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Media & Entertainment Law

Media Law Prof Blog

Media law resources, information, and news for the academic community.

Post Frequency: 34.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 12:48:00

What the Public Knows About the First Amendment

Posted on September 18, 2008
Over at BLT, The Blog of Legal Times, Tony Mauro reports on a recent survey that measured the public's awareness concerning the meaning of the First Amendment. Results: mixed. A little more than half our citizens seem to know that...

Defamation Suit Against John Grisham, Others Dismissed

Posted on September 18, 2008
U. S. District Judge Ronald White has dismissed a libel suit filed against best selling author John Grisham and two other men filed by three officials involved in the original trial of two defendants in the Debbie Sue Carter murder...

Gender Newswars

Posted on September 17, 2008
Stephen Armstrong responds to Mark Austin's critique of pretty faces on the news here.

Pulverizing the Puffin

Posted on September 17, 2008
When popular tv chef Gordon Ramsay killed and ate a puffin on air, outrage hit Channel 4 and Ofcom. But the agency cleared the star of The F Word; apparently killing the cute little bird and munching it on camera...

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More on English Libel Law

Posted on September 17, 2008
...and George Monbiot on English libel law...

Jo Burgin Trial Continues

Posted on September 17, 2008
Here's an update on the Jo Burgin unjust dismissal trial.

Guardian Issues Apology To Tesco Over Article; Legal Skirmish Over

Posted on September 17, 2008
The argument between Tesco, the supermarket giant, and the Guardian is over. The paper has apologized over its article alleging that the company had tried to avoid paying tax by setting up offshore schemes. Read more here and read the...

Composer "Loses" His Copyrights After Defamation Case Defeat

Posted on September 17, 2008
After he lost a defamation case over an unfavorable review to the London Evening Standard, composer Keith Burstein says he's now also lost "control" over his copyrights. Mr. Burstein said he got the bad news from the Performing Rights Society,...

Senegalese Newspaper Editor Sentenced To Three Years For Criminal Libel

Posted on September 17, 2008
A Senegalese newspaper editor faces a three year prison sentence after his conviction for criminal libel after statements he made about the President of the country and the President's son. He plans to appeal. Read more here.

Update on the Hatfill Case

Posted on September 17, 2008
The Hatfill legal saga continues. Lawyers for the plaintiff are now seeking dismissal of the contempt charges against former USA Today reporter Toni Locy, now a journalism prof at West Virginia University. Lawyers' fees would apparently go along with that,...

Tasteless Tabloid Story On Suicide Earns PCC Reprimand

Posted on September 17, 2008
The Press Complaints Commission has told the Daily Sport that it crossed the line by publishing an article on the UK's "top 10 suicide hotspots." Choose Life, a government program engaged suicide prevention, had complained to the PCC that the...

Protecting the Copyright In Culture

Posted on September 17, 2008
Michal Shur-Ofry, Faculty of Laws, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has published "The (Copyright) Law of Genre: A Network Perspective on Copyright Protection of Cultural Genres," in volume 60 of the Florida Entertainment Law Review (2008). Here is the abstract...

Jane Ginsburg On Orphan Works

Posted on September 16, 2008
Jane C. Ginsburg, Columbia Law School, has published "Recent Developments in US Copyright Law: Part I - 'Orphan' Works," as Columbia Public Law Research Paper 08-183. This Comment, after a brief review of the nature of the orphan works problem...

New Blog Tracking Congress

Posted on September 16, 2008
New blog that tracks Congressional news: http://thecongressblog.org/, sponsored by the Dirksen Congressional Center.

Say Yes To the Uniform?

Posted on September 16, 2008
Apparently Ofcom is less than pleased with BBC1 over its airing of the program Weekend Nazis, which documented a festival last year in which some attendees wore Nazi uniforms and later attended a wedding, wearing the same clothing. They later...

Pretty In Ink?

Posted on September 16, 2008
The news anchor at a major British network says some of his colleagues are chosen "for their looks." Does that indicate he thinks they may not have the qualifications to do their jobs? Mark Austin of ITV said in an...

