No Rock And Roll Fun

JABBING BACK: Turning around and biting the dog, JibJab have reacted to threats to sue them over their Bush/Kerry skit based on Woody Guthrie by launching a legal challenge of their own - they've filed a suit with a Californian judge asking him to rule their version of Guthrie's This Land song is fair use. They're taking a bit of a risk, since the site's defence of parody depends on the judge accepting that you can use any artwork as a basis for a parody of anything else: Ludlow Music, the people who own Guthrie's songs, contend that as the other This Land isn't setting out parody their This Land, but to parody the two men fighting it out for the right to choose the Oval Office cushions, the 'fair use' clause doesn't cover them. JibJab's pre-emptive strike could see them heroically in the clear; on the other hand, they might just be funding the first stage in their own prosecution.