Michael Savage sues islamic group

Michael Savage.
Photo courtesy PrideDepot.com

By Julia Cheever

December 3, 2007

Conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations in federal court in San Francisco today over the group's use of his words on its Web site.

The San Francisco-based host claims the council violated his copyright by publicizing a four-minute segment in which Savage was strongly critical of Islam and the Quran.

The segment was aired on Savage's nationally syndicated radio program, The Savage Nation, on Oct. 29.

The lawsuit charges the Washington D.C.-based council misappropriated the segment and is using it for political and fundraising purposes.

Council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said the lawsuit "seems to be a legal and rhetorical rant."

Hooper said council officials believe their use of the segment is protected by the legal doctrine of fair use, which allows excerpting of copyrighted material for purposes of social commentary.

Hooper called Savage's words "one of the most vicious attacks on the faith of Islam that I've heard in more than 20 years of anti-discrimination work."

The spokesman said the council posted the material on its Web site for purposes of public education and to promote an interfaith campaign to urge advertisers to stop sponsoring the radio show.

Savage is represented in the lawsuit by Lafayette attorney Daniel Horowitz. The suit, which seeks unspecified financial compensation, says the segment was "provocative and strongly worded" but was not intended as an attack on people of faith.

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