G
Greg Brown
Guest
I personally think that Savage is a bit over the top, but I like this
lawsuit!
http://www.savage-productions.com/Savage_CAIR_suit.html
DANIEL A. HOROWITZ State Bar No. 92400
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 1547
Lafayette, California 94549
Attorney for Plaintiff
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
MICHAEL SAVAGE,
No.
Plaintiff,
vs.
Counsel on American-Islamic
Relations, Inc. and Does
1-100
Defendants.
_____________________________/
COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
(Trademark Infringement)
1.
Michael Savage is the radio show star of The Michael Savage Show"
where he uses the name "Michael Savage". He is hereinafter referred
to as "Michael Savage" as this is the name used in the public arena.
Michael Savage is the owner of copyright interests in his show, "The
Michael Savage Show" also known as "The Savage Nation".
2.
"The Savage Nation" is a nationally syndicated radio show that
reaches over eight million listeners per week. Related to that show is
the website www.MichaelSavage.com which receives 2.3 million page
views per month. The radio show originates in San Francisco,
California.
3.
"The Savage Nation" is unique among so-called "Talk Radio" in
that it combines serious intellectual analysis with dramatic and
emotional soul baring that the show advertises as "Psychological
Nudity". This performance aspect of the show is critical in that it
conveys an emotional power and a fundamental honesty to the
programming that is meaningful to the listening audience.
4.
There are segments of the show that are as lyrical and as
emotionally powerful as live theater, poetry, rap music or other
genres where a performer combines social commentary with powerful
performance. In fact the start of show always begins with the
admonishment:
"Warning: This show contains adult language, adult content,
psychological nudity. Listener discretion is advised."
5.
Those millions who continue to listen understand that they are
hearing radio that is as cutting, raw, emotional and fundamentally
honest as any programming that has ever existed on the airwaves.
6.
This lawsuit concerns the infringement of the copyright to the
October 29, 2007 show wherein a dramatic, meaningful and powerful
segment of the Savage Nation was and continues to be expropriated by
defendant, CAIR (as identified herein).
7.
CAIR has been given written notice of its copyright infringement
but has chosen to persist in using the copyright protected material.
8.
The segment misappropriated was in excess of four minutes. As
set forth in more detail herein, the misappropriated segment was used
by CAIR for fund-raising purposes and the segment was used in a manner
designed to cause harm to the value of the copyright material in the
long and short term.
9.
The Counsel on American-Islamic Relations, Inc., hereinafter
referred to as CAIR is a tax exempt corporation which is self anointed
as the representative of the civil rights of Muslim Americans.
10.
In fact, and as set forth more fully herein, CAIR is not a civil
rights organization and never has been.
11.
At all times relevant herein, CAIR was and is a political
organization that advocates a specific political agenda.
12.
Defendants named herein as Does 1-100 are defendants whose true
names and capacities are presently unknown. When the names and
identities of said Does are ascertained, this complaint will be
amended to reflect the same. These Doe defendants include persons
and entities that have conspired with CAIR to violate the rights of
plaintiff as set forth herein.
13.
CAIR has misappropriated copyright protected material from
Michael Savage and made this material available on its website. This
is actionable regardless even if CAIR had a genuine charitable purpose
in using Michael Savage's material. However, even genuine charities
must gain the permission of a copyright holder before using the
copyrighted work for fund raising or other purposes.
14.
The CAIR misappropriation was done for political purposes
unrelated to civil rights and unrelated to CAIR's tax exempt status.
15.
The copyright infringement was done to raise funds for CAIR so
that it could self perpetuate and continue to the disseminate of
propaganda on behalf of foreign interests that are opposed to the
continued existence of the United States of America as a free nation.
16.
CAIR repackaged the content of Michael Savage's show and manipulated
that stolen content so that it could be used by CAIR to raise funds.
Little or none of the money raised went to alleged "civil rights"
activities.
17.
The CAIR repackaging damaged the work and damaged the public
image of the work because it was taken out of context, the
introductory remarks were omitted and the context of "The Savage
Nation" were removed. It was deliberately designed to obscure the
specific message conveyed by Michael Savage. The actual message while
highly provocative and strongly worded, was not intended as an attack
on people of faith and in fact, Michael Savage is well known as a
person of faith.
18.
The stolen material as repackaged by CAIR was intended to portray
both the material and the creator of the material, Michael Savage as
having a blanket opposition to a particular religion. This was not
the context of the statement and it is not consistent with the content
of the programming as a whole.
19.
In fact, Michael Savage has presented various views and various
perspectives. The purpose of his show (among other purposes) is to
present uncensored, genuine points of view that force listeners to
both think and feel in ways that normal polite discourse may not
allow. The CAIR misappropriation omitted this reality about the show
and therefore failed to incorporate the context of Michael Savage's
many comments which include praise for the aspects of Islam that
create a high level of morality and family values.
20.
CAIR knew or should have known that it was misportraying the
views of Michael Savage as the following are just some of the positive
positions taken by Michael Savage with respect to people who use their
religion to promote morality, freedom and family values. As noted
herein, Michael Savage makes no distinction among religions in these
comments. These comments include (but are not limited to the
following
CALLER: Hi Dr Savage, thank you for taking my call. I'm a Muslim, I'm
originally from turkey and I've been in this country since 93. I've
been listening to your show for the last 3 years. And 80% I support
what you saying, I believe in American values. My religion is Islam,
my question to you is can I be a Muslim and still support American
values in this country.
SAVAGE: Sure you can, absolutely. That's what I said all along. Look,
it's like saying can I be a Jew and still support American values, can
I be a Buddhist and still support American values, can I be a Hindu
can I be an atheist, Yes that's what America is all about. It's
freedom of religion, and freedom to be non religious. That's what
makes the country great, it's freedom. So I don't understand where the
problem exists.
...
Savage: In other words, everybody knows no matter what their religion
is, even an atheist knows it's not right to take a penny out of
another mans pocket that's not yours right?
Caller: Right
Savage: Ok, so you start with that basic knowledge, the basic rules
of living with people can be boiled down to not do onto others as you
would do onto you, or do onto others as you would have them do to you.
That's the essence of every religion.
