Carol Burnett's company has filed a suit against FOX for unlawful use of copyrighted material in an episode of Family Guy. The Charwoman character appeared in a porno shop and the theme song to The Carol Burnett Show was playing in the background.
Burnett's company noted that FOX had approached her for use of the theme music, which she denied. They apparently went ahead and used it anyway and now Burnett is suing for about $6 million and asking that the episode be re-edited to remove the offending content. This is a pretty interesting case because the music was clearly used satirically, which generally frees copyrights to some degree; this means that copyrighted material can be spoofed or made fun of without infringement issues cropping up. On the other hand, if FOX approached her and she denied them, they are clearly in the wrong.
Spokespeople for the network were slightly hurt by the suit, noting that much of Burnett's material and career was based on making fun of others and pop culture in general - just like Family Guy - and they apparently think she should have let this one go. But Burnett has always fiercely defended herself and her career; some will recall that she is one of the few to have successfully sued a tabloid for an untrue story they published, in which they claimed Burnett had been drunk and unruly at a restaurant.
We'll keep an eye on how this plays out.
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
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