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April 2012

MediaLawLetter April 2012

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MediaLawLetter April 2012

 Download Publication INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Second Circuit Reverses a Troubling Federal District Court Decision Affecting The Rights Of Copyright Owners To Combat Online PiracyCourt Addresses Issue of Red Flags and Willful Blindness Under DMCAViacom v. YouTube Fourth Circuit Decision Sets Up Keyword Trademark Cases for TrialTrial Required to Decide Trademark Infringement EvidenceRosetta Stone. Ltd. v. Google…

No Qualified Immunity for Police Defendants Sued Over Criminal Libel Arrest

Louisiana Criminal Libel Statute Unconstitutional as Applied to Defendant A Louisiana man arrested for criminal libel, and jailed overnight in leg irons, can pursue federal civil rights claims against the police officials who obtained and executed the arrest warrant.  Simmons v. City of Mamou, et al., No. 09-663 (W.D. La. March 15, 2012) (Foote, J.)….

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Colorado Repeals Its Antiquated Criminal Libel Statute

By Steven Zansberg On April 13, 2012, Colorado’s Governor John Hickenlooper signed into law Senate Bill 12-102 and thereby repealed Colorado’s criminal libel statute.  Colorado’s criminal libel law was one of only fifteen such state laws still on the books, was first enacted in 1883, in the section of Colorado’s statute books addressing crimes against…

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The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Meets the Ninth Circuit

Act Does Not Criminalize Mere Misuse of Data or Infractions Against Terms Of Use By Jeremy D. Mishkin In a widely-anticipated opinion, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit – sitting en banc – has ruled that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030), a law which was originally enacted to…

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Shield Laws Down Under: Decision That Newspaper Divulge Sources Now on Appeal

By Peter Bartlett The Australian position regarding shield laws continues to be a subject of great debate, interest and change. Similarly to the MLRC in the United States, interest groups in Australia have been strong advocates for the introduction of comprehensive shield laws for many years, and have continued to lobby for the protection of…

Other Side of the Pond: Developments in UK and European Media Law

Scandalizing the Court; Access to Extradition Docs; Twiter Libel; ISP Liability and More By David Hooper A curious piece of litigation has arisen out of the memoirs published by a former Cabinet Minister Peter Hain in respect of his memoirs Outside In.  He described his time serving as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in…

Supreme Court of Canada Rolls Out Welcome Mat for Libel Tourists

Defamation “Occurs” When and Where Defamatory Statement Is Published to Third Party By Paul B. Schabas, Ryder Gilliland, Erin Hoult, and Max Shapiro The Supreme Court of Canada has released two decisions regarding assumed jurisdiction in defamation matters that leave the door to libel tourism wide-open in Canada.  The two cases – Breeden v. Black,…

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CNN Denied Expeditious Anti-SLAPP Exit From Lawsuit Over Closed Captions for News Videos

Claims Do Not Arise from CNN’s Protected Publishing Activities By Thomas R. Burke and Ronnie London In a lawsuit alleging violations of California’s civil rights and disabilities laws against Cable News Network, Inc. (“CNN”) for not providing real time closed captioning for news videos available on CNN.com, , a federal judge in San Francisco denied…

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Lawsuit over Disclosure of Actress’s Age Survives Motion to Dismiss

Plaintiff Stated Breach of Contract and Deceptive Business Claims An unusual lawsuit against the popular website Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com), and parent company Amazon.com, for disclosing the true age of an actress has survived, in part, a motion to dismiss.  Hoang v. Amazon.com, No. C11-1709 (W.D. Wash. March 28, 2012) (Pechman, J.). The plaintiff, Huong…

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against A&E Dismissed on Jurisdictional Grounds

Plaintiff Sued Broadcaster for Scuba Accident By Catherine L. Robb On February 13, 2012, a Texas trial court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law finding that it did not have personal jurisdiction over A&E Television (“AETN”) in a wrongful death case filed by plaintiff Tammy DeWolf on behalf of herself and her children. …

Los Angeles Times Wins Suits Brought By Lap-Band Lawyer and Doctors

Court Strikes Wiretap and Unfair Competition Claims By Kelli L. Sager and Jeff Glasser For most of the last two years, residents of Southern California have been inundated with billboards and other advertisements for “Lap-Band” weight-loss surgery, thanks to a saturation marketing campaign by surgery centers affiliated with a marketing company using the moniker “1…

Court Strikes Claims Against Lawyer Rating Website Under Washington Anti-SLAPP Statute

Awards Defendant Fees and $10,000 in Statutory Damages By Bruce E.H. Johnson and Ambika K. Doran A federal district court in Washington applied the state’s new anti-SLAPP law to strike claims brought by an attorney dissatisfied with his rating on the website Avvo.com.  Davis v. Avvo, Inc., 2012 WL 1067640 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 28, 2012). …

Court Dismisses Libel and Privacy Claims Over Republication of Book Review

Republisher’s Privilege Protects Website; Photo Not an Advertisement in Disguise By Kenneth P. Norwick It is by now well established that, by virtue of §230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, a website that contains material provided by third parties (without significant editorial involvement by the site) will be immune from claims – e.g., libel;…

Court Rules News Report Presenting Both Sides of Dispute Is Not Grossly Irresponsible

By Michael Berry On February 22, 2012, a New York trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Cablevision Systems Corporation, News 12 Long Island, and one of its reporters, Holli Haerr, in a case arising from a news report about a married couple’s claim that a landlord declined to rent them an apartment because…

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Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Nashville TV Station in Wrongful Arrest Libel Case

Fair Report, Lack of Actual Malice, Single Publication Rule Protect Broadcaster By Patricia A. Foster The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of Sinclair Television of Nashville d/b/a/ WZTV-Fox 17 in a defamation and false light action arising from a news report describing and depicting plaintiff Paula Milligan’s arrest during a multi-state fugitive roundup. …

Press Asserts Constitutional Right of Access to Guantanamo Commissions

First Time Media Permitted To Make Access Motion By Julia Atcherley In a major step forward, earlier this month a military commission for the first time recognized the right of the press to be heard in opposition to the closure of proceedings of a Guantanamo military commission. On April 11, 2012, David Schulz, of Levine…

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US Supreme Court to Hear First Sale Copyright Doctrine Case

Does Doctrine Apply to Works Produced Abroad and Resold in the U.S.? The Supreme Court this month agreed to hear an appeal of a divided Second Circuit panel decision holding that the first sale doctrine does not apply to copyrighted works produced outside the U.S. but imported and resold here.  Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley &…

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Fourth Circuit Decision Sets Up Keyword Trademark Cases for Trial

Trial Required to Decide Trademark Infringement Evidence By Mark Sableman The Fourth Circuit’s first foray into keyword trademarks use, in Rosetta Stone. Ltd. v. Google, Inc., (April 9, 2012), provides a roadmap to those who, like the plaintiff, the Rosetta Stone language-learning company, challenge use of their trademarks as key words to trigger search-engine sponsored…

Second Circuit Reverses Troubling Federal District Court Decision Affecting the Rights of Copyright Owners to Combat Online Piracy

By Cliff Sloan and Chris Clark On April 5, 2012, in the closely watched case of Viacom v. YouTube, the Second Circuit vacated a federal district court decision granting summary judgment to YouTube and Google, and sent the case back to the district court for further proceedings.  In its decision, the Second Circuit reversed a…

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