MediaLawLetter January 2025
Texas Free-Speech Advocates Gear Up for Another Anti-SLAPP Fight; Fox News SLAPPs Defamation Suit, Wins Attorney Fees; Court Dismisses Implied Defamation Claims Brought by Former NY Philharmonic Musician; Ninth Circuit Opens Up Possibility of Copyright Protection for Kinetic Sculpture; and more.
Truth, Information Quality, and the Increasingly Complex Work of the MLRC
Jeff HermesThe value of truth is not always as useful a signpost as it once was when thinking about the First Amendment.
In Texas, Free-Speech Advocates Gear Up for Another Anti-SLAPP Fight
Laura Prather and Reid PillifantWith big money and political influence still pushing SB 336, free speech advocates expect another bitter fight that could go the full 140 days.
Ohio Enacts Anti-SLAPP Law
Kevin T. ShookFor years, the absence of an Anti-SLAPP law left Ohio news outlets vulnerable to lawsuits bankrolled by powerful interests seeking to suppress truthful reporting. The state's new law aims to level the playing field.
Fox News SLAPPs Defamation Suit, Wins Attorney Fees in District Court
Matt KristoffersenA former Hunter Biden business partner faced a double loss in the Southern District of New York late last year. Anthony Bobulinski’s $30 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News’s Jessica Tarlov, filed after the co-host of “The Five” said that a Trump Super PAC paid his legal fees, couldn’t survive a motion to dismiss under New York’s Anti-SLAPP statute, District Judge J. Paul Oetken ruled.
Court Dismisses Implied Defamation Claims Brought by Former Principal in New York Philharmonic
Kate Bolger and Mary GoetzThe opinion from the Southern District of New York found that neither a longform article nor statements made by its author on a podcast intended to imply defamatory statements about the plaintiff.
Defamation Lawsuit against Baby Reindeer Survives Motion to Dismiss
Rachel OhThe court held that plaintiff, Scottish law graduate Fiona Harvey, sufficiently pled that the series was “of and concerning” her and published with actual malice. Key to the court’s ruling was an opening title card stating “this is a true story” which it found outweighed a disclaimer at the end of each episode that the series was fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Former Northwestern Baseball Coach’s Defamation Claim Dismissed with Prejudice
Julia DacyThe Tribune argued that the Illinois innocent construction rule required dismissal of all claims because the statements describing Foster’s coaching style as tough or demanding did not necessarily call into question his integrity or ability to do his job.
New Jersey Supreme Court Ensures Body-Worn Camera Video Access
CJ GriffinThe first New Jersey Supreme Court decision interpreting the state’s new Body-Worn Camera Law scales back prior case law that limited access to criminal investigation records and provides clarity regarding some of the law’s provisions.
Ninth Circuit Reverses Copyright Lawsuit Against Aritzia, Opening Up Possibility of Copyright Protection for Kinetic Sculpture
Rachel OhThe Ninth Circuit noted that “copyrightability of kinetic and manipulable sculptures” is “an area of copyright law that has not yet received much attention” and “may be better informed with a more complete factual record.”