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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

New Technology and the Need For New Law

Posted on April 14, 2008
Here's the Guardian on the need to revisit copyright law in the light of new technology.

British Journalist Employed By CBS Freed

Posted on April 14, 2008
The BBC reports that Richard Butler, a British journalist employed by CBS and kidnapped along with his Iraqi interpreter two months ago in Basra, has been freed. Iraqi forces broke into the house where Mr. Butler was being held and...

British TV Host May Have Been Found

Posted on April 13, 2008
TV host Mark Speight, the fiance of the late Natasha Collins, who was found dead in their apartment about three months ago, is believed to have been found dead at Paddington Station in London. Mr. Speight was cleared of suspicion...

Harry Potter and the Amazing Lawsuit

Posted on April 13, 2008
That J. K. Rowling lawsuit over Steven VanArk's encyclopedia of everything Harry Potter, based on his website, is set to begin in a New York courtroom tomorrow. Ms. Rowling, the author of the fabulously famous and bestselling Harry Potter books,...

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Ready For Their Closeups

Posted on April 13, 2008
The New York Times' Nick Bunkley writes about some Michigan sites hoping for starring roles in film, and notes that new rules on Michigan tax credits could make that happen, in this article.

Robert Murat, Questioned By Portugeuse Police in McCann Case, Will Sue British Media

Posted on April 13, 2008
Robert Murat, questioned in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, says he will sue several British media outlets over defamatory stories printed and broadcast about him. Earlier this year, the Express Newspapers group settled a defamation claim for over a million...

Lonely Planet Author Admits He Made Up Parts of One Book

Posted on April 13, 2008
Thomas Kohnstamm admitted to the Daily Telegraph that he didn't really go to Colombia before writing the Lonely Planet guide to that country because "they didn't pay me enough." Instead, he pumped a girlfriend who worked at the Colombian Consulate...

Photographer Fined For Refusing To Photograph Commitment Ceremony

Posted on April 11, 2008
The New Mexico Human Rights Commission has that found an Albuquerque photographer studio unlawfully discriminated against a gay couple by refusing her services and has fined her more than $6500. The Commission says that Elaine Huguenin's First Amendment defense is...

European Parliament Tries To Balance Rights of All Who Use Net

Posted on April 11, 2008
Members of the European Parliament have refused to ban serial file sharers from the Internet in spite of demands that they do so to support the rights both of both Internet industries and artists. One spokesperson for the EP said,...

Video Game Banned in Brazil

Posted on April 11, 2008
The video game "Bully" is now banned for sale and distribution through any outlet in Brazil , based on a decision by a Brazilian judge, who ruled it unacceptable for children since it takes place inside a school. Rockstar Games...

Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror Settle Suit With British TV Anchor Over Libel Claims

Posted on April 10, 2008
The Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror have apologized and agreed to pay legal costs to tv anchor Kate Garraway for implying that she and dance partner Anton Du Beke had an affair. The two appeared on the fifth season of...

Ofcom: Too Much Earthiness On "Live Earth" Broadcast

Posted on April 10, 2008
Watchdog agency Ofcom informed the BBC that it should have toned down the language of some of the celebrities who appeared on the Live Earth concert broadcast last summer. Madonna, Phil Collins and others used the F word, which is...

Internet Access In Indonesia Blocked Because of "Fitna"

Posted on April 09, 2008
Indonesian companies which make the Internet available to users have blocked access in order to make Geert Wilders' anti-Islamic film Fitna unavailable, following a government demand that they do so. The film, which Mr. Wilders has made accessible on the...

Foreign Journalists Arrested in Zimbabwe Released on Bail

Posted on April 09, 2008
Zimbabwean officials have released two foreign journalists, New York Times reporter Barry Bearak, and a second, unidentified British man, on bail after they were detained for some time for reporting on the recent Zimbabwean elections without official permission...

Advertising Standards Authority Bans Ad Campaign For XBox, Judging It "Shocking" and "Graphic"

Posted on April 09, 2008
The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an ad campaign for the XBox which it deems to be "graphic and too shocking to be seen in an untargeted medium." Said the ASA, We noted the TV ad demonstrated the action of...

