Everyone's favorite big purple dinosaur has an evil twin.
Granted, he's easy to distinguish from the real Barney, what with the red pentagram surrounding a 666 on his chest and blood dripping from his fingers. But this evil twin does exist, and he does have legal standing, reports United Press International.
New York musicologist Stuart Frankel created the Barney alter-ego, and has had numerous lawsuits filed against him by Lyons Partnership, the owners of Barney. The two parties have been battling it out since 2002.
Frankel's evil version of Barney is housed on the Web site, dustyfeet.com/evil/enemy.
Recently, the Electronic Frontier Foundation decided to defend Frankel, citing a ruling that permits the parody of copyrighted work as long as it's for non-commercial use.
Lyons has filed more than 77 lawsuits since 1998 over intellectual property rights, the EEF told the Los Angeles Times.
Lyons has apparently settled out of court with Frankel, agreeing to pay him $5,000 and end the threats of legal action against him.
Christmas Cheapskates Pay the Price
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Making holiday wreaths on the cheap has landed a couple in jail.
Kurt James Cox, 40, and Rebecca Sue Cox, 30, were arrested Tuesday after authorities said they caused $230,000 in damage to roadside trees by chopping off limbs to make the decorations.
The pair had pruning sheers and were carrying tree limbs to a vehicle already stuffed with branches when they were arrested. The state-owned trees are worth $1,500 each, he said.
"We're afraid that the growth has been stunted," Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Goldman said. "I'm not certain the trees are going to die, but they might not have the magnificent look that was intended."
The pair of DeLeon Springs residents were arrested on charges of criminal mischief in excess of $1,000 and could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
The Cox family could not be reached for comment by The Times-Union, and a phone number they listed for their residence was out of order.
Forget Tooth-Pulling ... This Dentist Has to Deal With Tree-Pulling
LIMA, Ohio (AP) — A dentist in Lima has gone to police about an extraction — from outside his office.
Jon Stocker says someone made off with a seven-foot Norway spruce that was part of the landscaping around his practice. He figures it was taken to be used as a Christmas tree and says he's disappointed that people would resort to stealing to celebrate a holiday about Jesus' birth.
Stocker says he noticed something was missing on his way into the office Monday morning and found only a small stump and two short branches where the tree used to be.
The dentist says he'll replace it, but he'll wait until after the holidays.
Teen Drivers Prove That Youth Can Be Wiser Than Old Age
ROCKINGHAM, Vt. (AP) — Young people behind the wheel are often derided, but four youths here were honored for their quick, "selfless" response on the road.
"I'm pretty confident you saved somebody's life," Trooper Earl Dessert told them Tuesday, in a ceremony at the Vermont State Police barracks.
On Nov. 18, Jennifer Aldrich, 18, of Ludlow, was northbound on the Interstate when she and passengers Sarah Barrett, 18, Christopher Sanborn, 18, and Barrett's brother, Army National Guard PFC David Barrett, 20, of Delco, N.C., noticed a northbound car that was driving in the southbound lanes.
Aldrich kept pace with the wrong-way vehicle for at least six miles as she honked her horn and flashed her headlights, trying to get the attention of driver Charles Molloy, 50, of Guilford, Conn.
Finally, after at least one driver swerved to avoid Molloy's car, he stopped. Sanborn and David Barrett then crossed the highway median to keep Molloy from driving away.
Molloy — who'd thought he was headed home — was charged with DUI and grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
Guess It Is a Woman's World After All...
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A state appeals court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by a boy who wanted to compete on his high school's girls' gymnastics team.
The District 4 Court of Appeals upheld a judge's dismissal of Keith Michael Bukowski's lawsuit against the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, which has a rule prohibiting boys from competing in girls' sports.
Bukowski filed the lawsuit as a junior at Stevens Point Area High School in 2004. He argued the WIAA rule preventing him from trying out for and competing on the girl's gymnastics team discriminated against him because his school did not have a boys' team.
Bukowski argued that the rule violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution as well as a federal law known as Title IX, which was meant to prohibit sex discrimination in sports.
In a 3-0 ruling, the court said Bukowski failed to show that WIAA, a nonprofit organization of public and private high schools that sets rules for sports competition, could be sued under either argument.
Bukowski didn't prove WIAA was an arm of the state that could be sued for the constitutional violation or that it received federal funding as required in a Title IX claim, the court said. The ruling backed a Portage County judge who came to a similar conclusion.
Courts have previously ruled that letting boys compete on girls' teams jeopardizes opportunities for girls. But Bukowski, who had competed in gymnastics at a local YMCA, argued the case was similar to recent examples of girls who were allowed to compete on boys' teams in football and wrestling.
Hundreds of students at his high school signed a petition backing his efforts in 2004 but courts rejected his attempts for a faster ruling that would have allowed him to compete.
Bukowski graduated earlier this year so the legal fight by him and his mother would affect only other students in the future.
Principal Mike Devine said the school does not have a boys' team because of lack of interest and it was merely following the WIAA rule in refusing to allow Bukowski on the girls' team. He said the school recently hired Bukowski as an assistant coach for the girls' gymnastics team.
"We're glad to have Keith working with our kids right now. He does have some talent in gymnastics," he said. "Even though he couldn't compete with us, he's teaching our kids. That's a somewhat positive outcome for this."
Bukowski's lawyer, Jared Redfield, did not immediately return a phone message. There was no phone listing for Bukowski or his mother, Janine Olszewski, in the Stevens Point area.
WIAA Executive Director Doug Chickering said allowing Bukowski to compete would have also put pressure on WIAA to grant frequent requests from boys who want to play on girls' volleyball teams.
"Our fundamental reason for denying participation was that we didn't want to see girls displaced from girls' teams by boys," he said.
Talk About a Sticky Situation
PENDLETON, Ind. (AP) — A semitrailer carrying large drums of glue spilled part of its load onto a state highway Tuesday, causing the road to be closed for about three hours as crews worked to resolve the sticky situation.
Police officers diverted traffic off Indiana 67 and 38 and U.S. 36 after the spill. Workers and customers were evacuated from businesses within 100 yards of the spill and about 10 people were treated at the scene or a nearby hospital for skin, eye or respiratory irritation, Madison County Emergency Management spokesman Todd Harmeson said.
The spill happened about 10:30 a.m., when two 55-gallon drums of Bondmaster glue the truck was carrying tipped over and leaked onto the highway. A passing motorist alerted the truck driver, who pulled off, and police, fire and emergency personnel responded to the area about 20 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
The cleanup had started by 1 p.m. and the roads were reopened by 1:30 p.m.
"Everything went really well," Fire Chief Danny Gardner said. "We had to evacuate some people, but that was just to act safely on the side of caution."
The truck driver was cited for failing to properly secure his load and having a leaking load.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Hannah Sentenac.
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