Dumb Lawsuits

Today marks a golden day in our nation’s history. It marks the day we defeated tyranny, oppression of freedom and pure unadultered evil. It marks the day we stood up to those who choose to destroy us and said in a loud, proud, booming voice, “No.” We defeated Barney the dinosaur.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Los Angeles Times) — Barney the purple dinosaur may sing about how much he loves you, but his corporate masters don’t care much for Stuart Frankel.

Lyons Partnership sent four threatening letters to a New York musicologist and computer repair technician who created a parody website that suggests Barney’s affable public persona masks a secret double life. An image on the site depicts what the cute and cuddly Barney might look like offstage — with horns, sharp teeth, a pentagram and the devilish number 666 emblazoned on his chest.

Lyons last week dropped its claims against Frankel after he fought back with the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The technology advocacy group assisted Frankel in filing a lawsuit accusing Barney’s creators of using its copyrights and trademarks to curb free speech.

That’s right, parody is protected, free speech. How do I know that? Because Weird Al Yankovic isn’t being in held in Guantanamo Bay right now.

The legal loophole that saved Frankel’s fanny is called “fair use rights.” It allows copyrighted work to be used if said copyrighted work is used in a parody or satirical manner as long as the work is noncommercial. Does that mean OJ Simpson can sue himself since now he’s become a parody of himself?

Frankel’s site, http://www.dustyfeet.com/evil/enemy.html, portrayed the purple one as an evil, Satan worshipping, fat creature with a lust for blood and destruction. Rush Limbaugh has sued Frankel claiming his character is based on him.