Carol Burnett suit thrown out

A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit that entertainer Carol Burnett brought against Fox over use of her well-known Charwoman character in an episode of the animated TV series “Family Guy.”

Burnett alleged in her copyright infringement lawsuit, filed in March, that the show’s creators did not have her consent to include the cleaning woman character she created in the late 1950s, while a repertoire player on “The Garry Moore Show,” in an April 2006 episode.

The episode portrayed the Charwoman as a maid in a sex shop.

In the ruling signed Friday, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson wrote that he “fully appreciates how distasteful and offensive the segment is to Ms. Burnett.”

“In the new media, any self-imposed restraint essentially has been eliminated. Public figures, such as Ms. Burnett, are frequent targets of parodies and crude innuendo,” Pregerson wrote. Nevertheless, he held that the “Family Guy” segment was protected speech.