The JibJab lawsuit doesn't seem to be getting much mainstream press, but WIRED continues to take charge of the story (JibJabbing for Artists' Rights). The most recent article talks to a couple of entertainment lawyers who believe it is a pretty obvious case of fair use:

"It's a smart move" by JibJab to pre-emptively sue Ludlow, said Steven Eisenberg, an attorney with law firm FeldmanGale in Miami, and current chair of the Florida Bar Association's entertainment, arts and sports law section. "They took the bull by the horns. I think they've got a great claim. It's clearly parody, satire and political commentary. This is exactly what fair use was created for."

"It strikes me as a particularly strong case for fair use," said Arnold Lutzker, an attorney with Lutzker, Lutzker & Settlemyer. "It doesn't strike me as a particularly complicated case." [links in original]

And an undetermined number of other patents on the list of 283 may be held by companies that offer no viable products or services and, in many cases, exist only to sue productive companies and people over patents (or patent rights) they have acquired one way or another, much the way Ludlow Music has jumped on JibJab for their hilarious "This Land" parody even though the original "This Land is Your Land" song was not written by Ludlow Music. (Indeed, its composer, Woody Guthrie, was a notorious song-sharer who would probably be doing benefits for the EFF's patent busting efforts if he were still alive.) [links in original]

The popularity of the parody continues. Say Uncle reports that his 4-year old nephews were singing the JibJab version (It’s official: everyone has been to Jibjab).

UPDATE 1130 PT
MIT's Technology Review has a short column on the controversy (This Land is Your Land, This Song Is Not Yours). [via Blogbook.org]