the Fair Use Project is suing Michael Savage and his syndicator, Original Talk Radio Network, on behalf of Brave New Films, for misrepresentations in their DMCA takedown notice.

In the original case, we had some Savage fans show up here in the comments insisting that his misuse of copyright was a good thing, because it would help "expose" the group that was criticizing him as a terrorist front. That's a ridiculous statement of course. If the group were a terrorist front, then that's something for the government to deal with -- rather than a justification for misusing copyright law. Are we now going to hear that Brave New Films is really a terrorist front as well? Or is it just anyone who criticizes Savage must be a terrorist front, and thus it's perfectly fine to try to misuse copyright law to shut them up? Free speech doesn't mean just the speech of people who agree with you.

Filed Under: copyright, dmca, fair use, michael savage, takedowns
Companies: brave new films, fair use project, original talk radio network