(Date of Show: 3/27/07)
SAVAGE: There are areas of unity between the religions and I think we
need to strengthen those. We need to strengthen those areas of unity.
Maybe this AM radio show can help do that. Mohammed from Orlando,
welcome back to the program. Now, you heard the rabbi from New York
and his views of evolution and creation you agree with?
CALLER: Yes, and that's what Islam is definitely all about. When I was
listening to his message or his ... he uh, uh, has a great way of
articulating the words that he was, uh, telling on this conversation.
That, um, the way we were created and everything else, that's exactly,
I think, there's a lot of similarities between all religious
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
SAVAGE: But yet, many Christians call the show and they don't believe
in Evolution. They believe only in creation. Are there... um...
Creationists within the Muslim tradition as well who reject evolution?
I would think that the educated Muslim understands that you can have
science and religion co-existing.
CALLER: Definitely. Without science, I don't think we actually can
basically survive. And the word, the first word that came out when
revelation came in upon the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, is
"read," which is basically a way of telling human beings to take
themselves and educate themselves and go into areas of things like
science and like I said, that's the first thing that Muslims are
encouraged to do is basically educate themselves. So, I don't see
there is a difference between... a lot of people when they hear
"evolution," they take it to the extreme that we all came out from
apes or from another animal or some other beings, but that's not how
evolution is. So, evolution could be something that, um, basically,
where, where, um...
SAVAGE: Well, I had asked the rabbi yesterday how do you explain the
previous, uh, pre-humans, for example. Let's call them that. The
Neanderthal, for example. How do you explain that? If God is perfect,
why would he create an imperfect man before creating a perfect man?
And his answer was very interesting. He said that God took a long time
to arrive at man to teach us how much time and effort it takes to
create even one man in order to show us how important life is and the
divinity of mankind. I thought that was beautiful, didn't you,
Mohammed?
CALLER: Definitely and also, uh, in Islam, way before humans were
created, there was another creature that walked on the earth, and
that's another creature which we call the Djinns. And the Djinns
actually, they were living in Earth way before we came in and they did
exactly the same thing that we're doing right now. We're shedding
blood all over the place. And God, when he told the angels that he
will create humans, the angels replied to him that you will create a
human just like you did with the Djinns. And they will do exactly the
same thing that the Djinns did. And He said, I know that, but I know
more than you will. So that's exactly the same way. So there's a lot
of creatures that...
SAVAGE: So in other words, we're still behaving like sub humans even
though we're humans.
CALLER: Exactly
SAVAGE: And we're not supposed to behave like that. We're supposed to
behave like the angels, but we're still behaving worse than the ape.
CALLER: Definitely.
SAVAGE: [Laughter] Mohammed, bless you. Alechem Salam. Thanks for
listening to The Savage Nation.
Date of Show: 11/29/06
21.
These misportrayals were done to deliberately increase the profit
making aspects of CAIR's misappropriation and it further increased the
damage caused by this theft.
The misportrayals were done to silence people who oppose the
commission of acts of violence, murder or torture under the guise of
religion. By omitting Michael Savage's strong endorsement of all
religions and all religious practice that supports moral values,
family values and freedom, CAIR destroyed the value of the copyright
material and the performance as a whole, at least to the extent that
people gave credence to the CAIR packaging of the content.
22.
To further promote their website, fund raising and the appearance
of a genuine human rights agenda, CAIR organized contacts with various
advertisers including Walmart, AutoZone, JC Penny and others whereby
CAIR sought to convince them not to advertise on The Michael Savage
Show. Any success in this area was due to the copyright infringement
and the false context in which the material was presented.
23.
In its actual context, the piece was directed towards violent
terrorists who mask their personal evil with a false religious aura.
This included the "Hitler of Iran" (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). Michael
Savage's show in its introduction promises "psychological nudity".
Savage's outrage and strong language objecting to the murder of
homosexuals and the mutilation and oppression of women under the guise
of religion makes much more sense than the CAIR packaged spin that
Savage who has repeatedly taken pro-faith views was somehow against a
particular religious group in its entirety.
24.
The audience of "The Savage Nation" expects this type of from the
heart outrage and when it is directed at a murderer such as Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and his ilk, the piece is far more understandable and far
more American mainstream. While the strength of the outrage is
remarkable and a hallmark of "The Savage Nation", the sentiment is
shared by a huge number of Americans.
25.
The copyright material properly viewed is a scream of outrage on
behalf of the American public against beheadings, hangings of
homosexuals, mutilation of women, the torture of rape victims and the
thought that CAIR and other groups are trying to import these
atrocities into American life.
26.
Just as all religions are free to practice in the United States,
Michael Savage is free to exercise his beliefs without having someone
in the opposition steal his property and convert it for their own
use. The violation of the copyright and the desecration of that
copyright material is a violation of the freedoms of Michael Savage to
express his views.
27.
Michael Savage has analogized his statements on the radio to
those made by Winston Churchill when he warned of the rise of the
Nazis. Michael Savage has pointed out that all Germans were not
Nazi's and Churchill's words if heeded would have protected the German
public as well as the rest of the world. To steal his words and
repackage them is to steal the intellectual and emotional property of
Michael Savage and those who support his positions.
28.
Michael Savage's right to speech is protected by both the First
Amendment and in Savage's view is also biblically required. "Surely
the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his
servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the
Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?" (Amos 3:7-8). It is
essence of freedom that voices can be raised strongly and without fear
of illegal retaliation. CAIR attempted to silence Michael Savage by
stealing his work, misrepresenting it and then seeking to have
advertisers drop his show. This is a violation of Michael Savage's
rights to speech and to his religious beliefs.
29.
The conduct of CAIR (in addition to raising money) in violating
the copyright interests of Michael Savage was to gain media attention
and control so that CAIR would be seen as the "moderate" voice in the
media. In fact CAIR is a radical voice that deliberately attempts to
be seen as centrist so that media time goes to CAIR and once on the
air, CAIR directs its rhetoric to the benefit of its extremist
clients. This is a deliberate tactic and the theft of the copyright
material was part of a pattern and practice advancing this tactic.
30.
As set forth herein, CAIR is not a civil rights organization but
is instead a political organization designed to advance a political
agenda that is directly opposed to the existence of a free society
that includes respect and dignity for all people and all religions.
