The Monthly Daily: A Roundup of Media Law Developments
By Jeff Hermes As those of you who receive the MediaLawDaily might have noticed, we’ve been trying out some new ideas with respect to our daily newsletter. Knowing that not all of our very busy members have time to review all of the articles we hunt down every day, we’ve launched a new Saturday roundup…
Middle District of Florida Unseals Competency Evaluation Report of Man Accused of Terrorism
By Timothy J. Conner On January 25 the United States Court for the Middle District of Florida unsealed roughly 90 percent of a competency evaluation report of a man accused of a terror plot. Federal authorities have accused 20 year old Joshua Ryne Goldberg of Orange Park, Florida, of conspiring to have a pressure cooker…
Wait, the FCC Regulates Political Speech?
From the Next Gen Committee By Joshua N. Pila Unless you have consumed no media over the past few months (which would be odd considering the readers of this newsletter are “media” lawyers), you are well aware that the political advertising season has begun. What may come as a surprise (or a surprising reminder), however,…
Reporter’s Privilege Protects Newsgathering Information in Promotional Segment from Discovery
By Adrianna C. Rodriguez A Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida-Jacksonville Division quashed subpoenas duces tecum to the News Director and Programming Coordinator of Gray Television Group, Inc., station WCTV-TV in Tallahassee, Florida, that sought production of a promotional segment and testimony about where and how many times…
Libel Suit Over Republication of Tweet Survives Motion to Dismiss
Court Declines to Apply “Own Words” Defense Fans of hip hop music may know the back story to this defamation case, a 2012 nightclub brawl between singers Chris Brown and Drake and their camps allegedly over their romantic rivalry for pop star Rihanna. Media law practitioners got a fast education on the incident, courtesy of…
Judge: Defamation Claim Requires Mulling Islamic Law, Must be Dismissed
By Sarah Fehm Stewart A state trial court judge dismissed an action by a Saudi Arabian resident against her half-sister in New Jersey that alleged a pattern of social media defamation because defendant’s allegation that plaintiff engaged in sexual relations with many men would require the court and a jury to engage in interpretation of…
Defamation Suit Against Israeli Investigative Journalist Dismissed
Court Finds Lack of Personal Jurisdiction A defamation lawsuit by New York plaintiffs against an Israeli investigative journalist and news magazine program was recently dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction. Mosdot Shuva Israel v. Dayan-Orbach, No. 156173/2014 (N.Y. Sup. Dec. 31, 2015). A New York property developer and affiliated religious charity sued Ilana Dayan, a…
Speech-Based Claims Against Australian Media Defendants Dismissed
New York Court Finds Lack of Personal Jurisdiction By Katherine M. Bolger & Matthew L. Schafer In January, Justice Jennifer Schecter of New York Supreme Court dismissed for a lack of personal jurisdiction a myriad of speech-based claims brought against two Australian-based reporters and their employers. Den Hollander v. Shepherd. The case reaffirmed that “there…
11th Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Rosa Parks Institute Right of Publicity Claim
Books, Movie and Plaque Were Privileged By Peter M. Routhier The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a right of publicity claim brought against Target Corporation by the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development v. Target Corporation, No….
Expert Testimony on Journalism Standards Allowed in Actual Malice Case
By Wallace Lightsey The South Carolina Court of Appeals recently affirmed a $650,000 libel verdict for the plaintiff against Sun Publishing Co., publisher of the Myrtle Beach-based The Sun News, and its reporter David Wren. Kelley v. Wren (Jan. 13, 2016). In doing so, the appellate court casually, almost dismissively, affirmed the trial court’s admission…
Texas Court of Appeal Reinstates Libel by Implication Suit vs. Dallas Morning News
Column Could Imply Plaintiffs Were Deceitful in Writing Son’s Obituary By Jim Hemphill “It’s not a lie if you believe it.” – George Costanza* “Libel by implication” and “good faith belief” play significant roles in a recent Texas intermediate appellate court decision that reversed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment against The Dallas Morning…
First Amendment Issues May Be Thornier Than They Seem
From the Executive Director’s Desk There are many reasons why we are fortunate to be media lawyers. We are on the “right” side of most issues, protecting civil rights and the ability of our fellow citizens to be informed; we have interesting and smart journalists as clients; we work on highly visible cases which, among…
MediaLawLetter January 2016
Download Publication MLRC From the Executive Director’s DeskFirst Amendment Issues May Be Thornier Than They Seem The Monthly DailyA Roundup of Media Law Developments from the MediaLawDaily LIBEL & PRIVACY Texas Court of Appeal Reinstates Libel by Implication Suit vs. Dallas Morning NewsColumn Could Imply Plaintiffs Were Deceitful in Writing Son’s ObituaryTatum v. Dallas Morning…