2014 MLRC/Southwestern Law School 11th Annual Media and Entertainment Law Conference
On January 16, 2014, MLRC members and friends gathered in Los Angeles, California at the Los Angeles Times Building for the eleventh annual MLRC/Southwestern Law School Biederman Institute Conference on Media and Entertainment Law Issues. The Conference included sessions on Fair Use, Right of Publicity, and legal issues surrounding Apps. Additional materials from conference panels…
MLRC Miami Conference Explores Challenges and Opportunities in Cross-Border Publishing
Legal Issues Concerning Hispanic and Latin American Media On March 10, approximately 70 lawyers convened at the University of Miami School of Communication for MLRC’s second annual conference on Legal Issues of Concern for Hispanic and Latin American Media. The Conference was a unique opportunity for lawyers from North and South America to meet and…
DC Circuit Strikes Down FCC’s Open Internet Rules
But the FCC Will Live to Fight Another Day By Judith Endejan On January 14, and to much attention, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the FCC’s so-called Net Neutrality rules. Verizon v. FCC, (D.C. Cir. Jan. 14, 2014) (Tatel, Rogers, Silberman, JJ.). The brouhaha over the decision striking down the FCC’s open…
Seventh Circuit Reinstates Trademark and Publicity Claims Over Sports Illustrated Page
Supermarket’s Page Congratulating Michael Jordan Ruled Commercial Speech The Seventh Circuit this month held that a magazine page designed by a Chicago-area supermarket to commemorate Michael Jordan’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame was commercial speech and potentially actionable. Jordan v. Jewel Food Stores, Inc., No. 12-1992 (7th Cir. Feb. 19, 2014) (Flaum, Skyes,…
Second Circuit Protects News Organizations That Report on Copyrightable Material
Publication of Analyst Call a Fair Use By William M. Ried and Thomas H. Golden In its recent decision upholding Bloomberg News’s right to publish the contents of an analyst call held by a publicly-traded company, the Second Circuit made clear that newsmakers will have a hard time precluding the media from reporting on newsworthy…
Ninth Circuit Orders Take-Down of “Innocence of Muslims” Video in Novel and Controversial Application of Copyright Law
By Thomas J. Williams and Vincent P. Circelli Reminding one of the expression that bad facts can make, at least in the eyes of many, bad law, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Google to remove from YouTube all or part of a film entitled “Innocence of Muslims” based on an actress’ claim that…
European Court of Justice Rules on Hyperlinks and Copyright Liability
How Does Decision Compare to US and Canadian Approaches? By Paul Joseph and Adam Cusworth The European Court of Justice this month issued an important decision on copyright liability for hyperlinking to online content. See Svensson v. Retriever Sverige AB (Feb. 13, 2014). Background Svensson and a number of other journalists wrote press articles that…
Wall Street Journal Wins UK Access Motion
Phone-hacking Prosecutors Must Supply Exhibits, No Strings Attached By Jason P. Conti and Jacob P. Goldstein In October 2013, as the criminal phone-hacking trial commenced in London, the Crown Prosecution Service refused to provide “overseas media outlets” with copies of trial exhibits and other materials unless they signed an agreement that the materials are “only…
The Development of Shield Laws in Australia and the Growing Quest for Journalists’ Sources
Peter Bartlett and Amanda Jolson The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance has called for uniform national shield laws. Christopher Warren, the Federal Secretary of the Alliance correctly referred to Australia’s shield laws as “patchy and disparate.” According to Chris “it is appalling journalists are served with a subpoena that essentially would require them to breach…
Singapore Court of Appeal Rejects Request For Pre-Action Disclosure of Journalist’s Sources
Court Took Note of Public Interest in Exposing Corruption By George Hwang and Intan Krishanty Wirayadi The Singapore Court of Appeal in James Dorsey v World Sports Group [2014] SGCA 4, has on 14 January 2014 handed down a decision on pre-action 3rd party interrogatories which has wide implications on the disclosure of journalists’ sources….
MLRC Joins Coalition Seeking Grand Chamber Review in Delfi v. Estonia
ECHR Held News Portal Could Be Liable for User Comments This month, 69 media organizations, internet companies, human rights groups and academic institutions asked the President of the European Court of Human Rights to support Grand Chamber review of the judgment in Delfi v. Estonia (Application No. 64569/09), holding that an Estonian news portal could…
Researcher-Participant Privilege Is Established in Canada
Court Recognizes Need to Protect Promises of Confidentiality in Academic Research By Peter Jacobsen and Tae Mee Park A recent landmark decision from a Canadian court has, for the first time, recognized a confidentiality privilege between researchers and participants. Parent c. R., 2014 QCCS 132 (CanLII). The decision, from the Quebec Superior Court, is seen…
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…
MediaLawLetter Associate Edition 2014 Issue 1
Download Publication Libel & Privacy UK: Across the Pond: UK Media Law DevelopmentsNo Special Constitutional Rights for Journalists; Prince Charles’ Diary and MoreMiranda v Secretary of State for Home Department; R (Evans) v Attorney General; R (BSkyB) v Commissioner of Police Privy Council: Journalist’s Conviction for ‘Scandalising the Court’ Overturned by Privy CouncilOffense Can No…