Houghton Mifflin sues "Jews for Jesus"
September 4, 2001

SAN FRACISCO, Calif. - Jews for Jesus, a Christian missions group that works to bring the gospel to Jews, was sued Sept. 4 for publishing a religious tract that made reference to Curious George, a popular children's book character.

Houghton Mifflin, publisher of the Curious George books, claims Jews for Jesus illegally used its character of the monkey in tracts distributed to pedestrians in New York City and Minneapolis. The tracts, entitled “Are You Curious?”, featured a cartoon monkey reading the Bible.

In addition to a minimum of $500,000 [yikes] in damages, Houghton is asking the court to order all infringing pamphlets be recalled and destroyed.

Susan Perlman, a spokesperson for Jews for Jesus, defended the nonprofit organization's use of the character as a "pop culture parody" protected by the First Amendment. She said, "We're disappointed Houghton Mifflin doesn't have a sense of humor."

Perlman said, "We think perhaps we've been singled out in this lawsuit because our message is a minority message."

Sources:

http://www.Christianity.ca

http://www.mbherald.com/40-21/shorts.html

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/136/32.0.html

http://www.mcchronicle.com/archive/091601/story09w.html