Free speech: Electronic Frontier Foundation warns against California law undermining parody

A new “E-Personation” bill now in the California legislature would make it a crime to personate someone online to “harm” that person. EFF claims that the law would severely restrict online parodies criticizing government and big corporations. -db
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Commentary
August 22, 2010
By Corynne McSherry
A bill that could undermine a new and important form [...]

Political speech: Federal court rules satirical ads violated copyright law

An Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer finds fault with judges’ downgrading satire as a form of protected speech as in Henley v. DeVore in which a senatorial candidate attacked his opponent by setting his own words to two songs, “The Boys of Summer” (The Hope of November”) and “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” (”All [...]

Free speech: Federal judge rules for comic for onstage jokes about in-laws

A First Amendment Center director says that the First Amendment, properly understood, protects a wide range of humor, from satire and parody to editorial cartoons. -db

First Amendment Center
Opinion
May 16, 2010
By Gene Policinski

What is it about humor that all too often results in situations that decidedly are not a laughing matter?
Free speech in comedy attracts controversy [...]

Arbitrator nixes talk show host Glenn Beck’s charge that parody infringed copyright

Online Media Daily
November 6, 2009
By Wendy Davis
Controversial talk show host Glenn Beck came up empty as a World Intellectual Property Organization arbitrator ruled that a unflattering url intended to be a parody came under the protection of the First Amendment. -DB