Fox News getting sued left and right

By Eriq Gardner

Fox News seems to be getting some heat lately, and not just from the liberal blogosphere.

The first legal case involves its airing of a video of convicted scam-artist Bernie Madoff and his wife on a yacht. On January 8, Fox News paid $10,000 to license the exclusive rights to show the clip for 45 days. After the term expired, Kenneth Stadt, the owner of the video, demanded that the cabler stop showing the video. Fox News paid $50,000 for another 45 days. But now that term has expired, and in a new lawsuit filed in New York District Court, Stadt is demanding at least $500,000 in damages for Fox News' alleged continued use of his copyrighted material.

Meanwhile, the News Corp-owned network is also facing a lawsuit over those ACORN videos it's been obsessed about lately. The videos show hidden footage taken of alleged fraud on the part of employees of the community organization group. ACORN says the videos were doctored and edited and violated laws in Maryland and the District of Columbia on undercover filming. Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer for ACORN, says he plans to file a lawsuit tomorrow against Fox News.