Thursday, December 06, 2007

Magician sues over cartoon Jesus

Metrano claims Family Guy stole his act

Fox

Family Guy is being sued again, this time by a spoof magician who claims the show stole his act – and gave it to Jesus.
Seventies entertainer Art Metrano claims the cartoon ripped off his deliberately rubbish tricks in a scene showing how Christ’s miracles had been overstated.

The animated comedy then cut to Jesus performing an act Metrano’s lawsuit says is ‘identical in music, sound and action’ to his own.

Metrano, who played Captain Mauser in two of the Police Academy films, wants more than $2 million in damages for each of four alleged infringements of copyright and other rights, plus unspecified punitive damages.

Here’s his act:




And here’s the Family Guy clip:



Earlier in the year, veteran comedian Carol Burnett launched a similar lawsuit over a parody of her act in the show, but it was thrown out by a federal judge.

Incidentally, Art Metrano’s own website plays the A-Team theme tune, with no acknowledgement of the music’s copyright holders.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the guy has a solid case. This is a classic example of a guy who created a classic bit and a show (family guy) unknowingly stole it because they didn't perform the due diligence to see if it was public domain. To be honest, I never knew who invented that bit. But Family Guy has a lot more resources at their disposal than I do and should have done the work.

Anonymous said...

Parody is a legally protected form of expression in free countries like the United States. Ever watched SNL?

This guy is wasting his time.

Anonymous said...

this guy is just mad because family guy made fun of his trick.

Unknown said...

You guys OBVIOUSLY don't know the definition of parody, OR THE LAW. While he'll likely lose, it won't be because his case lacks merit, it will ONLY be because Seth McFarland is richer than GOD. If the LAW prevailed, he WOULD WIN. Go back to school, idiots.