The copyright infringement herein is part of this plan. CAIR's
fundamental purpose is to be a lobbyist for foreign interests.
31.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires registration as an
agent of a foreign principal when an organization acts on the order,
request, or under the direction or control of a foreign principal, or
whose activities are directed by a foreign principal when that person
engages in political activities for or in the interests of such
foreign principal or acts in a public relations capacity for a foreign
principal.
32.
CAIR would have to register as a foreign agent if their
activities were not hidden under the false claim that they are a civil
rights organization that enjoys tax exempt status.
33.
The theft of the copyright material from "The Savage Nation" and
the publicity campaign associated with the theft is part of the
deception by CAIR by which it seeks to avoid registration and attempts
to keep its tax exempt status.
34.
CAIR while claiming in its paperwork to be a civil rights
organization was in fact co-founded in 1994 by Ibrahim Hooper, Nihad
Awad, and Omar Ahmad, all of whom had close ties to the Islamic
Association for Palestine (IAP), which was established by senior Hamas
operative Mousa Abu Marzook.
35.
The director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
counter-terrorism unit has stated that IAP is "a Hamas front...(that is)
controlled by Hamas, it brings Hamas leaders to the US, it does
propaganda for Hamas."
36.
CAIR opened its first office in Washington, DC, with the help of
a $5,000 donation from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and
Development (HLF), a self-described charity founded by Hamas
operative, Mousa Abu Marzook.
37.
At a 1994 meeting at Barry University, CAIR co-founder Nihad
Awad stated that:
"I am a supporter of the Hamas movement." Awad wrote in the Muslim
World Monitor that the 1994 trial which had resulted in the conviction
of four Islamic fundamentalist terrorists who had perpetrated the
previous year's World Trade Center bombing was "a travesty of
justice."
38.
Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Canada, the
European Union, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Hamas is banned
in the Muslim nation of Jordan, Australia and the United Kingdom.
39.
Plaintiff contends that CAIR is still associated with foreign
groups as set forth more fully herein and that the wrongful intent in
violating the copyright as set forth herein was based in part upon a
desire to silence a vocal critic of Hamas.
40.
The involvement of CAIR's founders in illegal conduct was
addressed on February 2, 1995, when U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White named
CAIR Advisory Board member and New York Imam Siraj Wahhaj as one of
the "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators" in
Islamic Group leader Omar Abdel Rahman's foiled plot to blow up
numerous New York City monuments.
41.
On May 7, 1996, CAIR coordinated a press conference to protest
the decision of the U.S. government to extradite Marzook for his
connection to terrorist acts performed by Hamas. CAIR characterized
the extradition as "anti-Islamic" and "anti-American."
42.
Prior to 9/11, CAIR continued in its claim that it was a civil
rights organization. They made this claim when in October 1998, CAIR
demanded the removal of a Los Angeles billboard describing Osama bin
Laden as "the sworn enemy," asserting that this depiction "offensive
to Muslims."
43.
Also in 1998, CAIR denied bin Laden's responsibility for the two
al Qaeda bombings of American embassies in Africa. CAIR's leader
Ibrahim Hooper, claimed the bombings resulted from "misunderstandings
of both sides."
44.
In a July 1998 news article CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad is quoted
speaking to a group of California Muslims expressing his hope of
seeing an America under the domination of Islam. In that article,
Ahmad is quoted as saying,
Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to
become dominant. The Koran ... should be the highest authority in
America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.
45.
On October 5, 2001, just weeks after 9/11, CAIR's New York office
sent a letter to The New York Times arguing that the paper had
misidentified three of the hijackers and suggesting that the attacks
may have been committed by people who were impersonating Arab Muslims.
46.
CAIR further exploited 9/11 as it put on its website a picture of
the World Trade Center in flames and below it a call for donations
that was linked to the Holy Land Foundation website.
47.
The HLF is the Holy Land Foundation. On December 4, 2001, the
Attorney General of the United States stated that "the Holy Land
Foundation, received much of its early money from Mousa Abu Marzuq, a
top Hamas official who, the U.S. courts have determined, was directly
involved in terrorism."
48.
The use CAIR's website to misappropriate the spirit of 9/11
charity to raise money for a terror organization is a pattern of
conduct of CAIR that has been repeated with the appropriation of
Michael Savage's material for CAIR's own purpose. While the outrage
of diverting 9/11 charity is unmatched in its callousness, the success
of that enterprise may well have emboldened CAIR in its present
conduct.
49.
When the President of the United States closed the Holy Land
Foundation in December 2001 for collecting money "to support the Hamas
terror organization," CAIR decried his action as "unjust" and
"disturbing."
50.
On April 20, 2002, CAIR's director spoke at a rally in Washington
D.C. He spoke from a podium next to a Hezbollah flag.
51.
On December 29, 2004 Wagdy Ghoneim, an extremist Egyptian cleric
known for his advocacy in support of violence and hatred for Jews,
decided to voluntarily leave the country after being accused of
immigration violation, CAIR's director in California, Hussam Ayloush,
told The Los Angeles Times that the case demonstrated "the selective
application of laws on Muslims." CAIR has never publicly criticized
the radical statements made by Ghoneim.
52.
In a July 7, 2004 interview with BBC, Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's
spokesman, defended Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi, a Qatar-based Muslim cleric
known for his support for terrorism, as "respectable," adding: "I
don't think there's any incitement of violence on his part." Qaradawi
was an open supporter of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, as well
as groups targeting U.S. forces in Iraq. Qaradawi is barred from
entering the U.S. because of his advocacy of violence.
53.
On April 13, 2005: Ghassan Elashi, a founding board member of
CAIR's Texas chapter, and two of his brothers, were found guilty of
supporting terrorism by funneling money to the leader of Hamas. They
were convicted in a federal court in Texas of handling and trying to
conceal an investment by senior Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzuq. In July
2004, Ghassan Elashi was convicted on separate charges of illegally
exporting goods to Syria and of money laundering. At that time, a
representative of CAIR's Dallas-Fort Worth chapter, Khalil Meek,
argued that the only thing the Elashis were guilty of was the "crime
of being Muslims in America.
54.
