MEDIA NEWS, RIGHT AND LEFT – AT 7:48 P.M. ET:  Sarah Palin's new series premiered last night on TLC, and received the highest rating in the network's history, attracting some 4.6 million viewers.

It is not known whether Chris Matthews watched, or whether the tingle up his leg is reserved for Barack Obama.  The tingle does not show up on MRIs. 

I have to admit that I didn't have time to watch the show, but it is certainly a unique vehicle for a potential presidential candidate.  Then again, Ronald Reagan did "Death Valley Days" and "Bedtime for Bonzo."  I'll try to grab an episode.

Meanwhile, back in the lower 48 states, there is major trauma involving the left's favorite website, The Huff-and-Puff, or is it Huffington Post.  There is a charge, my friends, of plagiarism.  Against Arianna, that pristine political operator?  Why, they've got to be kidding.  From The Politico: 

Two Democratic consultants are accusing Arianna Huffington and her business partner of stealing their idea for the powerhouse liberal website Huffington Post.

Peter Daou and James Boyce charge that Huffington and partner Ken Lerer designed the website from a plan they had presented them, and in doing so, violated a handshake agreement to work together, according to a lawsuit to be filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

The complaint is a direct challenge to the left’s most important media property from two stalwarts of the progressive movement. And it challenges Huffington’s own oft-told story of coming up with the idea in conversation with Lerer and other friends.

“Huffington has styled herself as a ‘new media’ maven and an expert on the effective deployment of news and celebrity on the Internet in the service of political ends,” says the complaint. “As will be shown at trial, Huffington’s and Lerer’s image with respect to the Huffington Post is founded on false impressions and inaccuracies: They presented the ‘new media’ ideas and plans of Peter Daou and James Boyce as their own in order to raise money for the website and enhance their image, and breached their promises to work with Peter and James to develop the site together.”

Arianna Huffington has reinvented herself so many times, she ought to patented.  Now she is charged with stealing her most visible creation.

Frankly, it sounds like a tough case to win.  First, ideas themselves are not copyrightable.  To win an infringement case like this, you have to prove that a detailed plan was presented to Huffington, and that all, or a convincing chunk of it was stolen, literally word for word.  Similarity doesn't go far in convincing courts.

The plaintiffs have a greater chance of winning a moral victory than a legal one, and you know how much moral victories are worth in the media world.  Arianna, not the plaintiffs, has the star power on the left, and the cash to go with it.

In Hollywood, plagiarism suits are rarely won because of the need for excruciating detail, and because juries tend to side with stars and studios. 

This isn't to say that the plaintiffs aren't right.  They may be entirely right.  Winning in court is another story. 

This will be a fascinating case to watch, though, but I don't think it will affect HP's operations. 

November 15, 2010