SF Chronicle: Owner of conservative radio station KSFO demands liberal critic quit using audio clips. Now, bloggers and media freedom advocates are concerned about the legal reaction from Disney/ABC-owned KSFO. Shortly before Christmas, an ABC lawyer demanded that Spocko remove audio clips from his blog on the grounds that Spocko’s posting of KSFO content was illegal. Digital freedom advocates counter that the clips constitute fair use and worry that critical voices could be silenced by corporations threatening legal action for violation of copyright law.
The station’s behavior is obnoxious on so many levels that it’s hard to know which is worse. What Spocko is posting is blatant fair use of the station’s audio, so the copyright argument is at best tendentious.
But the most outrageous part of this is the station’s attempt to stifle speech — given that the station relies on the First Amendment to make its money.
The station and its personnel should be ashamed.