Barney the Dinosaur goes before the beak

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has asked a federal court to protect the free speech rights of a website publisher it says suffered years of legal threats over his parody of the Barney and Friends television show.

According to the EFF, the Lyons Partnership has repeatedly sent "meritless cease-and-desist letters to Stuart Frankel because his website pokes fun of Barney the purple dinosaur, which is a children's television character".

Although Frankel and the EFF have responded to these letters many a time, Barney's lawyers have continued to keep sending them.

The lawsuit will ask the court to finally resolve the matter by declaring that Frankel's parody does not infringe Barney's copyright or trademark rights. The EFF said that Barney's lawyers are sending out intimidating letters to parody websites that are clearly protected by the First Amendment and fair use.

More here, here and here. µ