What’s Next(Gen)? MLRC Introduces New Committee
By Drew Shenkman, Rachel Strom, and Christine Walz Over the summer, the MLRC formed the Next Generation Committee (a/k/a the “Next Gen” committee), a new committee targeted to those within the first ten years of practice in media law. The Next Gen Committee’s primary goal is to extend MLRC’s reach to the younger generation of…
11th Circuit Affirms Dismissal of “Million Dollar Challenge” Lawsuit
Lawyer’s Statement in News Interview Did Not Create Unilateral Contract Big talkers can rest easy. Last December, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that hyperbolic speech in a news interview did not create a unilateral contract. Kolodziej v. Mason, No. 14-10644, 2014 WL 7180962 (11th Cir. Dec. 18, 2014). Defendant’s “million dollar challenge” could not reasonably be…
Reporter’s Source can Remain Anonymous in Double Murder Trial
By Kristen C. Rodriguez The Third District Appellate Court of Illinois recently reversed a trial court decision requiring Patch.com reporter Joseph Hosey to reveal the identity of his confidential sources. People of the State of Illinois v. McKee, 2014 IL App (3d) 130696. The appellate decision arose from a series of articles Hosey authored concerning…
DOJ Releases New Guidelines on Subpoenas to News Media
Summary of Changes By Gregg Leslie The Department of Justice released modified guidelines regarding subpoenas to members of the news media in February 2014. There were several aspects of those guidelines that media organizations felt were unclear, incomplete, or even harmful to the interests they were meant to protect. The News Media Dialog Group, proposed…
Definitions of the Media: Three Recent Data Points
By Jeff Hermes The debate continues as to the scope of media that should be protected by legislative or regulatory measures intended to protect newsgathering and reporting. A pair of brief court rulings from the last quarter of 2014 applied statutory press protections to social media platforms and their users. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice…
Virginia Court Upholds Newspapers’ Editorial Discretion
Dismisses Claims for Not Reporting Plaintiff’s Lawsuits By Damon E. Dunn and Cecilia M. Suh A federal district court in Virginia dismissed claims against eleven newspapers across the country over their failure to report plaintiff’s administrative proceedings and civil actions against the federal government. Melvin v. U.S.A. Today, et al., No. 3:14-cv-00439-JRS (E.D.Va. Jan. 20,…
Court Compels Production of Photos Posted on “Private” Facebook Page
“Minimal” Privacy Interest Regardless of Settings By Robert L. Rogers, III A Florida appellate court has ordered a plaintiff to produce photographs from her “private” Facebook page in an important decision holding that Facebook users’ privacy interests in the content they post—regardless of the account settings they choose—are “minimal, if any.” Nucci v. Target Corp.,…
Court Dismisses Libel Action Against Radio Station
Limited Purpose Public Figure Failed To Allege Sufficient Facts of Actual Malice The Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland held that a Baltimore woman who had suffered personal injuries in a scuffle with a former Washington Redskins football player could not state a claim for defamation or false light invasion of privacy against radio station…
No Personal Jurisdiction in Wisconsin Over Sydney Morning Herald
By Dustin B. Brown A Milwaukee trial judge dismissed a defamation action against a group of Australian media companies for lack of personal jurisdiction, concluding that the newspaper’s website created insufficient contacts with Wisconsin to satisfy the due process clause. Salfinger v. Fairfax Media Limited, No. 13cv010081 (Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Dec. 3, 2014). The…
Who Is That Masked Plaintiff? Lessons Learned From Defending a Claim Brought By an Internet Troll
By James E. Stewart and Leonard M. Niehoff Assume the following. A denizen of the Internet netherworld fancies himself a virtual Lone Ranger. He dons a mask for purposes of his YouTube and blog posts, takes malicious swipes at various individuals and businesses, and harasses everyone with seeming impunity. Your client’s consumer-interest reporter outs him…
Pennsylvania Court Dismisses Former Housing Authority Executive Director’s Appeal in Originally 246-Article Case
By Amy Ginensky, Eli Segal, and Kaitlin Gurney On January 12, 2015, the Pennsylvania Superior Court dismissed former Philadelphia Housing Authority (“PHA”) Executive Director Carl Greene’s appeal from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in his lawsuit based on nearly a year of coverage by The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. The trial…
Libel Suit Against Talk Show Host Glenn Beck Survives Motion to Dismiss
Man Questioned About Boston Bombing Not a Public Figure A Saudi Arabian student accused of being complicit in the Boston Marathon bombing is a private figure plaintiff who stated a claim against radio and television talk show host Glenn Beck and his shows’ distributors for accusing him of being complicit in the attack. Alharbi v….
Lawyer Acquitted of Sexual Assault Sues Above the Law and Gawker Over Trial Coverage
Case Against Gawker and Most Claims Against Above The Law Dismissed By Steven P. Mandell and Catherine L. Gibbons Meanith Huon, an Illinois attorney, found himself on the other side of the defense table in 2008, when he was charged with criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual abuse, and unlawful restraint. The charges were based on…
Jury Awards $4.5 Million to Vietnamese Newspaper Accused of Having “Communist” Ties
In a rare media vs. media case, an Orange County, California jury awarded $3 million in compensatory damages, and $1.5 million in punitive damages, to a Vietnamese-language newspaper, the Nguoi Viet Daily News, which had sued a competitor, Saigon Nho, for libel for publishing an article implying that plaintiff and a member of its staff…
From the Executive Director’s Desk
By George Freeman Last month I had planned a rather cheerful Christmas column, but events took hold: my column focused, instead, on the Sony hacking incident and its attempts to keep publishers from writing about the company’s hacked emails. This month I thought I would pen an optimistic New Year’s column, but again events trumped…
MediaLawLetter January 2015
Download Publication MLRC From the Executive Director’s DeskBy George Freeman What’s Next(Gen)? MLRC Introduces New Committee LIBEL & PRIVACY Cal. Super.: Jury Awards $4.5 Million to Vietnamese Newspaper Accused of Having “Communist” TiesHoang v. Saigon Nho Newspapers N.D. Ill.: Lawyer Acquitted of Sexual Assault Sues Above the Law and Gawker Over Trial CoverageCase Against Gawker…