Log in to access all content
Not a member yet?
Join MLRC today!
We provide you with essential tools to advance First Amendment and media rights, and a supportive community in which to discuss emerging legal issues and the future of communication.
Not a member yet?
We provide you with essential tools to advance First Amendment and media rights, and a supportive community in which to discuss emerging legal issues and the future of communication.
Download Publication SUPREME COURT U.S.: Citizens United: Campaign Cataclysm or Politics as Usual?1st Amendment Bars Categorical Distinctions Based on Corporate IdentityCitizens United v. FEC U.S.: Supreme Court Addresses Right of Access to Voir DireCourts Must Independently Consider Alternatives to Closing Court ProceedingsPresley v. Georgia U.S.: Court To Hear First Amendment Challenge to State Public Records…
This is the third article published in the Ethics Corner discussing Model Rule 1.18, “Duties to a Prospective Client.” The first article, “ABA Model Rule 1.18: Lawyering and the “Prospective Client,” written by the author, appeared in the March 2007 MediaLawLetter. It addressed such issues as who is a prospective client, the duty of confidentiality…
Late last year the English Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in the case of Lucasfilm Limited v Ainsworth [2009] EWCA Civ 1328, better known as the “Star Wars” or “Stormtrooper helmet” case. This article will concentrate on the parts of the judgment that addressed whether the English Courts have jurisdiction to enforce US…
On December 18, 2009, Google, Inc. and Google France were ordered to pay damages of 300,000 € (approx. $419,000 U.S.) for digitizing and making available on the Internet certain French books as part of its Google Books project. The French publisher, Editions la Martinière, initiated an action before the Paris Civil Court seeking an order…
On 14 January 2010 Lord Justice Jackson, an English Court of Appeal Judge, produced his final report on costs in civil litigation, He had been appointed in 2008 by Lord Neuberger, the Master of the Rolls (the senior judge in the Court of Appeal) to investigate the high cost of civil litigation in the UK. …
In a decision which has already chilled newsgathering activities in the State of Kansas, the Hon. Daniel L. Love, District Court Judge for the 16th Judicial District centered in Ford County, Kansas, held that the government can overcome the constitutional reporter’s privilege whenever the information the government seeks is “relevant” to a criminal investigation –…
Illinois courts in two recent high profile criminal cases have taken vastly different approaches in dealing with pretrial publicity. The First District Appellate Court affirmed Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan’s closing of a series of pretrial evidentiary hearings in celebrity singer R. Kelly’s child pornography case. People v. R. Kelly, No. 1-08-1728, 2009 WL…
A Florida Appellate Court has ruled that a reporter may use a laptop to blog live from the courtroom during a high profile criminal trial, overturning a trial court’s order. In a ruling issued on an emergency basis the Court quashed the order of the trial court which had prohibited the reporter from using a…
An award of over $20 million against a chartered jet company owner who secretly videotaped Michael Jackson and his criminal defense lawyers in-flight was overturned by a California Court of Appeal earlier this month. Geragos v. Borer, No. B208827 (Cal. App. Jan. 11, 2010) (Kitching, Crosky, Aldrich, JJ.). The court affirmed liability for the illegal…
A federal district court in West Virginia ruled that libel-by-implication claims will be held to a rigorous standard. Tomblin v. WCHS-TV8, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4769 (S.D. W. Va. Jan. 21, 2010). Defamation claims premised on true statements must be dismissed unless evidence indicates that a defendant intended or endorsed the claimed implication. Background The…
Another Pennsylvania court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against a newspaper on actual malice grounds, showing that the filing of dispositive motions on those grounds remains a viable option despite a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that had language appearing to make such motions much harder to win. The lawsuit was based on a satire…
In a victory for consumers and free speech, a divided Fourth Circuit panel affirmed a decision by the Eastern District of Virginia granting defendant’s motion to dismiss in Nemet Chevrolet, Ltd v. Consumeraffairs.com, Inc, 2009 WL 5126224 (4th Cir. 2009) (King, Agee, Jones, JJ.). The Fourth Circuit held that defendant, a consumer website that encourages…
A California appellate court this month affirmed summary judgment in a libel case against a local newspaper, finding insufficient evidence of actual malice. Portner v. Sullivan, No. A120387, 2010 WL 109518 (Cal. App. 1st Dist. Jan. 13, 2010) (Margulies, Marchiano, Banke, JJ.). The court found that plaintiff’s evidence of alleged bias on the part of…
In a case of first impression, a New Jersey appellate court recently held that the defense of truth is available to a defendant who publishes a statement relating to a plaintiff’s criminal conviction, even if the conviction had been expunged at the time of the statement. G.D. v. Kenny et al., No. 3005-08 (N.J. App….
A small weekly Texas newspaper, the West Fort Bend Star (“Star”), its publisher Bev Carter, and reporter LeaAnne Klentzman, have fought heroically for nearly seven years to defend against a libel suit brought by Wade Brady, the son of Chief Deputy Craig Brady of the Fort Bend County, Texas Sheriff’s Department. After the case was…
On January 7, 2010, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision holding that the fair report privilege applies to fair and accurate reports of confidential government actions and proceedings, even if the reports are based on information provided by confidential sources. Howell v. Enterprise Publishing Company, LLC, 455 Mass. 641 (2010). As the Court…
MLRC and Southwestern Law School held their 7th Annual Entertainment and Media Law Conference in Los Angeles, California, earlier this month. The conference’s three panels discussed developments in digital entertainment; content regulation by the FCC, FTC, and Congress; and recent high-profile crises that have impacted studios, networks and production companies. MLRC thanks the Planning Committee:…
By a 5-4 vote, on January 13, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited video coverage to five overflow federal courtrooms of proceedings in a federal non-jury civil trial taking place in San Francisco involving a federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage. Hollingsworth v. Perry, 558 U.S. __ (Jan. 13, 2010)….
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted review in Doe v. Reed, a case involving the potential disclosure of the identity of individuals who petitioned to place an anti-domestic partnership referendum before Washington state voters last year. The case challenges the constitutionality of Washington’s Public Records Act, and poses a threat to public disclosure laws everywhere. …
In a per curiam decision handed down in January, the Supreme Court ruled that trial courts have an obligation to consider, sua sponte, alternatives prior to closing a court proceeding, if the none of the parties propose alternatives. Presley v. Georgia, 558 U.S. __ (Jan. 19, 2010). The Court’s ruling affirmed that voir dire proceedings…
On January 21, the Supreme Court announced its long-awaited decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205. The closely-divided Court overruled its precedent in two cases and overturned federal law restricting the political speech of, and spending on campaign advertising by, corporations and labor unions. As a result, corporations and unions may now…