LOS ANGELES : Man Who Filmed King Beating Loses Legal Round
A judge tentatively decided Thursday to dismiss a $100-million copyright infringement and fraud lawsuit filed by the man who videotaped the 1991 police beating of motorist Rodney G. King.
George Holliday, a plumbing company supervisor, claimed in the suit that Cable News Network, NBC, CBS and ABC violated his copyright through alleged unauthorized telecasts of the videotape. The lawsuit also alleged that local TV station KTLA, which bought the tape for $500, defrauded Holliday by not informing him that it would release the tape to CNN, which distributed it to the other networks.
U.S. District Judge Irving Hall said Holliday’s claims fail on four grounds, including the 1st Amendment right of public airing of certain works “of great importance to democratic debate.” Hall ordered attorneys in the case to present arguments Friday on making the ruling permanent. Lawyers for both sides declined comment Thursday.
Holliday taped the King beating after being awakened early on March 3, 1991, by the sound of a helicopter outside his apartment in Lake View Terrace.
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