I love these quotes:
"'There are hard cases and there are easy cases,' the judge said. 'This is an easy case. This case is wholly without merit, both factually and legally.'"
"Franken called the ruling a victory for the First Amendment and satirists everywhere — 'even bad satirists.' ... 'In addition to thanking my own lawyers,' Franken said, 'I'd like to thank Fox's lawyers for filing one of the stupidest briefs I've ever seen in my life.'"
"The judge also said the 'Fair and Balanced' trademark itself is weak, considering those words are used so frequently 'in the context of the public marketplace.'"
(Emphasis added.)
Allow me to gloat for just a minute. Ahhhhhhhhhh .... oh, yeah!
Thanks. Now, the case is not over with. The judge simply denied the preliminary injunction, which means Franken can publish. (Buy it here.) And as part of the preliminary injunction analysis, the judge had to determine whether Fox was likely to win on the merits, and the answer is clearly a resounding no. But the judge is also sending an unmistakable message to Fox to settle or withdraw the case, because it's pointless and they might end up totally losing the trademark in the process. But Fox can't back down, because O'Whiney will go batshit and besides, they can't admit they're wrong because they're conservative and hence they're too stupid to know when they're wrong.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... yes!
Update 8/23/03: Kevin Drum at CalPundit says: "Their suit against Al Franken's use of 'fair and balanced' in the title of his new book is 'without merit, both factually and legally.' Actually, that sort of describes the whole network, doesn't it?"
Update #2 8/23/02: Al's at number 1!
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