Dumb question--I think I'm missing the punchline

[Orrex]

What's up with the avatar(s) that read(s) "AVATAR REMOVED DUE TO LEGAL THREAT BY FOX" anyway? Before it occurred to me that I wasn't getting the joke, I couldn't remember if I'd seen it just once or a bunch of times from a bunch of different posters.

So help out a poor, dim-witted soul: was there a real avatar at some time, or is the joke as straightforward as it seems.

"Dim being really dim."

[aden_nak]

1. I THOUGHT they were real avatars, sicne there's a whole row of them.

If you go in to pick an avatar, there's got to be half a dozen of them listed like that. But I don't know for sure.

[Kenneth ken]

2. not sure

but I think it has to do with Simpsons characters avatars, and Fox having a copyright on those images/characters.

I vaguely remember something Fox/Simpsons/copyrights being a topic for a while around here a year or so back.

[ET Awful]

3. I believe they used to be a bunch of Simpsons avatars

Bart, Lisa, Skinner, etc.

I think there actually was a legal thread from the fairly unbalanced ones.

[madinmaryland]

4. I think it was a take off on the Fox lawsuit

against Al Franken for using their "Fair and Balanced" in his book title.

BTW the lawsuit was laughed out of the court.

[myrna minx]

5. We use to have Simpson's characters for avatars.

Unfortunately, Skinner received a cease and desist letter from Fox, saying that we were using the images illegally. The top ten idiots use to have Homer Simpson representing something dumb that a neo-con did, but alas, that came to an end. Admin Skinner use to have principal Skinner as his avatar.

[Orrex]

7. Thank you everyone!

I hate not getting a reference. It's like I have spinach in my teeth and no one wants to tell me.

Thanks for pointing out the spinach.

[lonestarnot]

6. Well fuck fox! My fox terrier says so!