The Volokh Conspiracy - Fair Use, Freedom of Criticism, and (in this Instance) the Council on American-Islamic Relations Win; Michael Savage Loses:

Last week, a federal district judge threw out Michael Savage's copyright and RICO claim based on CAIR's posting and criticizing a 4-minute snippet of Savage's radio program. The court correctly rejected the copyright claim on fair use grounds, finding that this was permissible criticism. And the court rejected the RICO claim on various grounds, including First Amendment grounds, since the injury Savage allegedly suffered was because of CAIR's speech.

I've certainly disagreed with CAIR in the past (see, e.g., here and here), including with its unduly narrow views on free speech. (Of course, I've also disagreed with Michael Savage.) But in this lawsuit, CAIR was in the right, and its victory is a victory (albeit a not unexpected one) for free speech more broadly.

	[Eugene Volokh, July 31, 2008 at 5:13pm] Trackbacks Fair Use, Freedom of Criticism, and (in this Instance) the Council on American-Islamic Relations Win; Michael Savage Loses: Last week, a federal district judge threw out Michael Savage's copyright and RICO claim based on CAIR's posting and criticizing a 4-minute snippet of Savage's radio program. The court correctly rejected the copyright claim on fair use grounds, finding that this was permissible criticism. And the court rejected the RICO claim on various grounds, including First Amendment grounds, since the injury Savage allegedly suffered was because of CAIR's speech. I've certainly disagreed with CAIR in the past (see, e.g., here and here), including with its unduly narrow views on free speech. (Of course, I've also disagreed with Michael Savage.) But in this lawsuit, CAIR was in the right, and its victory is a victory (albeit a not unexpected one) for free speech more broadly.