On February 21, 2006, CAIR National Legal Director Arsalan
Iftikhar appeared on MSNBC's Scarborough Country debating the Dubai
side of the U.S. ports story. Michael Savage was the leader of the
public opposition to the purchase of major U.S. ports by Dubai and
Savage herein alleges that the misappropriation and misuse of his
content as set forth herein was done in part in retaliation for
Savage's opposition to overseas ownership of such a strategic asset.
55.
Such political conduct in favor of foreign organizations
supporting violence has continued to the present up to and including
the time of the copyright infringement and during all times known to
plaintiff up to the date of the filing of this lawsuit.
56.
At 8:00 pm on June 6, 2006, the Ohio affiliate of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OH) honored one of the unindicted
conspirators in that 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Siraj Wahhaj.
Wahhaj had also served as a defense witness at the trial of one of the
men convicted for that terrorist attack, the "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel-
Rahman (a conviction that CAIR has labeled "a travesty of justice").
More than 400 CAIR-OH supporters gathered at this fund-raising
banquet.
57.
On August 7, 2006: Altaf Ali, executive director of CAIR-Florida,
published an opinion piece in the Sun-Sentinel, in which he compared
Israel and the U.S. government to Al Qaeda.
58.
On August 12, 2006: CAIR participated in and endorsed several
rallies in support of Hezbollah and the "resistance" fighting American
forces in Iraq.
59.
In October, 2006 a CAIR affiliated publication, InFocus, printed
an article supporting Hezbollah. The commentary claimed that the war
was part of an American-British conspiracy, a "phase of the larger
plans of the colonialist superpowers." It also praised the "epic
heroism of the resistance fighters".
60.
In May 2007 CAIR was identified by the government as an
unindicted co-conspirator in a case involving a charity that was
allegedly affiliated with Hamas. Federal prosecutors in the case of
the Holy Land Foundation listed CAIR under the category: "Individuals/
entities who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood's
Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." The government also
listed Omar Ahmad, CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus, under the
same category.
61.
In August 2-7, 2007 during the Holy Land Foundation trial in
Texas, FBI agent Lara Burns testified about evidence connecting CAIR
and two of its founders to the Holy Land Foundation as well as to the
fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood movement that established Hamas in
Gaza and the West Bank. The agent identified CAIR executive director
Nihad Awad as one of the scheduled participants at a meeting of Hamas
officials in a hotel in Philadelphia in 1993. At the time, Awad was a
representative of IAP. Burns also identified CAIR co-founders Awad and
Omar Ahmed as members of the Palestine Committee set up by the Muslim
Brotherhood.
62.
Attacks on other public figures have included an attack on
Presidential candidate, Rudy Guiliani for using the phrase "Islamic
Terrorism" and for accepting the endorsement of Pat Robertson whose
endorsement of Guiliani included a reference to the "bloodlust of
Islamic terrorists".
63.
CAIR also attacked Guiliani's choice of Daniel Pipes as foreign
policy advisor. Pipes is the person who first published (in 1998) the
quotation from CAIR's cofounder that:
Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to
become dominant. The Koran ... should be the highest authority in
America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.
64.
CAIR has a pattern and practice of attacking critics. On or
about January 6, 2004, an attorney and agent for CAIR wrote a "cease
and desist letter" to Andrew Whitehead who runs a website www.anti-cair-net.org.
In this letter, CAIR attacked Mr. Whitehead's exposure of CAIR's
foreign ties deeming those facts as being "sociopathic and
xenophobic,". When Whitehead would not yield to CAIR's demands they
filed a
$ 1.3 million dollar libel lawsuit against him.
65.
Whitehead countersued and in his allegations made assertions
similar to those of Daniel Pipes where he asserted that "Douglas
Hooper, a/k/a "Ibrahim" Hooper ("Hooper"), CAIR's Director of
Communications, also worked for the IAP before joining CAIR. He has
stated: "I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't
like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the
future..." Hooper has defended payments of bounties to the families of
suicide bombers who kill Jews."
66.
CAIR later dismissed that lawsuit at a time when Whitehead's
attorneys started demanding information relating to CAIR's sources of
funding.
67.
The theft of Michael Savage's copyrighted material and the
destruction of the proper context of that material is yet another
tactic to silence critics of CAIR. CAIR was specifically and by name
attacked by Michael Savage in his October 29, 2007 statement but CAIR
did not contest the truth of Savage's attack on CAIR but instead
sought to steal and sully his copyrighted work. Clearly CAIR did not
wish to defend themselves and lose in the same manner that they failed
in the lawsuit against Andrew Whitehead, therefore this new tactic was
employed.
68.
Based upon these facts and further facts to be produced at trial,
plaintiff alleges that CAIR is not a civil rights organization but
instead is a political vehicle of international terrorism and that the
copyright infringement itself and the manner in which the material was
used, was part of a deliberate practice and pattern to do material
harm to those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR's
clients. The attack on Rudy Guiliani, Daniel Pipes, Andrew Whitehead
and Michael Savage are part of a pattern and practice to silence
critics of CAIR and critics of CAIR's foreign agenda under the false
guise of civil rights.
69.
In the summer of 2007, CAIR supported international terror when, in
response to renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon
and Palestinian terror organizations in Gaza , CAIR did not condemn
the terror organizations that provoked the fighting but instead
launched an anti-Israel media campaign. This has nothing to do with
the civil rights of Muslim Americans. When CAIR is criticized for
these tactics, it unleashes campaigns against these critics under the
guise of "civil rights" as set forth above and as will be further
proven at trial.
71.
Therefore CAIR seeks to silence its critics including those who
use strong language but do not advocate violence while CAIR itself
supports people who use even stronger language and advocate and urge
actual violence against innocent civilians; all this under the guise
of being a "civil rights organization".
JURY TRIAL DEMAND
73.
Michael Savage hereby demands a jury trial in this matter.
DAMAGE DEMAND
74.
Michael Savage seeks general and special damages according to
proof. Such damages include but are not limited to actual Damages and
Profits as described in 17 USC 504.
75.
Michael Savage does not presently elect but reserves the right to
elect statutory damages as set forth in 17 USC 504.
76.
