Thursday, October 25, 2007

McCain Rejects Fox Request to Cease Ad



WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican John McCain on Thursday rejected a Fox News Channel request to stop airing a television ad that includes footage of the presidential candidate at a debate sponsored by the cable network.

In the ad, McCain is shown at the debate saying: "A few days ago, Senator Clinton tried to spend $1 million on the Woodstock concert museum."

"Now my friends, I wasn't there. I'm sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event," he says. "I was tied up at the time." It was a reference to the 5 1/2 years McCain spent in a North Vietnamese prison.

The Fox News logo is in the corner of the ad.

But Fox News bars candidates from using debate clips in ads, and officials there sent a cease and desist letter to McCain. McCain rejected the request, arguing that he is within the law's "fair use" rights to use an 18-second clip of a 90-minute debate.

The ad began running Thursday in New Hampshire and is slated to air during the pre-game of the World Series Game 2 between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies. The dispute isn't likely to be resolved before then.

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