Legal beagle handicaps Savage suit

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Michael Savage is going after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for going after him. CAIR is not at all happy with the opinions espoused by Savage on his Talk Radio Network program, and has been using exerpts in a campaign to encourage an advertiser boycott. Savage has turned around and sued CAIR for copyright infringement. George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley has looked at the case and offered his opinion on his blog.Savage is attacking CAIR’s motives, saying it was done not for political reasons but rather to use him to raise funds. "In part of his complaint, Savage seems to be laying the groundwork for a false light claim," said Turley. "He claims that CAIR ‘repackaged’ the material to falsely suggest a hatred for Islam — though it is pretty hard to imagine a context where these statements would not reveal such a hatred."


Turley thinks Savage may instead be using the "privileged" nature of court filings to make charges against CAIR without risking exposure to defamation charges directed back at him. "The purpose does not appear to be true legal action," Turley said. "If it were, this is a remarkably low-grade effort for a federal filing."

RBR observation: The substantial elements of this altercation seem to have high on heat but low on matter; Savage’s suit is found to be light on substance by a legal expert, while CAIR’s plea to advertisers appears to have been more successful in listing companies with "non-controversial" program dictates that kept them away from the program regardless, rather than persuading existing Savage clients to exit the show. The bottom line is that Savage is free to do what he does, and CAIR is free to protest it. CAIR is just as free to try to persuade advertisers to stay away from the show as Savage is to try to sign them to a long-term contract.