Michael Savage further contends that the actions of defendants
and each of them were wanton, wilful and malicious. Michael Savage
contends that the actions of defendants were criminal as defined under
17 USC
lawsuit!
http://www.savage-productions.com/Savage_CAIR_suit.html
DANIEL A. HOROWITZ State Bar No. 92400
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 1547
Lafayette, California 94549
Attorney for Plaintiff
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
MICHAEL SAVAGE,
No.
Plaintiff,
vs.
Counsel on American-Islamic
Relations, Inc. and Does
1-100
Defendants.
_____________________________/
COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
(Trademark Infringement)
1.
Michael Savage is the radio show star of The Michael Savage Show"
where he uses the name "Michael Savage". He is hereinafter referred
to as "Michael Savage" as this is the name used in the public arena.
Michael Savage is the owner of copyright interests in his show, "The
Michael Savage Show" also known as "The Savage Nation".
2.
"The Savage Nation" is a nationally syndicated radio show that
reaches over eight million listeners per week. Related to that show is
the website www.MichaelSavage.com which receives 2.3 million page
views per month. The radio show originates in San Francisco,
California.
3.
"The Savage Nation" is unique among so-called "Talk Radio" in
that it combines serious intellectual analysis with dramatic and
emotional soul baring that the show advertises as "Psychological
Nudity". This performance aspect of the show is critical in that it
conveys an emotional power and a fundamental honesty to the
programming that is meaningful to the listening audience.
4.
There are segments of the show that are as lyrical and as
emotionally powerful as live theater, poetry, rap music or other
genres where a performer combines social commentary with powerful
performance. In fact the start of show always begins with the
admonishment:
"Warning: This show contains adult language, adult content,
psychological nudity. Listener discretion is advised."
5.
Those millions who continue to listen understand that they are
hearing radio that is as cutting, raw, emotional and fundamentally
honest as any programming that has ever existed on the airwaves.
6.
This lawsuit concerns the infringement of the copyright to the
October 29, 2007 show wherein a dramatic, meaningful and powerful
segment of the Savage Nation was and continues to be expropriated by
defendant, CAIR (as identified herein).
7.
CAIR has been given written notice of its copyright infringement
but has chosen to persist in using the copyright protected material.
8.
The segment misappropriated was in excess of four minutes. As
set forth in more detail herein, the misappropriated segment was used
by CAIR for fund-raising purposes and the segment was used in a manner
designed to cause harm to the value of the copyright material in the
long and short term.
9.
The Counsel on American-Islamic Relations, Inc., hereinafter
referred to as CAIR is a tax exempt corporation which is self anointed
as the representative of the civil rights of Muslim Americans.
10.
In fact, and as set forth more fully herein, CAIR is not a civil
rights organization and never has been.
11.
At all times relevant herein, CAIR was and is a political
organization that advocates a specific political agenda.
12.
Defendants named herein as Does 1-100 are defendants whose true
names and capacities are presently unknown. When the names and
identities of said Does are ascertained, this complaint will be
amended to reflect the same. These Doe defendants include persons
and entities that have conspired with CAIR to violate the rights of
plaintiff as set forth herein.
13.
CAIR has misappropriated copyright protected material from
Michael Savage and made this material available on its website. This
is actionable regardless even if CAIR had a genuine charitable purpose
in using Michael Savage's material. However, even genuine charities
must gain the permission of a copyright holder before using the
copyrighted work for fund raising or other purposes.
14.
The CAIR misappropriation was done for political purposes
unrelated to civil rights and unrelated to CAIR's tax exempt status.
15.
The copyright infringement was done to raise funds for CAIR so
that it could self perpetuate and continue to the disseminate of
propaganda on behalf of foreign interests that are opposed to the
continued existence of the United States of America as a free nation.
16.
CAIR repackaged the content of Michael Savage's show and manipulated
that stolen content so that it could be used by CAIR to raise funds.
Little or none of the money raised went to alleged "civil rights"
activities.
17.
The CAIR repackaging damaged the work and damaged the public
image of the work because it was taken out of context, the
introductory remarks were omitted and the context of "The Savage
Nation" were removed. It was deliberately designed to obscure the
specific message conveyed by Michael Savage. The actual message while
highly provocative and strongly worded, was not intended as an attack
on people of faith and in fact, Michael Savage is well known as a
person of faith.
18.
The stolen material as repackaged by CAIR was intended to portray
both the material and the creator of the material, Michael Savage as
having a blanket opposition to a particular religion. This was not
the context of the statement and it is not consistent with the content
of the programming as a whole.
19.
In fact, Michael Savage has presented various views and various
perspectives. The purpose of his show (among other purposes) is to
present uncensored, genuine points of view that force listeners to
both think and feel in ways that normal polite discourse may not
allow. The CAIR misappropriation omitted this reality about the show
and therefore failed to incorporate the context of Michael Savage's
many comments which include praise for the aspects of Islam that
create a high level of morality and family values.
20.
CAIR knew or should have known that it was misportraying the
views of Michael Savage as the following are just some of the positive
positions taken by Michael Savage with respect to people who use their
religion to promote morality, freedom and family values. As noted
herein, Michael Savage makes no distinction among religions in these
comments. These comments include (but are not limited to the
following
CALLER: Hi Dr Savage, thank you for taking my call. I'm a Muslim, I'm
originally from turkey and I've been in this country since 93. I've
been listening to your show for the last 3 years. And 80% I support
what you saying, I believe in American values. My religion is Islam,
my question to you is can I be a Muslim and still support American
values in this country.
SAVAGE: Sure you can, absolutely. That's what I said all along. Look,
it's like saying can I be a Jew and still support American values, can
I be a Buddhist and still support American values, can I be a Hindu
can I be an atheist, Yes that's what America is all about. It's
freedom of religion, and freedom to be non religious. That's what
makes the country great, it's freedom. So I don't understand where the
problem exists.
...
Savage: In other words, everybody knows no matter what their religion
is, even an atheist knows it's not right to take a penny out of
another mans pocket that's not yours right?
Caller: Right
Savage: Ok, so you start with that basic knowledge, the basic rules
of living with people can be boiled down to not do onto others as you
would do onto you, or do onto others as you would have them do to you.
That's the essence of every religion.
(Date of Show: 3/27/07)
SAVAGE: There are areas of unity between the religions and I think we
need to strengthen those. We need to strengthen those areas of unity.
