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April 2012

MediaLawLetter Associate Edition 2012 Issue 1

PUBLICATION:
in this issue

2012 MLRC – Southwestern Media and Entertainment Law Conference

Angels and Demons: Navigating Tricky Entertainment and Media Issues to Reach Legal Nirvana On January 19, 2012, over 160 MLRC members and friends gathered in Hollywood, California at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel for the ninth annual MLRC – Southwestern Law School Biederman Institute conference on media and entertainment law issues.   The conference included sessions on…

Tennessee Media Wins Access to High Profile Adoption Dispute Trial

Court Dismisses Motion for Closure and Sealed Record By Robb Harvey and Keith Randall In a high profile case with international dimensions, a group of media and open government organizations recently intervened and succeeded in persuading the trial court that the proceedings and records should be opened.  In re Hansen, No. 12062 (Tenn. Cir. Ct….

Los Angeles Times Wins Access to State Employee Pension Data

Boost for Pension Transparency By Karl Olson A Los Angeles judge has fired what may be the final shot in a years-long battle for pension transparency in California. Ruling in a case brought by the Los Angeles Times, Superior Court Judge James Chalfant held on November 15 that the Times is entitled to know not…

Washington Post Wins Release of Jury Questionnaires from Levy Murder Trial

First Amendment Right of Access to Completed Forms By Bruce D. Brown and Laurie A. Babinski In an appeal brought by The Washington Post, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals unanimously held that the First Amendment guarantees a presumptive right of access to completed juror questionnaires.  In re Access to Jury Questionnaires, (Jan. 19,…

Tenth Circuit Holds That Detainees Enjoy a Privacy Interest in Booking Photos

Court Compared Mug Shots to Rap Sheets By Blake Lawrence In late February, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that booking photographs (“mug shots”) taken by the United States Marshals Service (“USMS”) are excluded from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”).  World Publishing Co. v. United States Dept. of Justice, 2012 WL…

Illinois Judge Snubs Tech Blog

Holds Reporter’s Privilege Inapplicable By Esther J. Seitz An Illinois trial court this month declined to apply the state’s reporter’s privilege law to a technology blog which published a sneak peak of a forthcoming smart phone.  Johns-Byrne Co. v. TechnoBuffalo LLC, et al., No. 2011 L 9161 (Ill. Cir. Jan. 13, 2012).  Although the website…

Court Upholds Congress’s Right to Restore Copyright Protection to Public Domain Works

Majority Rejects First Amendment and “Limited Time” Challenges By Kenneth P. Norwick During the 1990s the U.S. Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, two separate changes to the Copyright Act that were both challenged as unconstitutional and that both led to important Supreme Court decisions, the most recent in January 2012. See Golan v. Holder,…

Supreme Court Delivers Good News to TCPA Defendants

Resolves Circuit Split on Jurisdiction Issue By Jeff Davis The United States Supreme Court, resolving a split among the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, has unanimously ruled that federal question jurisdiction exists for private actions under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”) 47 U.S.C. § 227.  The TCPA generally prohibits use of automatic…

United States v. Jones: What the Court’s GPS Ruling Could Mean for Digital Privacy

By Bryan Clark If you do not work for a government agency, it might be easy to skip over this article.  After all, how could a Fourth Amendment search and seizure case have any impact on your media company or your media defense practice?  But if your company or your clients have tapped into the…

Honor, Lies & Videotape: Supreme Court Argument in U.S. v. Alvarez

By Mickey H. Osterreicher It was anticipated that United States v. Alvarez would be argued before a divided Supreme Court in the wake of much handwringing and prognostication. The case met or exceeded those expectations. Background By way of background the issue in Alvarez is whether a federal law (the Stolen Valor Act of 2006…

Justices Address Broadcast Indecency

Four Letter Words and Bare Buttocks at the Supreme Court By Jerianne Timmerman It’s a rare case when a former Solicitor General arguing before the Supreme Court directs the Justices’ attention to bare buttocks. But that is what occurred on January 10 when Seth Waxman pointed out the unclothed figures on the frieze along the…

Ninth Circuit Holds That DMCA Requires Specific Knowledge of Copyright Violation for Service Provider Liability

By David M. Silverman In an important decision on the issue of website operators’ copyright liability for user-generated content, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has refused to hold a site operator liable for copyright infringement based solely on its general knowledge that some of the third party content on its site…

UN: Philippine Criminal Libel Law Violates Freedom of Expression

By Harry Roque The Philippine Revised Penal Code’s provisions penalizing libel is “incompatible with Article 19, paragraph three of the International Covenant on Civil Political Rights,” or freedom of expression. This was the View expressed by the Human Rights Committee in a View adopted last October 26, 2011 during the 103rd session of the UN…

Dutch Movie Producer Wins Second Case Over Heineken Kidnapping Movie

Kidnappers’ Reputation Claims Denied By Tessel Peijnenburg & Jens van den Brink On December 1, 2011 the Amsterdam Court rendered its judgment in the second summary proceeding over the Dutch movie ‘De Heineken Ontvoering’ (The Heineken Kidnapping), starring Rutger Hauer.  This proceeding was instituted against producer IDTV by Frans Meijer and Jan Boellaard who were…

The Honourable Nathaniel Rothschild Receives a Birching

Daily Mail Wins Libel Bench Trial on Substantial Truth By David Hooper Earlier this month Mr Justice Tugendhat rejected financier Nat Rothschild’s claim for substantial libel damages against the Daily Mail for its article published in May 2011 headlined “Revealed: The astonishing story of the night Lord Mandelson was flown to Moscow by private jet…

Heavy Evidentiary Burden Imposed On Litigants Seeking Publication Bans and Sealing Orders

By Richard G. Dearden The Court of Appeal for Ontario, in a strong endorsement of freedom of the press and the open court principle, has imposed a heavy evidentiary burden on litigants who seek non-publication and sealing orders.  E.H. v. Russell Williams, 2012 ONCA 35 (Doherty, Armstrong, Hoy, JJA). The Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision…

ECHR Issues Important Press Privacy Decisions

Sides with Press in German Privacy Cases By David Hooper On February 7, 2012 the European Court of Human Rights issued two important press privacy decisions. Axel Springer v  Germany Application number: 39954/08; Von Hannover v Germany Application numbers 40660/08 and 60641/08.  Both cases are well worth reading, as unlike so many decisions of the…

“Intrusion Upon Seclusion”: New Privacy Tort Recognized in Canada

By Paul Schabas and Iris Fischer The Ontario Court of Appeal has recognized the existence of a tort of “intrusion upon seclusion,” in granting summary judgment in favour of a plaintiff whose privacy had been invaded by the actions of the defendant.  Jones v. Tsige, 2012 ONCA 32 (Jan. 18, 2012). This decision will likely…

Reynolds Given a Shot in the Arm By the UK Supreme Court

By David Hooper On March 21, 2012 a very important decision was given unanimously by the UK Supreme Court in Flood v Times Newspapers Limited [2012 UKSC11].  They reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal (2011 EWCA Civ 804) which had ruled that the Reynolds defence did not apply as details were given of…

MediaLawLetter Associate Edition 2012 Issue 1

INTERNATIONAL LIBEL & PRIVACY UK: Reynolds Given a Shot in the Arm by UK Supreme CourtDecision Bolsters Responsible Journalism DefenseFlood v Times Newspapers Limited Canada: “Intrusion Upon Seclusion”: New Privacy Tort Recognized in CanadaDecision Will Likely Lead to Claims Against MediaJones v. Tsige ECHR: European Court Issues Important Press Privacy DecisionsSides with Press in German…