Fourth Circuit Rules Talk Show Host's Comments About Military Contractor Protected By First Amendment

Posted on September 16, 2008
The Fourth Circuit has ruled that a defendant talk show host did not act with actual malice in discussing actions of plaintiff military contractor since she relied on army reports in making her comments. The actual malice ?rule was prompted...

Sixth Circuit Allows Lawsuit Challenging Kentucky's Tax Injunction Act To Go Forward

Posted on September 15, 2008
The Sixth Circuit has ruled that a lawsuit challenging Kentucky's Tax Injunction Act, which bars the explanation of a new tax on consumer communication bills, is not barred by the Act. Said the court, the state's justifications fail "to satisfy...

The Times on Libel Tourism

Posted on September 15, 2008
The New York Times' Adam Cohen posts this editorial on libel tourism today.

An Overview of Music-Related Offenses

Posted on September 15, 2008
Sally Ramage, European Corporate Governance Institute, International Network for the Promotion of the Rule of Law, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Society for the Study of Social Problems, University of Tennessee, British Association of Women in Policing, and the...

Copyright's Default Rules and the Internet

Posted on September 15, 2008
Matthew J. Sag, DePaul College of Law, has published "Copyright and Copy-Reliant Technology." Here is the abstract. This article studies the rise of copy-reliant technologies - technologies such as Internet search engines and plagiarism detection software that, although they do...

BBC: Saudi Judge Says "It's OK" To Kill Those Who Disseminate Immoral TV Shows If No Other Means Will Suffice

Posted on September 13, 2008
The BBC reports that a "senior" Saudi Arabian judge has declared that "It is legitimate to kill those who call for corruption if their evil can not be stopped by other penalties." He was referring to those who own satellite...

al-Jazeera Unfair Dismissal Case Begins

Posted on September 10, 2008
al-Jazeera is responding to Jo Burgin's allegations that sex discrimination exists at the station. At the employment tribunal hearing going on now in London over Ms. Burgin dismissal claims, attorney Ingrid Simler, representing the network, presented evidence to show that...

Press Complaints Commission Raps British Paper For Attempting To Distract Readers' Attention From Negative PCC Ruling

Posted on September 10, 2008
The Press Complaints Commission, which earlier ruled against the Brighton Argus in a complaint against it lodged by Conservative MP Nicholas Soames, has now again told the paper it has misbehaved. The Argus reported the earlier ruling, but on page...

Court Orders Thai Prime Minister Out For Hosting Cooking Show

Posted on September 10, 2008
Political scandal couldn't force him out of office, but a recipe did--Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is gone and his Cabinet with him, after the country's highest court ruled that he improperly continued to host a cooking show after taking...

Comparative Law of Consumer Protection: Wireless Style

Posted on September 10, 2008
Renee Dopplick has published "Hidden Costs of the Wireless Broadband Lifestyle: Comparing Consumer Protections in the United States, Canada, and the European Union." Here is the abstract. This article explores the impacts on consumers when wireless device interference causes the...

The Curse of Substantial Similarity: Rowling Wins Infringement Lawsuit Against RDR Books

Posted on September 09, 2008
A federal judge has ruled that the Harry Potter lexicon produced by Steven Vander Ark and published by RDR Books took too much from J. K. Rowling's original works to escape the Curse of Substantial Similarity and he zapped it...

Spielberg, Paramount, Sued Over "Disturbia"

Posted on September 09, 2008
The estate of Sheldon Abend is suing Steven Spielberg, Dreamworks, and Paramount Pictures over the film Disturbia, which it claims infringed its rights in a short story written by the noir author Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich, who wrote under the name...

FCC Accepting Applications For Attorney Honors Program

Posted on September 09, 2008
From the FCC "The Federal Communications Commission today announced that it will again accept applications from graduating law students in the fall for its Attorney Honors Program, to better accommodate law students who participate in the traditional fall interview process...

"Get Me Rewrite!"

Posted on September 09, 2008
For today's New York Times' Critics' Picks, A. O. Scott discusses the screwball comedy His Girl Friday, a remake of The Front Page, (although Mr. Scott never indicates that) a farce about newspapers, newspaper people, capital punishment, politicians, and marriage...

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