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May 2014

MediaLawLetter April 2014

PUBLICATION:
in this issue

Ethics Corner: Where Is the Line on Advising Clients Regarding Direct Contact With Represented Parties?

By Timothy J. Conner The other side’s lawyer is so obstreperous that it is getting in the way of resolving what should be a simple business spat, and the solution is right there, right in front of you. But with everything being filtered through “Mr. Deal Breaker” the only thing that’s going to happen is…

Lawsuit Challenging State Court Access Delays Belongs In Federal Court, Ninth Circuit Rules

Reverses District Court’s Dismissal on Federal Abstention Grounds By Rachel Matteo-Boehm and Leila Knox A lawsuit challenging a state court’s clerk’s policies resulting in delayed access to civil court records “presents an important First Amendment question … that should be decided by the federal courts,” and the media plaintiff who brought the case should not…

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Second Circuit Rules for New York Timesin FOIA Case Over Targeted Killings

By Victoria Baranetsky In what appears to be a first for a federal appeals court in a national security case, the Second Circuit has rejected the government’s claim that a document must be kept secret, reversed the district court, and ordered disclosure of the document. New York Times v. U.S. (2d Cir. April 21, 2014)….

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Florida Appellate Court Reverses Trial Court Orders Excluding Media From Jury Selection

Lower Court Erred in High Profile Murder Trial Ruling By Timothy J. Conner A Florida Appellate Court, in a first of its kind ruling in Florida, has issued a 27 page opinion unanimously vacating two orders of a trial court in Jacksonville, Florida, which had excluded the media from critical portions of the jury selection…

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Company “D’oh!”: Fourth Circuit Reaffirms Public’s Right to Access Judicial Records

Rebukes District Court for Wholesale Sealing to Protect Corporate Reputation By Robert D. Balin, Edward J. Davis and Eric J. Feder In a recent decision that should prove especially useful to news organizations, the Fourth Circuit held that the economic reputational interests of a private party are not sufficient to overcome the First Amendment right…

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Judge Unseals “Squeaky” Fromme Shrink Report

Manson Follower Made Attempt on President Ford’s Life By Karl Olson and Susan Brown In a walk down memory lane, a federal judge in Sacramento, California has unsealed an audio recording of a psychiatrist’s interview of Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a Charles Manson follower who was convicted of an attempt on the life of then-President Gerald…

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Journalist’s Conviction for ‘Scandalising the Court’ Overturned by Privy Council

Offense Can No Longer Be Treated as a Strict Liability Crime By Anya Proops Should judges be able to jail their critics? This is the stark question which was posed in the recent Privy Council case of Dhooharika v Director of Public Prosecutions [2014] UKPC 11. In a judgment which is likely to give considerable…

Other Side of the Pond: UK Media Law Developments

No Special Constitutional Rights for Journalists; Prince Charles’ Diary and More By David Hooper On 18 August 2013 David Miranda the partner (referred to in the judgment as the spouse of Glenn Greenwald) was detained for a period which totalled nine hours at Heathrow airport under the Terrorism Act 2000. He was carrying 58,000 highly…

Court Rejects Subpoena Seeking Documents Leaked to the New York Times

By David McCraw In 1998, the Second Circuit shocked news media lawyers and their clients by ruling in Gonzales v. NBC that there was no federal reporter’s privilege protecting a reporter’s work product unless a confidential source was involved. A few months later, on reconsideration the circuit reversed course and concluded that non-confidential information was…

Court Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against MoveOn.org

Group Sued Over Use of Tourism Logo By Dan Zimmerman and Mary Ellen Roy As the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Jay Dardenne serves as the head of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism (the “Department”). He developed a slogan – “Louisiana, Pick Your Passion” – and a logo using the slogan that substituted…

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EBook Not a Derivative Work Under Copyright Restoration Statute

A Change in Medium Only Not a New Derivative Work By Mona Houck In a case of first impression involving the copyright restoration statute, a New York federal district court ruled that an ebook is not a derivative work. Peter Mayer Publishers Inc., d/b/a Overlook Press v. Daria Shilovskaya and Sergey Shilovskiy, No. 12-cv-8867 (S.D.N.Y….

