Fox News to McCave Don't To Use Fox Footage On Web Site -- But Lets Rudy (And Romney) Use It

TPM:

What on earth is going on between Fox News and John McCain?

Yesterday, Fox News lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to John McCain's campaign, demanding that he halt use of a new ad that uses footage from the Fox-sponsored GOP debate on Oct. 21. Fox is alleging copyright infringement. McCain's campaign is refusing Fox's demand.

But I've learned that there's more to this story.

I've obtained a copy of Fox's letter to McCain. And it explicitly demands that McCain not just stop running the ad, but also demands that he pull the ad from his campaign web site, too, and indeed also demands that he refrain from using any Fox footage on his campaign's site.

The letter says: "Fox News demands that John McCain 2008 immediately cease and desist from any further use of the copyrighted material and that access through the Website to the Ad, the Fox News Debate or any portion thereof, and/or any other Fox news materials, be immediately disabled." That seems clear: No Fox footage of any sort on his site at all. That's surprisingly onerous.

Update: Fox News backs off, sends cease-and-desist letters to all the leading GOP candidates.