Posted on 06/19/2002 1:54:11 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
I just received official word that our settlement with the LAT/WP in their alleged copyright infringement and unfair competion suit against Free Republic (click Source link above for complete history of the case) is completely finalized with the court. I do not have a copy of the final order yet, but the basic terms are as follows:
- Unless we receive prior written permission on an article by article basis, Free Republic agrees to continue posting only excerpts (as allowed by fair use) and links from any of the LAT/WP or related publications.
- Free Republic agrees to remove all full text copies of any LAT/WP and related publications copyrighted articles from its archives and servers and to destroy all copies of same.
- Neither party is awarded any damages, attorney fees or costs except that Free Republic agrees to pay the Los Angeles Times $5,000 and the Washington Post $5,000 (these negotiated amounts have already been paid).
I will post the entire final order including the list of related publications as soon as I receive a copy and get it scanned in.
Well, my fingers are not cold and dead and my keyboard has not been ripped away. While this is not entirely a win for FR, neither is it a crushing defeat. Free Republic is alive and well and the fight against liberalism continues on. It's a crying shame that the hallowed words of the WP/LAT will no longer grace our pages, but, somehow, I am sure we will manage to live on without them.
And despite what our detractors may say, we have not committed any crimes or broken any laws and we have not admitted to any guilt. We have negotiated a mutual agreement and settlement with the LAT/WP and have agreed upon satisfactory terms for continuing forward without having to spend the rest of our lives in court.
Many thanks to all of you for your past and continuing support.
Regards.
Jim Robinson
Free Republic Lives!
Not the outcome they wanted now was it?
Jim, this is wonderful news. Congratulations!!
Shame on the WP/LAT for their senseless and petty attempt to shut this site down. They suck in the biggest of ways.
A woman is the strongest thing on earth- she can hold up two milk factories.
The money is always well-spent, chiefly on bandwidth and equipment costs and utility bills, to keep the biggest and best WHOLE TRUTH information machine in the world running -- we constantly filter out the left-wing spin-doctoring and provide members with "the other half of the story." It's a group effort with thousands of unpaid volunteers, serving as amateur news analysts. Magnificent.
The legal team is also a great investment for part of this money. It protects the site from left-wing disruptors who realize what a danger we represent to their agenda. They are constantly trying to find a way to interrupt or shut down the smooth operation of our news analysis.
A lot of publicity has also attended Free Republic's lawsuits, which are expensive but worth every penny. We are defending freedom of speech for every little website on the Internet, including the left-wing hate sites whose members are gleefully predicting the date that we will go "Error 404."
One of the punks at Smirking Chimp actually predicted that we would go "Error 404" by Christmas 2001. I told him that I'd find a little McDonald's paper hat, link him to a fully operational Free Republic on Christmas Day, and ask him whether he wanted fries and a Coke with that crow he was going to be eating.
Guess how that turned out: same way it always does.
I'm sure that seeing the end of the lawsuit has to be a relief. I, for one among many, want to thank you again for the precious gift of Free Republic. I don't know what I would have done without it during the post-election process of 2000, for starters, or any day when there are events since! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
(And I'm sorry about any duplicate flags!)
If you'd like to donate to the Free Republic Legal Defense fund, please click here. (Or at least help keep the thread bumped.)
bigotry \Big"ot*ry\, n. [Cf. F. bigoterie.] 1. The state of mind of a bigot; obstinate and unreasoning attachment of one's own belief and opinions, with narrow-minded intolerance of beliefs opposed to them.
No you won't...Mojo and the other cave dwellers say so...HAR... ;o].
And a VetsCoR bump.
Dingdingdingding. We have a winner.
I, too, am afraid that they will soon be knocking at his door. I'm going to enjoy FR (and continue to contribute both articles and dollars) until the number of excerpted articles exceeds the number of full length ones.
Perhaps when that happens Jim will change FR into a comedy site -- WheeeeRepublic.com (slide whistle noise)! Only one category for posting - humor - and people only get banned for failing to amuse. Which I am probably dangerously close to right now. ;o)
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