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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

The Government As Speaker Under the First Amendment

Posted on February 24, 2010
Steven G. Gery, Florida State University College of Law, has published "Why Should the First Amendment Protect Government Speech When the Government Has Nothing to Say?" It is forthcoming in the Iowa Law Review. Here is the abstract. It is...

German Court Tells Website To Stop Infringement Of Copyrighted Educational Materials

Posted on February 24, 2010
The Chronicle of Higher Education covers a German's court ruling for textbook publishers and against a website that allows the sharing of copyrighted materials. The court told Rapidshare that it must not only block access but also "take precautions going...

That News of the World Phone Hacking Incident Gets More Attention

Posted on February 24, 2010
More debate and criticism over News of the World phone hacking: from colleagues and from Members of Parliament.

Debate On British Libel and Privacy Laws Intensifies

Posted on February 24, 2010
From the Guardian, a report on what members of a Parliamentary committee think of current privacy and libel laws, and a response from the Press Complaints Commission.

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Communications Law in the German Legal System

Posted on February 24, 2010
Chris Witteman has published "Constitutionalizing Communications: The German Constitutional Court's Jurisprudence of Communications Freedom." Here is the abstract. In the United States, the debate over communications issues as disparate as network neutrality and public broadcasting seems to be carried out...

CBS v. FCC In Third Circuit Again

Posted on February 24, 2010
Third Circuit rehearing of the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction case (FCC v. CBS) here. Discussion here and here.

Woman Drives Neighbors, Well, Bananas

Posted on February 23, 2010
And this gem from Brighton and Hove. A local woman made her neighbors crazy (for three years) by playing the theme song from The Banana Splits (remember, "Cha La La, La la la la") cranked up all the way (she...

Rethinking Threats To Freedom of Speech

Posted on February 23, 2010
Jason Kuznicki, Cato Institute, has published "Attack of the Utility Monsters: The New Threats to Free Speech," as Cato Policy Analysis Series, No. 652. Here is the abstract. Freedom of expression is looking less and less like a settled issue....

Illustrious Panel Hears BCA v. Simon Singh

Posted on February 23, 2010
First reports on the Simon Singh libel case are trickling in. The Lord Chief Justice pronounced himself "baffled" that if the British Chiropractic Association has evidence that chiropractic works the Association simply hasn't produced it. Here's background from The Times...

More On the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative

Posted on February 22, 2010
From the New York Times, a piece on Iceland's bid to become the place "where journalists run free."

FCC Investigating Whether "Our Little Genius" Production Staff Fed Answers To Potential Contestants

Posted on February 20, 2010
The FCC is investigating allegations that producers and/or staff for Mark Burnett's newest proposed game show, "Our Little Genius," may have primed child contestants with answers, thus ensuring that they really were "little geniuses." The show, scheduled to air on...

Skirmish Over Between Gosselin, TLC

Posted on February 19, 2010
Feel the love between Jon Gosselin and TLC. They've settled their differences, and although the settlement is confidential, it seems that we might be seeing the (divorced) parents and 8 in some sort of show on the network once again.

BBC Drops Denise Van Outen From New Lloyd Webber Talent Search Show

Posted on February 19, 2010
Another gender-related complaint aimed at the BBC, this time over the failure to bring back actress and singer Denise Van Outen as a judge on the show "Over the Rainbow," the latest Andrew Lloyd-Webber talent show. Ms. Van Outen is...

Badda Bing! Microsoft-Yahoo Merger Gets OK From EU

Posted on February 19, 2010
European Union regulators have okayed the Microsoft-Yahoo search engine merger, which the companies announced last year and which proposes taking on giant Google. The deal needs a green light from regulators in Asia, but may be in place by 2012....

Images of Human Rights in the Media

Posted on February 19, 2010
Eric Heinze and Rosa Freedman, Queen Mary University of London School of Law, have published "Public Awareness of Human Rights: Distortions in the Mass Media," in volume 12 of the International Journal of Human Rights (2009). Here is the abstract....

Strategies They Don't Want You To Use

Posted on February 18, 2010
Federal judge Robert Gettleman has held infomercial king Kevin Trudeau in contempt for inducing his fans to send the judge so many emails that they crashed his computer. Mr. Trudeau was scheduled for a hearing on March 9 and posted...

