The Fox News Channel has ordered the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to take down a TV commercial using a clip of the candidate at a recent debate. The following should be attributed to Sherwin Siy, Public Knowledge staff attorney.
“Fox is wrong. There are complexities and contours to fair use, but it's irresponsible and inaccurate to say that McCain's campaign has no substantive legal defense. In fact, they have a very strong fair use defense. The use of 19 seconds of the debate, even in a campaign commercial, is an excellent example of fair use, and not the sort of free speech Fox has the right to prohibit under copyright law. All in all, I think that Fox is making an extraordinary claim if they're saying that this is infringement. If anything, the allegations of infringement are what lack substance.”
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.