ASA Upholds Complaints Against Ryanair for Misleading Advertising For Ninth Time In Two Years

Posted on April 09, 2008
The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a ninth instance of false advertising against the low budget airline Ryanair, this time in conjunction with the company's offers of flights for ten pounds over a four day period last fall. The ASA...

A Call To the FCC To Update Its Attitude Toward "Broadcast Indecency"

Posted on April 08, 2008
In a piece in the Hollywood Reporter, James Hibberd suggests that the FCC "needs to face reality" concerning broadcast indecency and stop trying to encase the networks in a "morality bubble." At a time when broadcasters face unprecedented financial challenges...

Rob Lowe, Wife, File Suit Against Former Nanny

Posted on April 08, 2008
Rob and Sheryl Lowe have filed a breach of contract, IIED, and defamation suit against former nanny Laura Boyce, claiming that she is spreading stories about them and is engaging in a conspiracy with another Lowe employee to damage the...

Weinsteins To NBC: You're Auf'ed!

Posted on April 08, 2008
The Weinstein Company's designer reality show Project Runway will be strutting its stuff on the Lifetime Network beginning this fall, but one of the first assignments for the new crop of fashion fabulous might be lawyer suits for the attorneys...

Dutch Court Says MP Has Right To Free Speech, Refuses To Ban Anti-Koran Film

Posted on April 07, 2008
A Dutch judge has refused to ban Fitna, a film that criticizes the Koran, saying that the filmmaker, Geert Wilders, a Dutch member of Parliament, has the right to free speech and his film does not incite hatred. The MP...

DOJ Sues To Enforce FCC Fines Against Fox

Posted on April 07, 2008
The Justice Department is suing to enforce over $50,000 in fines imposed by the FCC on Fox over its "Married by America" program. Fox has refused to pay the fines, instead appealing the sanction through the courts. Read more here.

Jury: Diana's Death Laid At Door of Driver, Paparazzi

Posted on April 07, 2008
A jury convened to inquire into the causes for the deaths of Princess Diana and her companion Dodi al-Fayed has found that they died as a result of unlawful killing through the actions of their driver, Henri Paul, and of...

Corporation Sues The Guardian Over Articles

Posted on April 07, 2008
Corporate giant Tesco is suing the Guardian for defamation over a series of articles and a podcast that allege that the retailer has engaged in tax fraud. Said Tesco's executive director of corporate and legal affairs, "It is very regrettable...

New Study Reveals British Youth Disregard Law, Download, Copy Music With Abandon

Posted on April 07, 2008
In a new report, the trade group British Music Rights (BMR) says more than fifty percent of British teens violate the law by illegally downloading music or copying music from friends' CDs, even though they seem to understand that their...

Controversy In the Cornhusker State

Posted on April 07, 2008
The Office of the Nebraska Governor has gotten snarky with the Daily Nebraskan, the official outlet at the University of Nebraska, because of what a student reporter wrote about who was giving tours of the Governor's mansion. Initially, the story...

Bush Admin Officials Oppose Passage of Federal Shield Law

Posted on April 05, 2008
Several Bush administration officials, including the Attorney General, are coming out in opposition to the "Free Flow of Information Act" (the federal reporter shield bill), sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania). They allege that the bill's definition of "journalist" is...

Errol Morris On the Documentary

Posted on April 04, 2008
Filmmaker Errol Morris takes on the question of when a documentary is not a documentary, in part one of an essay in today's New York Times. When does playing it again, Sam, seem as if it's playing it for the...

UK Case Over Defamatory Statements on Website Finally Concludes With Highest Damage Award Ever

Posted on April 04, 2008
Following up on a post from last year, I note that Gentoo, which used to be the Sunderland Housing Group, has won a record 100,000 pounds damage award in an action over statements published by a website called DadsPlace after...

Is There a Hallmark Card For That?

Posted on April 04, 2008
The feud between actress Kathleen Turner and former co-star Nicolas Cage appears to be over. Ms. Turner has apologized to Mr. Cage over statements in her newly published autobiography Send Yourself Roses that implied he was arrested for drunk driving...

British Watchdog Agency Reports That Young Persons Are Using Social Networking Sites Not Meant For Them

Posted on April 03, 2008
Ofcom reports that children and young persons are using adult social networking sites, sometimes without supervision, which may put them at risk. Said one Ofcom spokesperson, "There are huge benefits to internet use, and we don't want to be too...

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