Upcoming FOI Summit, May 7-8, 2010

Posted on February 18, 2010
From Charles Davis, University of Missouri (Columbia) School of Journalism, announcement of the upcoming 2010 Freedom of Information (FOI) Summit, "Protecting the Public's Right to Oversee Its Government." It's May 7-8, 2010. The Summit is co-sponsored by the National FOI...

Public Notice: Request for Coordination of Canadian Earth Stations

Posted on February 18, 2010
From the FCC The government of Canada has requested frequency coordination for the following Canadian earth stations operating in the 3700-4200 MHz and 5925-6425 MHz frequency bands. Interested parties may file comments regarding this request no later than March 18,...

BBC Host Admits Assisting in Death of Lover; Arrest Follows

Posted on February 18, 2010
BBC host Ray Gosling, who admitted to assisted suicide at some point in the past during a live broadcast, has been arrested and taken in for questioning about his admission, but no charges have yet been filed. Here is coverage...

NYT Reporter Resigns Over Plagiarism Allegations

Posted on February 18, 2010
Zachery Kouwe, a New York Times business reporter accused of plagiarism, has resigned his position after Times officials investigated the allegations brought by the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. The WSJ's Robert Thomson told Times...

"Willy the Wizard" Author's Estate Claims Rowling Plagiarized Book

Posted on February 18, 2010
Plagiarism claims against J. K. Rowling have surfaced, and they come from the estate of Adrian Jacobs, the author of The Adventures of Willy the Wizard. The British author died in 1997, but his trustee, Paul Allen, is alleging that...

Google: Already Facing a Privacy Complaint Over "Buzz"

Posted on February 17, 2010
Bob Sullivan of the Red Tape Chronicles suggests that Google may have violated federal law by signing up its Gmail users for its new social networking service Google Buzz. Even though it responded to user complaints almost immediately, the Electronic...

"The Kennedys": A Present Day Debate Over History

Posted on February 17, 2010
From the New York Times, coverage on the debate over the History Channel's new miniseries on the Kennedy family. Longtime Kennedy friends and intimates, like Theodore (Ted) Sorensons, say the scripts have serious factual errors. In particular, one scene suggests...

Indonesian Teen Gets Seventy Five Day Suspended Sentence In Facebook Defamation Case

Posted on February 17, 2010
An Indonesian court has handed down a 75-day suspended jail sentence to a teenager for defaming another woman on Facebook. The defendant called the first woman "promiscuous and overweight." Their flap was over a man. Read more here.

FCC Workshop On "Serving the Public Interest In the Digital Era" March 4

Posted on February 16, 2010
The FCC is holding a workshop on March 4 on commercial media on "Serving the Public Interest in the Digital Era." From the news release, "The workshop will focus on: A brief history and overview of policies involving ?public interest?...

Correction Issued To "Tying Arrangements" Report and Order

Posted on February 16, 2010
The FCC has issued a correction to its First Report and Order In the Matter of Review of the Commission?s Program Access Rules and Examination of Programming Tying Arrangements. Here's the link.

Prepared Remarks of FCC Chair Genachowski, NARUC Conference, Feb. 16, 2010

Posted on February 16, 2010
Prepared Remarks of Chairman Julius Genachowski, Federal Communications Commission, "Broadband: Our Enduring Engine for Prosperity and Opportunity?, NARUC Conference, Washington, D.C., February 16, 2010 Good morning. Great to see everyone. I?m guessing everyone has had a memorable visit to D...

Florida School Agrees To Change Logo After Chrysler Threatens Lawsuit

Posted on February 16, 2010
That high school symbol got its attention, and so The Chrysler Corporation got tough (I won't say "ram tough")--Lake Mary High School is changing its logo rather than face a trademark infringement suit over the similarity of its Aries to...

Iceland Considers Media Law Reform; May Become World Center For Free Speech

Posted on February 15, 2010
Apparently inspired by increasing on against journalists and media around the world, and assisted by Wikileaks, the website which specializes in posting interesting and often sensitive information, Iceland may be positioning itself as a home for journalism and free speech...

Copyright Infringement, Fair Use, and the Transformative Use Doctrine

Posted on February 15, 2010
Thomas F. Cotter, University of Minnesota Law School, has published "Transformative Use and Cognizable Harm," forthcoming in the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law. Here is the abstract. In recent years, the question of whether the unauthorized use of...

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