Maybe this AM radio show can help do that. Mohammed from Orlando,
welcome back to the program. Now, you heard the rabbi from New York
and his views of evolution and creation you agree with?
CALLER: Yes, and that's what Islam is definitely all about. When I was
listening to his message or his ... he uh, uh, has a great way of
articulating the words that he was, uh, telling on this conversation.
That, um, the way we were created and everything else, that's exactly,
I think, there's a lot of similarities between all religious
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
SAVAGE: But yet, many Christians call the show and they don't believe
in Evolution. They believe only in creation. Are there... um...
Creationists within the Muslim tradition as well who reject evolution?
I would think that the educated Muslim understands that you can have
science and religion co-existing.
CALLER: Definitely. Without science, I don't think we actually can
basically survive. And the word, the first word that came out when
revelation came in upon the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, is
"read," which is basically a way of telling human beings to take
themselves and educate themselves and go into areas of things like
science and like I said, that's the first thing that Muslims are
encouraged to do is basically educate themselves. So, I don't see
there is a difference between... a lot of people when they hear
"evolution," they take it to the extreme that we all came out from
apes or from another animal or some other beings, but that's not how
evolution is. So, evolution could be something that, um, basically,
where, where, um...
SAVAGE: Well, I had asked the rabbi yesterday how do you explain the
previous, uh, pre-humans, for example. Let's call them that. The
Neanderthal, for example. How do you explain that? If God is perfect,
why would he create an imperfect man before creating a perfect man?
And his answer was very interesting. He said that God took a long time
to arrive at man to teach us how much time and effort it takes to
create even one man in order to show us how important life is and the
divinity of mankind. I thought that was beautiful, didn't you,
Mohammed?
CALLER: Definitely and also, uh, in Islam, way before humans were
created, there was another creature that walked on the earth, and
that's another creature which we call the Djinns. And the Djinns
actually, they were living in Earth way before we came in and they did
exactly the same thing that we're doing right now. We're shedding
blood all over the place. And God, when he told the angels that he
will create humans, the angels replied to him that you will create a
human just like you did with the Djinns. And they will do exactly the
same thing that the Djinns did. And He said, I know that, but I know
more than you will. So that's exactly the same way. So there's a lot
of creatures that...
SAVAGE: So in other words, we're still behaving like sub humans even
though we're humans.
CALLER: Exactly
SAVAGE: And we're not supposed to behave like that. We're supposed to
behave like the angels, but we're still behaving worse than the ape.
CALLER: Definitely.
SAVAGE: [Laughter] Mohammed, bless you. Alechem Salam. Thanks for
listening to The Savage Nation.
Date of Show: 11/29/06
21.
These misportrayals were done to deliberately increase the profit
making aspects of CAIR's misappropriation and it further increased the
damage caused by this theft.
The misportrayals were done to silence people who oppose the
commission of acts of violence, murder or torture under the guise of
religion. By omitting Michael Savage's strong endorsement of all
religions and all religious practice that supports moral values,
family values and freedom, CAIR destroyed the value of the copyright
material and the performance as a whole, at least to the extent that
people gave credence to the CAIR packaging of the content.
22.
To further promote their website, fund raising and the appearance
of a genuine human rights agenda, CAIR organized contacts with various
advertisers including Walmart, AutoZone, JC Penny and others whereby
CAIR sought to convince them not to advertise on The Michael Savage
Show. Any success in this area was due to the copyright infringement
and the false context in which the material was presented.
23.
In its actual context, the piece was directed towards violent
terrorists who mask their personal evil with a false religious aura.
This included the "Hitler of Iran" (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). Michael
Savage's show in its introduction promises "psychological nudity".
Savage's outrage and strong language objecting to the murder of
homosexuals and the mutilation and oppression of women under the guise
of religion makes much more sense than the CAIR packaged spin that
Savage who has repeatedly taken pro-faith views was somehow against a
particular religious group in its entirety.
24.
The audience of "The Savage Nation" expects this type of from the
heart outrage and when it is directed at a murderer such as Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and his ilk, the piece is far more understandable and far
more American mainstream. While the strength of the outrage is
remarkable and a hallmark of "The Savage Nation", the sentiment is
shared by a huge number of Americans.
25.
The copyright material properly viewed is a scream of outrage on
behalf of the American public against beheadings, hangings of
homosexuals, mutilation of women, the torture of rape victims and the
thought that CAIR and other groups are trying to import these
atrocities into American life.
26.
Just as all religions are free to practice in the United States,
Michael Savage is free to exercise his beliefs without having someone
in the opposition steal his property and convert it for their own
use. The violation of the copyright and the desecration of that
copyright material is a violation of the freedoms of Michael Savage to
express his views.
27.
Michael Savage has analogized his statements on the radio to
those made by Winston Churchill when he warned of the rise of the
Nazis. Michael Savage has pointed out that all Germans were not
Nazi's and Churchill's words if heeded would have protected the German
public as well as the rest of the world. To steal his words and
repackage them is to steal the intellectual and emotional property of
Michael Savage and those who support his positions.
28.
Michael Savage's right to speech is protected by both the First
Amendment and in Savage's view is also biblically required. "Surely
the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his
servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the
Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?" (Amos 3:7-8). It is
essence of freedom that voices can be raised strongly and without fear
of illegal retaliation. CAIR attempted to silence Michael Savage by
stealing his work, misrepresenting it and then seeking to have
advertisers drop his show. This is a violation of Michael Savage's
rights to speech and to his religious beliefs.
29.
The conduct of CAIR (in addition to raising money) in violating
the copyright interests of Michael Savage was to gain media attention
and control so that CAIR would be seen as the "moderate" voice in the
media. In fact CAIR is a radical voice that deliberately attempts to
be seen as centrist so that media time goes to CAIR and once on the
air, CAIR directs its rhetoric to the benefit of its extremist
clients. This is a deliberate tactic and the theft of the copyright
material was part of a pattern and practice advancing this tactic.
30.
As set forth herein, CAIR is not a civil rights organization but
is instead a political organization designed to advance a political
agenda that is directly opposed to the existence of a free society
that includes respect and dignity for all people and all religions.
