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July 2014

MediaLawLetter Associate Edition 2014 Issue 2

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MediaLawLetter Associate Edition 2014 Issue 2

 Download Publication INTERNET European Court of Justice Recognizes “Right to Be Forgotten”Decision That Search Engines Must Delink Causes Huge ControversyGoogle v. Spain S.D.N.Y.: First Amendment Protects Search Engine ResultsPlainitffs Sued Chinese Search Engine for Not Linking to Pro-Democracy SitesZhang v. Baidu.com Inc. 6th Cir.: Section 230 Protects Dirty.com WebsiteJury Verdict for ex-Cheerleader VacatedJones v. Dirty…

MLRC Partners with Berkeley for Legal Frontiers in Digital Media Conference

On May 15-16, 2014, MLRC held its Seventh Annual Legal Frontiers in Digital Media Conference in Silicon Valley. This year MLRC partnered with the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology and convened at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. We gratefully acknowledge our Conference co-chairs Rosemarie Ring, Munger Tolles & Olson; and Regina Thomas,…

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Sidebar: Publishing Drone Video That Falls from the Skies

By Charles D. Tobin and Christine N. Walz It’s clear that the FAA currently considers it unlawful for a newsroom to strap a camera onto a drone, take images, and publish them.  Whether the ban will survive the current litigation, or be replaced by a properly promulgated set of regulations, remains to be seen.  Also…

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News Media Coalition Weighs in to Support Drone Photographer in NTSB Litigation

By Charles D. Tobin and Christine N. Walz A coalition of news organizations, arguing that the use of unmanned aerial systems “UAS” or “drones”) for newsgathering should not constitute a “business purpose” under federal regulation, is supporting a drone photographer’s administrative appeal of a $10,000 fine. This is the first organized effort by a group…

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Dutch Broadcaster Wins Libel Case Brought by Ryanair

Questions About Flight Safety Not Defamatory By Tessel Peijnenburg and Jens van den Brink In April, a court in Amsterdam dismissed a libel suit brought by Irish budget airline Ryanair against Dutch broadcaster KRO over news reports that raised air safety issues about the carrier. Ryanair Ltd., v. Katholieke Radio Omroep, (April 16, 2014). At…

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Damage Award in Australian Restaurant Review Libel Case on Appeal

Long-running Coco Roco Restaurant Review Case Continues By Leanne Norman Who would ever have thought that a defamation action over a restaurant review could give rise to such a plethora of hearings, appeals, rehearings, fresh appeals, and still be unresolved nearly 11 years after publication? See, e.g., Gacic v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd (No…

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European Court of Justice Confirms That Internet Browsing Is Not a Copyright Violation

Latest Decision in UK Meltwater Dispute By Timothy Pinto The Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) has held that internet browsing falls within the temporary copies exception under Article 5 of EU Directive 2001/29. The on-screen and cached copies made by a user viewing websites are temporary, transient or incidental and constitute an…

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Court Holds That First Amendment Protects Use of Couple’s Engagement Photo in Mailers

But Plaintiffs Stated Copyright Infringement Claim The Colorado federal district court recently held that the First Amendment bars a misappropriation of name or likeness claim for the use of a gay couple’s engagement photo in political mailers criticizing candidates for their pro-gay rights positions. Hill, et al v. Public Advocate of the United States, No….

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Universities Do Not Violate Copyright By Scanning Their Library’s Books

By Judith A. Endejan The Second Circuit this month blessed the wholesale electronic copying of entire books in university collections – but only for three limited uses. Authors Guild, Inc. et al. v. HathiTrust, et al., (June 10, 2014) (Walker, Cabranes, Parker, JJ.). The Court held that the HathiTrust Digital Library’s (“HDL”) use of copyrighted…

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Supreme Court Rules Aereo Violates Public Performance Right

By Jim Rosenfeld, Lance Koonce and Eric Feder In a 6-3 decision written by Justice Breyer, the Supreme Court ruled that Aereo’s internet television service infringes broadcasters’ exclusive rights to publicly perform their works. American Broadcasting Cos., Inc. et al. v. Aereo Inc., No. 13-461 (U.S. June 25, 2014). Despite the potentially broad ramifications of…

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D.C. Circuit Issues Section 230 Decision

By John C. Greiner All in all, June has been a good month for the CDA. Earlier this month, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a complaint against Facebook, finding that the CDA barred suit. Klayman v. Zuckerberg and Facebook, Inc., No. 13-7017 (D.C. Cir. June 2014) (Tatel, Brown, Millett, JJ.). Larry Klayman was…

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Section 230 Protects Dirty.com Website

Jury Verdict for ex-Cheerleader Vacated By John C. Greiner In what for legal circles is lightning fast time, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the jury verdict in Sarah Jones’ case against thedirty.com. Jones v. Dirty World Entertainment Recordings LLC, No. 13-5946. The case was argued on May 1, and decided on June 16….

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First Amendment Protects Search Engine Results

By Carey R. Ramos and Jacob J. Waldman In a scholarly and closely reasoned opinion issued in Zhang v. Baidu.com Inc., 2014 WL 1282730 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 28, 2014), Judge Jesse M. Furman of the SDNY forcefully declared that the First Amendment shields an Internet search engine from an action challenging its “editorial judgments about which…

European Court of Justice Recognizes “Right to Be Forgotten”

Decision That Search Engine Must Delink Causes Huge Controversy By Gavin Millar QC The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in Luxembourg decided that a Spaniard could force Goggle to remove two old newspaper articles from its search index against his name. Google v Spain (May 3, 2014). Everyone knows that plaintiff asserted…

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