ACA v. FCC: Close to a Slam Dunk for TCPA Defendants
Decision Will Change the Playing Field of TCPA Litigation By Blaine Kimrey, Bryan Clark, and Madeline Tzall On March 16, 2018, just before tip-off in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the D.C. Circuit provided the TCPA defense bar with a new playbook of sorts, in the form of a decision that will surely…
10 Questions to a Media Lawyer: David Sternlicht
David Sternlicht is Senior Vice President, Legal, at NBCUniversal News Group. 1. How’d you get into media law? What was your first job? I’ve always been fascinated by television news. Before law school (and part-time during), I worked as a reporter for KVUE in Austin, Texas. Afterwards, I briefly worked for the FCC, then a…
MLRC’s 2018 Conference on Hispanic and Latin American Media
On March 12, over 50 lawyers from North and South America gathered at the University of Miami School of Communication for a full day of sessions on Legal Issues of Concern for Hispanic and Latin American Media. The conference began with discussion of the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. Andres Echevarria, Univision…
Seventeen Journalism Organizations File Amicus Brief in Support of Mexican Journalist’s Asylum Appeal
By Steve Zansberg, Mark Flores and Chuck Tobin On March 19, 2018, the National Press Club and 16 other organizations (including the MLRC) that promote press freedom worldwide filed an amici curiae brief with the U. S. Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in support of asylum for Mexican journalist Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto and…
Judge Orders Release of Exterior Video Recordings in Parkland School Shooting
By Jon M. Philipson Responding to a petition by twelve media companies, a Florida judge ordered the release of the video recordings showing Broward County Sheriff Deputy Scot Peterson remaining outside the building during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school. On Wednesday, February 14, 2018, Parkland, once designated Florida’s safest city, was…
Anti-SLAPP Legislation in South Carolina: A Snowball’s Chance in Charleston?
By Wallace Lightsey In the South Carolina House of Representatives, a progressive Democrat and two like-minded Republican colleagues have introduced House Bill 4897, “The Citizens Participation in Government Act of 2018.” Introduced on February 8, 2018, the bill is a well-drafted piece of Anti-SLAPP legislation. It includes findings, among others, that: The framers of the…
Defamation Suit Against President Trump Survives Motion to Dismiss
President Can Be Sued in State Court; Denial of Misconduct Can Be Defamatory Stating that “No one is above the law,” a New York trial court declined to dismiss a high-profile defamation suit against President Trump over his denials of sexual misconduct allegations. Zervos v. Trump, No. 150522/17 (N.Y. Sup. March 20, 2018) (Schecter, J.)….
California Court of Appeal Dismisses Olivia De Havilland’s Right of Publicity & False Light Suit
Big Victory for the First Amendment and Use of Real People in Creative Works In a detailed and thorough opinion, the California Court of Appeal dismissed actress Olivia de Havilland’s right of publicity and false light suit against the producers of the television miniseries Feud: Bette and Joan. De Havilland v. FX Networks, LLC et…
New York Court Declines to Give Effect to UK Privacy Injunction
Court Won’t Seal U.S. Proceedings Pursuant to UK Anonymity Order In what appears to be the first case of its kind, the New York Post successfully opposed an effort to seal a U.S. court proceeding pursuant to an anonymity order issued by an English court hearing a related privacy case. Massel v. Gibbins, No. 161147/2017…
From the Executive Director’s Desk: San Francisco Digital Conference Will Be Timely, Topical, Tremendous
Also Ahead: MLRC Institute Will Present Media Law Workshops at Industry-Wide Conventions Increasingly, platforms have been under pressure on a number of fronts to take down, moderate and/or stop hosting objectionable groups and content, such as content originating from white supremacists, alleged sex traffickers, terrorist groups and the like. The pressure is coming from political…
MediaLawLetter March 2018
Download Publication MLRC From the Executive Director’s Desk: San Francisco Digital Conference Will Be Timely, Topical, TremendousAlso Ahead: MLRC Institute Will Present Media Law Workshops at Industry-Wide Conventions MLRC’s 2018 Conference on Hispanic and Latin American Media 10 Questions to a Media Lawyer: David Sternlicht LIBEL & PRIVACY N.Y. Sup.: Court Declines to Give Effect…