The copyright infringement herein is part of this plan. CAIR's
fundamental purpose is to be a lobbyist for foreign interests.
31.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires registration as an
agent of a foreign principal when an organization acts on the order,
request, or under the direction or control of a foreign principal, or
whose activities are directed by a foreign principal when that person
engages in political activities for or in the interests of such
foreign principal or acts in a public relations capacity for a foreign
principal.
32.
CAIR would have to register as a foreign agent if their
activities were not hidden under the false claim that they are a civil
rights organization that enjoys tax exempt status.
33.
The theft of the copyright material from "The Savage Nation" and
the publicity campaign associated with the theft is part of the
deception by CAIR by which it seeks to avoid registration and attempts
to keep its tax exempt status.
34.
CAIR while claiming in its paperwork to be a civil rights
organization was in fact co-founded in 1994 by Ibrahim Hooper, Nihad
Awad, and Omar Ahmad, all of whom had close ties to the Islamic
Association for Palestine (IAP), which was established by senior Hamas
operative Mousa Abu Marzook.
35.
The director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
counter-terrorism unit has stated that IAP is "a Hamas front...(that is)
controlled by Hamas, it brings Hamas leaders to the US, it does
propaganda for Hamas."
36.
CAIR opened its first office in Washington, DC, with the help of
a $5,000 donation from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and
Development (HLF), a self-described charity founded by Hamas
operative, Mousa Abu Marzook.
37.
At a 1994 meeting at Barry University, CAIR co-founder Nihad
Awad stated that:
"I am a supporter of the Hamas movement." Awad wrote in the Muslim
World Monitor that the 1994 trial which had resulted in the conviction
of four Islamic fundamentalist terrorists who had perpetrated the
previous year's World Trade Center bombing was "a travesty of
justice."
38.
Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Canada, the
European Union, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Hamas is banned
in the Muslim nation of Jordan, Australia and the United Kingdom.
39.
Plaintiff contends that CAIR is still associated with foreign
groups as set forth more fully herein and that the wrongful intent in
violating the copyright as set forth herein was based in part upon a
desire to silence a vocal critic of Hamas.
40.
The involvement of CAIR's founders in illegal conduct was
addressed on February 2, 1995, when U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White named
CAIR Advisory Board member and New York Imam Siraj Wahhaj as one of
the "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators" in
Islamic Group leader Omar Abdel Rahman's foiled plot to blow up
numerous New York City monuments.
41.
On May 7, 1996, CAIR coordinated a press conference to protest
the decision of the U.S. government to extradite Marzook for his
connection to terrorist acts performed by Hamas. CAIR characterized
the extradition as "anti-Islamic" and "anti-American."
42.
Prior to 9/11, CAIR continued in its claim that it was a civil
rights organization. They made this claim when in October 1998, CAIR
demanded the removal of a Los Angeles billboard describing Osama bin
Laden as "the sworn enemy," asserting that this depiction "offensive
to Muslims."
43.
Also in 1998, CAIR denied bin Laden's responsibility for the two
al Qaeda bombings of American embassies in Africa. CAIR's leader
Ibrahim Hooper, claimed the bombings resulted from "misunderstandings
of both sides."
44.
In a July 1998 news article CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad is quoted
speaking to a group of California Muslims expressing his hope of
seeing an America under the domination of Islam. In that article,
Ahmad is quoted as saying,
Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to
become dominant. The Koran ... should be the highest authority in
America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.
45.
On October 5, 2001, just weeks after 9/11, CAIR's New York office
sent a letter to The New York Times arguing that the paper had
misidentified three of the hijackers and suggesting that the attacks
may have been committed by people who were impersonating Arab Muslims.
46.
CAIR further exploited 9/11 as it put on its website a picture of
the World Trade Center in flames and below it a call for donations
that was linked to the Holy Land Foundation website.
47.
The HLF is the Holy Land Foundation. On December 4, 2001, the
Attorney General of the United States stated that "the Holy Land
Foundation, received much of its early money from Mousa Abu Marzuq, a
top Hamas official who, the U.S. courts have determined, was directly
involved in terrorism."
48.
The use CAIR's website to misappropriate the spirit of 9/11
charity to raise money for a terror organization is a pattern of
conduct of CAIR that has been repeated with the appropriation of
Michael Savage's material for CAIR's own purpose. While the outrage
of diverting 9/11 charity is unmatched in its callousness, the success
of that enterprise may well have emboldened CAIR in its present
conduct.
49.
When the President of the United States closed the Holy Land
Foundation in December 2001 for collecting money "to support the Hamas
terror organization," CAIR decried his action as "unjust" and
"disturbing."
50.
On April 20, 2002, CAIR's director spoke at a rally in Washington
D.C. He spoke from a podium next to a Hezbollah flag.
51.
On December 29, 2004 Wagdy Ghoneim, an extremist Egyptian cleric
known for his advocacy in support of violence and hatred for Jews,
decided to voluntarily leave the country after being accused of
immigration violation, CAIR's director in California, Hussam Ayloush,
told The Los Angeles Times that the case demonstrated "the selective
application of laws on Muslims." CAIR has never publicly criticized
the radical statements made by Ghoneim.
52.
In a July 7, 2004 interview with BBC, Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's
spokesman, defended Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi, a Qatar-based Muslim cleric
known for his support for terrorism, as "respectable," adding: "I
don't think there's any incitement of violence on his part." Qaradawi
was an open supporter of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, as well
as groups targeting U.S. forces in Iraq. Qaradawi is barred from
entering the U.S. because of his advocacy of violence.
53.
On April 13, 2005: Ghassan Elashi, a founding board member of
CAIR's Texas chapter, and two of his brothers, were found guilty of
supporting terrorism by funneling money to the leader of Hamas. They
were convicted in a federal court in Texas of handling and trying to
conceal an investment by senior Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzuq. In July
2004, Ghassan Elashi was convicted on separate charges of illegally
exporting goods to Syria and of money laundering. At that time, a
representative of CAIR's Dallas-Fort Worth chapter, Khalil Meek,
argued that the only thing the Elashis were guilty of was the "crime
of being Muslims in America.
54.
