http://www.ktvu.com/news/15520597/detail.html Muslim Group Seeks Dismissal Of Lawsuit Filled By Radio Host Savage
POSTED: 6:28 pm PST March 6, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO -- A Muslim civil rights group's bid for dismissal of a lawsuit filed by conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage is due to go before a federal judge in San Francisco on Friday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, based in Washington D.C., contends the copyright and racketeering lawsuit filed by Savage in December is "nothing more than a transparent attempt to unlawfully silence an effective critic."
The group has asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to dismiss the lawsuit on the ground that there is no legal basis for its claims. Illston will hear arguments on the motion Friday morning.
Savage, host of the nationally syndicated show The Savage Nation, sued the council over its Web site posting of a four-minute audio segment in which Savage strongly criticized Islam and the Quran.
Savage claims the posting violated his copyright and was used to further "an unfair economic action" in which the council asked advertisers to stop sponsoring the show. The lawsuit also accuses the group of racketeering by allegedly promoting "a criminal conspiracy of radical Islamic terrorism."
The San Francisco-based show has 8 million listeners nationally, according to the lawsuit. The segment came from Savage's two-hour broadcast on Oct. 29, 2007.
The council has argued in papers filed with Illston that its action was protected by the First Amendment right of free speech and the doctrine of fair use, which allows excerpting of copyrighted material for purposes of social commentary.
The group's attorneys also contended that the racketeering claim is frivolous and lacking a basis in facts or law.
Savage's lawyer, Daniel Horowitz of Lafayette, wrote in a response that the council's audio excerpts "far exceed that necessary for fair use" and called the group "a wolf in sheep's clothing."
The lawsuit seeks unspecified financial compensation.
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