Filmmaker sues Sinclair in New York over anti-Kerry documentary

[kskiska]

NEW YORK -- Filmmaker George Butler sued Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. on Thursday, saying its documentary showing a one-sided view of presidential candidate John Kerry's anti-war activities violates his copyrights by using pictures and film without permission.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, seeks unspecified damages and a halt to any use of the material Butler has created in the more than three decades he has documented Kerry's life.

Butler said in the lawsuit that Sinclair infringed upon his copyrights by the unauthorized reproduction of pictures and film for its documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal."

(snip)

Messages left for comment with lawyers for Sinclair, based in Hunt Valley, Md., were not immediately returned.

Butler has taken at least 6,000 pictures of Kerry since he began documenting his life in 1969, convinced he eventually would be president. Some of the photos were published in a book, "John Kerry: A Portrait."

more…
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--sinclairsued1021oct21,0,5307486.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

[grannylib]

1. Awesome! Typical RePukes...steal from others with impunity to achieve

their evil ends...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. I'd say "cheat"

Copyright violation and theft are different things.

Equally disgusting in this case, though.

[Walt Starr]

16. I disagree, copyright infringement IS theft

Just my opinion.

[CatWoman]

17. http://www.law.com/index.shtml

copyright
1) n. the exclusive right of the author or creator of a literary or artistic property (such as a book, movie or musical composition) to print, copy, sell, license, distribute, transform to another medium, translate, record or perform or otherwise use (or not use) and to give it to another by will. As soon as a work is created and is in a tangible form (such as writing or taping) the work automatically has federal copyright protection. On any distributed and/or published work a notice should be affixed stating the word copyright, copy or ©, with the name of the creator and the date of copyright (which is the year of first publication).

infringement
n. 1) a trespassing or illegal entering. 2) in the law of patents (protected inventions) and copyrights (protected writings or graphics), the improper use of a patent, writing, graphic or trademark without permission, without notice, and especially without contracting for payment of a royalty. Even though the infringement may be accidental (an inventor thinks he is the first to develop the widget although someone else has a patent), the party infringing is responsible to pay the original patent or copyright owner substantial damages, which can be the normal royalty or as much as the infringers' accumulated gross profits.

[Eloriel]

19. Of course it is -- theft of intellectual property

What surprises me is that these people who ought to KNOW about the most basic copyright law, apparently either don't, or don't give a damn. Hope they get their asses handed to them.

[truthisfreedom]

24. criminals. plain and simple. lawless, cold-blooded criminals. inspired

by the biggest criminal in the highest position in the world.

on edit- oops, well, he's not the tallest criminal in the world, but he's still the biggest.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

26. Everything in your post is correct

Except the subject.

[Ann Arbor Dem]

44. I think they don't give a damn.....it's arrogant hubris....n/t

[SemperEadem]

31. exactly--when you don't pay for something you take without permission,

then it's theft. Period. It's no different than the RIAA going after downloaders for copyrighted mp3's.

The film's producers didn't pay the licensing fee/copyright fee in order to use it. Too cheap to do it right, too arrogant to believe that they wouldn't be held accountable.

It's outright theft.

[politicaholic]

2. That totally rocks!

[kskiska]

3. This, too

The lawsuit alleges that the Sinclair documentary also infringes on the copyrights of "Winter Soldier," a 1970s documentary chronicling Vietnam veterans describing atrocities they had seen.

[mom cat]

4. Doom to the evil doers!

:nuke:

[clydefrand]

5. Go George Butler! Clean 'em out!

[2Design]

6. wow - this is great to see

[CatWoman]

7. awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Sookie, Sookie now!!!!!

[russian33]

9. not to go off-topic...but I was in Russia in 1994..

..with high school, and we were at the circus, and my friend sais 'Sookie-sookie now' to some hot trapeze girl...well, in russian 'sookie' means 'bitches'...so the 2 old ladies next to him almost fell over...

Sorry, i haven't heard the expression in a while..reminded me of that.

[CatWoman]

18. LOL

In my day (70's), that term was standard slang.

Ever hear of the song, "Groove Me?"

