Bush Kerry Singalong Legal Trouble

The Richmond Organization, which owns the copyright to "This Land" thinks the JibJab parody is damaging Woody Guthrie's song. According to CNN/Money.com:

"This puts a completely different spin on the song," said Kathryn Ostien, director of copyright licensing for the publisher. "The damage to the song is huge."

TRO believes that the Jibjab creation threatens to corrupt Guthrie's classic -- an icon of Americana -- by tying it to a political joke; upon hearing the music people would think about the yucks, not Guthrie's unifying message. The publisher wants Jibjab to stop distribution of the flash movie.

Of course the creators behind Jibjab don't agree.

"We consider it a case of political satire and parody and therefore entitled to the fair use exemption of the copyright act," said Jibjab attorney Ken Hertz.

Some people have no sense of humor.

Comments

[zag]

very funny stuff. All comments right on the nail.