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Quentin Tarantino’s Contributory Copyright Infringement Claim Against Gawker Dismissed

By Matthew L. Schafer A California federal district court this month dismissed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino’s contributory copyright infringement claim against Gawker Media, LLC. Tarantino v. Gawker Media, No. CV 14-603-JFW (C.D. Cal. April 22, 2014) (Walter, J.). Tarantino had alleged Gawker contributed to the violation of his copyright by linking to unauthorized copies of a…

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Section 230 Bars Tort Claims Against Host of Revenge Porn Website

By Grayson McDaniel A Texas appellate court held that the Communications Decency Act barred claims of negligence and intentional tort against GoDaddy.com, a web host on which third parties maintained “revenge porn” websites, because it neither created nor developed the content at issue. GoDaddy.com, LLC v. Toups, No. 09-13-00285-CV, 2014 WL 1389776 (Tex. Ct. App.—Beaumont…

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Motion to Dismiss Libel Suit on Statute of Limitations Grounds Denied

Online Version May Be Intended for Separate Audience By Cameron Stracher Whitney Houston’s life and tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown was a source for many pages of tabloid ink. Now, a federal judge has ruled that Brown’s lawsuit arising from a National Enquirer article about Houston’s death is not barred by the statute of limitations,…

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Texas Court Strictly Construes SLAPP Statute’s Commercial Speech Exemption

Approves $75,000 in Sanctions By Kent Piacenti A Texas appellate court recently addressed the commercial speech exception to the state anti-SLAPP statute and explained that”for the exemption to apply, the statement must be made for the purpose of securing sales in the goods or services of the person making the statement.” Kinney v. BCG Attorney…

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Science Journal Wins Anti-SLAPP Motion Article Protected by Common Interest Privilege;

No Evidence of Malice In an interesting unpublished opinion, a California federal district court recently granted a science journal’s anti-SLAPP motion to strike libel and related claims, holding that the publication of a peer-reviewed science article was protected by a common interest privilege. Critical Care Diagnostics, Inc. v. American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Inc., 13-cv-1308…

Blogger Entitled to Pre-Suit Retraction Demand for Alleged Defamatory Comments in Blog

By Robert L. Rogers, III An intermediate appellate court in Florida has issued an opinion construing Florida’s retraction demand statute that could have far-reaching consequences both within Florida and throughout the United States concerning whether bloggers should be treated as “publishers” under defamation and libel law. See Comins v. VanVoorhis, 2014 WL 1393081, at *12-*14…

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Pennsylvania Court Orders Third Trial in Long-Running Newspaper Libel Case

By Kevin C. Abbott and Justin H. Werner On appeal from a bench trial verdict in favor of the defense, a Pennsylvania Superior court reinstated the libel and invasion of privacy claims of the individual plaintiffs against the Citizens’ Voice newspaper in a long-running libel suit over a series of articles discussing the searches and…

Third Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Author and Book Publisher

Publisher Had No Duty to Fact Check Author’s Work It took no Sherlock Holmes for an author to find out that the colorful founder of a crime-solving club had a sexual relationship with his long-time assistant. But the author and publisher may not have foreseen that the assistant would sue for defamation and false light…

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Supreme Court Decisions May Impact Personal Jurisdiction in Online Libel Suits

Is Zippo Flaming Out? By Jeffrey T. Cox and Erin E. Rhinehart While the U.S. Supreme Court has several high-profile cases on its docket that will draw attention, the winter of 2014 will be marked in part by the Court’s re-affirmation of traditional and time-worn notions of fair play. In less than two months, the…

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Supreme Court Strikes Aggregate Contribution Limits on First Amendment Grounds

The Meaning of McCutcheon By Ronald K.L. Collins & David M. Skover Happily, we live in a country where citizens can complain, criticize, or even condemn public officials, including the Chief Justice of the United States. By that measure, the First Amendment has been put to robust use lately in light of the Supreme Court’s…

MediaLawLetter April 2014

 Download Publication SUPREME COURT Supreme Court Strikes Aggregate Contribution Limits on First Amendment GroundsThe Meaning of McCutcheonMcCutcheon v. FEC Supreme Court Decisions May Impact Personal Jurisdiction in Online Libel SuitsIs Zippo Flaming Out?Daimler AG v. Bauman;Walden v. Fiore LIBEL & PRIVACY 3d Cir.: Court Affirms Summary Judgment for Author & Book PublisherPublisher Had No Duty…