Artist: King Floyd Lyrics
Song: Groove Me Lyrics
Uhh! Awww, sookie sookie now!
Hey! Oww, uhh! Come on, baby!
Hey there, Sugar Darlin',
Let me tell you something
Girl, I've been trying to say, now.
You look so sweet,
And you're so doggone fine.
I just can't get you out of my mind.
You've become a sweet taste in my mouth, now.
And I want you to be my spouse,
So that we can live happily, nah-nah,
In a great big ol' roomy house.
And I know you're gonna groove me, baby.
Ahh, yeah, now.
You make me feel good inside.
Come on, and groove me, baby.
I need you to groove me.
Ahhh, yeah, now, now, darling.
Uhh! Come on, come on!
Hey! Uhh!
Hey there, Sugar Darlin',
Come on, give me something
Girl, I've been needing for days.
Yes, I'm good, good loving,
With plenty, plenty hugging.
Ooh, you cute little thang, you.
Girl, between you and me, nah-nah,
We don't need no company.
No other man, no other girl
Can enter into our world,
Not as long as you groove me, baby.
Ahh, come on.
Make me feel good inside.
Come on and groove me, baby.
Move me, baby.
Ahh, sock it to me, mama.
Uhh! Ahh, I like it like that, baby.
Uhh! Groove me, baby! Hey! Uhh!
Groove me, darling!
Come on, come on.
I need you to sock it to me, mama.
Come on and groove me, baby.
Hey! Uhh! Good, God!
It makes me feel so good inside, mama.
Now, come on, come on, and uhh,
Groove me, baby, groove me, baby.
Ahh, sock it to me,
Sock it to me,
Rock it to me.
Come on, come on!
Come on!
And uhh,
Groove me, mama, I want you to
Groove me!

[librechik]

8. Gotcha--NOW can we get an injunction??? Time is Short!

due to air tomorrow!

[righteous1]

10. judge is the key

Going to have to find a sympathetic judge to act quickly

[grytpype]

11. That might work!!!!

And I know, I'm an IP attorney!

You can get an injunction against a copyright infringer! Sure, it would work!

[Carolab]

23. Well for God's sake

GO for it--contact the campaign!

[grytpype]

27. They already have counsel.

IP lawyers in New York are a dime a dozen.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

25. Can I ask you for an informal opinion?

What's your opinion on post 14 of this thread and its responses?

[rawstory]

12. bump!

even though it doesn't need it.

[Say_What]

13. My, my. More GOOD news about Sinclair

:D

[grannylib]

15. Sure good to see the pressure staying on these freaks. Nail 'em. Nail

'em good.

[Sinnerman]

40. I Agree Sinclair is skeered shitless

[slappypan]

20. Wow, I guess it really is "stolen."

And not particularly honorable.

[Carolab]

22. The comment from Kerry's campaign

The Kerry campaign announced Thursday it will not participate in the Sinclair news program even though even though the company has decided against airing the entire "Stolen Honor" documentary.

Sinclair, whose executives are contributors to Republican causes, originally said the hourlong program would air in prime time on all of its 62 stations, many in swing states, prompting protests from critics and shareholders. On Tuesday, the company announced the program would appear on 40 stations and would feature parts, but not all, of the documentary.

Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton said Sinclair's announcement was "a panicked attempt to appear fair and reasonable."

Sinclair said its Friday program, "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media," will examine the use of documentaries to influence elections. Sinclair's vice president of news, Joe DeFeo, has said he hoped to have Kerry or a campaign representative appear on the show.

In its refusal, the Kerry campaign noted Sinclair fired its Washington bureau chief after he publicly criticized the program.

"When their own top political reporter had the courage to speak up, they fired him _ that tells you everything you need to know about them," Clanton said. "The Kerry campaign is in no way cooperating with this discredited, partisan effort that Sinclair is poorly disguising as news."

[tishaLA]

21. Haw Haw!

[genius]

28. So is he going for damages or an injunction?

Can he get it stopped?

[JPZenger]

29. Another opportunity to sue Sinclair

This was posted on www.dailykos.com today:

"As an attorney with some exposure to SEC rules - if a publicly traded firm such as Sinclair issues a press release that it knows to be false for purposes of influencing its stock price - it is in violation of SEC rules regarding

1. stock manipulation
2. issuing known false information to the investing public.

A shareholder lawsuit should follow promptly.

Contact your local Securities lawyer.

For Example - The SEC is currently investigating AIG for making false disclosures regarding the insurance industry investigation."

[TexasChick]

30. Good grief, they can't even do campaign smears correctly...

they have to steal someone else's work and be complete hacks!!! Fascists jackasses!!! :puke:


Jennifer

[Steelangel]

32. **kick**

[mom cat]

33. Any update on possible injunctions?

[prayin4rain]

34. YEAH!!! I hope this works out.

This is one of the first protest type things I have taken several actions on. I really hope it gets stopped, it will just make me want to keep going.

[Supersedeas]

35. journalist for the 1st Amendment....does copyright law matter?

Intellectual property rights dismissed.

[Steelangel]

36. ***KICK***

any updates on this? I am going to kick this topic until I get the answer :P

[Steelangel]

37. *********KICK*************

[Steelangel]

38. ***KICK***

[Steelangel]

39. ***kick*** ***kick***

[Steelangel]

41. ***KICK***

[Steelangel]

42. ***KICK***

[Divine Discontent]

43. KICK KICK KICK

did this air?????????????????