Carol Burnett is suing Family Guy for $2 million for using her image and name without her permission according to Reuters. Burnett says the show committed copyright infringement by using her cartoon likeness from her variety show, The Carol Burnett Show. Burnett says she has exclusive rights to her name and image and the show did ask her to use either. She asked the show to edit her out of the scene and they have declined which is probably why she went ahead with the lawsuit?
A spokesman for 20th Century Fox Television, which produces “Family Guy,” said on Friday the suit was without merit and that references to Burnett and her show in an 18-second sequence of the cartoon amounted to parody. “‘Family Guy,’ like the ‘Carol Burnett Show,’ is famous for its pop culture parodies and satirical jabs at celebrities,” the studio said in a statement. “We are surprised that Ms. Burnett, who has made a career of spoofing others on television, would go so far as to sue ‘Family Guy’ for a simple bit of comedy.”
As a fan of both shows I think I am going to side with Family Guy on this one. You know that expression “what comes around, goes around” well as the spokesperson said she did the same thing all the time 40 years ago so what is the difference now?
BTW you can read the lawsuit at The Smoking Gun for more details.
Up Late with Stewie & Brian premieres this Sunday on MySpace at 6p est. Their first guest will be Rob Corddry, star of Seth MacFarlane’s first non-animated series The Winner, but don’t fear he gets animated for Stewie!
You can watch Up Late on The Winner’s MySpace and if you want you can also watch the pilot episode of the show there too. I so love Seth MacFarlane, so I can’t for all of this!!!
Production has finally begun on the sixth season of Fox’s animated smash "Family Guy," 2½ months after the show’s writers were told not to report to work. "Family Guy" scribes were informed Tuesday that the doors had been unlocked, and they returned to the writers’ room for the first time Wednesday. Work was halted on "Family Guy" last fall as talks between producer 20th Century Fox TV and series creator Seth MacFarlane on an overall deal had reached an impasse (Daily Variety, Oct. 25). Although MacFarlane’s deal wasn’t up for several more months, studio execs didn’t want to start production only to halt later if for some reason a deal wasn’t struck. Twentieth brass also hoped to push along negotiations, which had progressed slowly for more than a year. Decision to bring the "Family Guy" scribes back to work is a signal that progress has finally been made in mapping out a new deal for MacFarlane at 20th; indeed, sources close to the negotiations said a rich pact is expected to be announced imminently. A 20th Century Fox TV spokesman declined comment. Insiders said it was too soon to gauge whether the late start for season six of "Family Guy" would affect the studio’s ability to deliver episodes on time. Should the show’s 2007-08 premiere appear to be in jeopardy, however, it’s likely the studio will spend some extra coin to quicken the production pace. MacFarlane stands to sign a big overall deal with 20th given the success of "Family Guy" and his other animated creation, "American Dad." He’s also behind upcoming live-action Fox laffer "The Winner" (along with Ricky Blitt).
