Dan Gillmor reports that the New York Times has decided not to play the heavy over The National Debate's NYT Corrections page.

It seems The National Debate offered "corrections" to NYT op eds, in a format that looked much like the Gray Lady's own. NYT sent a DMCA takedown demand to TND's ISP, claiming copyright infringement. As befits a news organization, the Times has conceded that TND had a right to parody their style, so long as it didn't confuse readers. Interestingly, the underlying complaint actually sounds more in trademark -- the NYT didn't want readers confused about the source of these "corrections," and trademark law protects against consumer confusion -- but NYT, like others we've seen, used copyright claims because the DMCA gives quick takedown process. I'm glad to see this resolved in a legally reasonable manner.