On February 21, 2006, CAIR National Legal Director Arsalan
Iftikhar appeared on MSNBC's Scarborough Country debating the Dubai
side of the U.S. ports story. Michael Savage was the leader of the
public opposition to the purchase of major U.S. ports by Dubai and
Savage herein alleges that the misappropriation and misuse of his
content as set forth herein was done in part in retaliation for
Savage's opposition to overseas ownership of such a strategic asset.
55.
Such political conduct in favor of foreign organizations
supporting violence has continued to the present up to and including
the time of the copyright infringement and during all times known to
plaintiff up to the date of the filing of this lawsuit.
56.
At 8:00 pm on June 6, 2006, the Ohio affiliate of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OH) honored one of the unindicted
conspirators in that 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Siraj Wahhaj.
Wahhaj had also served as a defense witness at the trial of one of the
men convicted for that terrorist attack, the "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel-
Rahman (a conviction that CAIR has labeled "a travesty of justice").
More than 400 CAIR-OH supporters gathered at this fund-raising
banquet.
57.
On August 7, 2006: Altaf Ali, executive director of CAIR-Florida,
published an opinion piece in the Sun-Sentinel, in which he compared
Israel and the U.S. government to Al Qaeda.
58.
On August 12, 2006: CAIR participated in and endorsed several
rallies in support of Hezbollah and the "resistance" fighting American
forces in Iraq.
59.
In October, 2006 a CAIR affiliated publication, InFocus, printed
an article supporting Hezbollah. The commentary claimed that the war
was part of an American-British conspiracy, a "phase of the larger
plans of the colonialist superpowers." It also praised the "epic
heroism of the resistance fighters".
60.
In May 2007 CAIR was identified by the government as an
unindicted co-conspirator in a case involving a charity that was
allegedly affiliated with Hamas. Federal prosecutors in the case of
the Holy Land Foundation listed CAIR under the category: "Individuals/
entities who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood's
Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." The government also
listed Omar Ahmad, CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus, under the
same category.
61.
In August 2-7, 2007 during the Holy Land Foundation trial in
Texas, FBI agent Lara Burns testified about evidence connecting CAIR
and two of its founders to the Holy Land Foundation as well as to the
fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood movement that established Hamas in
Gaza and the West Bank. The agent identified CAIR executive director
Nihad Awad as one of the scheduled participants at a meeting of Hamas
officials in a hotel in Philadelphia in 1993. At the time, Awad was a
representative of IAP. Burns also identified CAIR co-founders Awad and
Omar Ahmed as members of the Palestine Committee set up by the Muslim
Brotherhood.
62.
Attacks on other public figures have included an attack on
Presidential candidate, Rudy Guiliani for using the phrase "Islamic
Terrorism" and for accepting the endorsement of Pat Robertson whose
endorsement of Guiliani included a reference to the "bloodlust of
Islamic terrorists".
63.
CAIR also attacked Guiliani's choice of Daniel Pipes as foreign
policy advisor. Pipes is the person who first published (in 1998) the
quotation from CAIR's cofounder that:
Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to
become dominant. The Koran ... should be the highest authority in
America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.
64.
CAIR has a pattern and practice of attacking critics. On or
about January 6, 2004, an attorney and agent for CAIR wrote a "cease
and desist letter" to Andrew Whitehead who runs a website www.anti-cair-net.org.
In this letter, CAIR attacked Mr. Whitehead's exposure of CAIR's
foreign ties deeming those facts as being "sociopathic and
xenophobic,". When Whitehead would not yield to CAIR's demands they
filed a
$ 1.3 million dollar libel lawsuit against him.
65.
Whitehead countersued and in his allegations made assertions
similar to those of Daniel Pipes where he asserted that "Douglas
Hooper, a/k/a "Ibrahim" Hooper ("Hooper"), CAIR's Director of
Communications, also worked for the IAP before joining CAIR. He has
stated: "I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't
like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the
future..." Hooper has defended payments of bounties to the families of
suicide bombers who kill Jews."
66.
CAIR later dismissed that lawsuit at a time when Whitehead's
attorneys started demanding information relating to CAIR's sources of
funding.
67.
The theft of Michael Savage's copyrighted material and the
destruction of the proper context of that material is yet another
tactic to silence critics of CAIR. CAIR was specifically and by name
attacked by Michael Savage in his October 29, 2007 statement but CAIR
did not contest the truth of Savage's attack on CAIR but instead
sought to steal and sully his copyrighted work. Clearly CAIR did not
wish to defend themselves and lose in the same manner that they failed
in the lawsuit against Andrew Whitehead, therefore this new tactic was
employed.
68.
Based upon these facts and further facts to be produced at trial,
plaintiff alleges that CAIR is not a civil rights organization but
instead is a political vehicle of international terrorism and that the
copyright infringement itself and the manner in which the material was
used, was part of a deliberate practice and pattern to do material
harm to those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR's
clients. The attack on Rudy Guiliani, Daniel Pipes, Andrew Whitehead
and Michael Savage are part of a pattern and practice to silence
critics of CAIR and critics of CAIR's foreign agenda under the false
guise of civil rights.
69.
In the summer of 2007, CAIR supported international terror when, in
response to renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon
and Palestinian terror organizations in Gaza , CAIR did not condemn
the terror organizations that provoked the fighting but instead
launched an anti-Israel media campaign. This has nothing to do with
the civil rights of Muslim Americans. When CAIR is criticized for
these tactics, it unleashes campaigns against these critics under the
guise of "civil rights" as set forth above and as will be further
proven at trial.
71.
Therefore CAIR seeks to silence its critics including those who
use strong language but do not advocate violence while CAIR itself
supports people who use even stronger language and advocate and urge
actual violence against innocent civilians; all this under the guise
of being a "civil rights organization".
JURY TRIAL DEMAND
73.
Michael Savage hereby demands a jury trial in this matter.
DAMAGE DEMAND
74.
Michael Savage seeks general and special damages according to
proof. Such damages include but are not limited to actual Damages and
Profits as described in 17 USC 504.
75.
Michael Savage does not presently elect but reserves the right to
elect statutory damages as set forth in 17 USC 504.
76.
Michael Savage further contends that the actions of defendants
and each of them were wanton, wilful and malicious. Michael Savage
contends that the actions of defendants were criminal as defined under
17 USC