Military Pundit Sues Fox News Over Al Qaeda Tape
reuters.com
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wartime pundit for Fox News Channel has sued the cable news network in Los Angeles, claiming he was not compensated for a videotape of an al Qaeda training camp that Fox aired repeatedly as an exclusive.
Commentator and former Green Beret J. Keith "Jack" Idema also alleges that Fox agreed not to copy the videotape and to return the original to him, but has broken both agreements.
A spokesman for Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd. , said the network does not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit, which seeks more than $2 million in damages, was filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Idema, a former U.S. Army Special Forces commando who figured prominently in Robin Moore's best-selling book "The Hunt for Bin Laden," returned to Afghanistan in October 2001 at the age of 45 to engage in combat and humanitarian operations after a failed attempt to reenlist, according to his lawsuit.
During his nine-month stay, Idema said he became an adviser to the United Front Military Forces, better known as the Northern Alliance, and obtained copyrights to a videotape of an al Qaeda training camp.
Idema said he gave Fox a 52-minute "clip reel," depicting al Qaeda trainees practicing drive-by assassinations and hostage-taking, on the conditions that Fox agree not to copy or broadcast the tapes until a usage agreement was reached.
Idema said he planned to use proceeds from licensing the tapes to purchase medical supplies, food and to support relief efforts in Afghanistan.
However, Fox televised "hundreds of minutes in excerpts" from the clip reel without finalizing a licensing or use agreement with Idema, the lawsuit said.
A lawyer for Idema declined to comment.
The network, for which the U.S.-led conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq were a ratings bonanza, also breached agreements to pay Idema for hazardous reporting assignments he took into combat zones in Afghanistan where no other journalists were allowed, the lawsuit said. |
