10 Questions to a Media Lawyer: Lee Williams, CNN
Lee Rivera Williams is Vice President & Assistant General Counsel at CNN in Atlanta. 1. How did you get into media law? What was your first job? I took a pretty circuitous route to being a media lawyer. I attended Emory University law school on the advice of a family friend and U.S. District Court…
Missouri Restrictions on Media Alcohol Advertising Struck Down
By Mark Sableman A commercial speech ruling in Missouri means that Missouri consumers can learn about sales and discounts on beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages — and Missouri retailers can get out the word about their sales and discounts — through media advertising. The court held unconstitutional two state regulations, and one statute, all…
Cliff’s Law: Judge Rules That BBC Should Not Have Filmed the Search of Cliff Richard’s Apartment
By David Hooper On 18 July 2018 Mr Justice Mann of the High Court of England & Wales awarded damages of £190,000 on the grounds of misuse of personal information to Sir Cliff Richard, the 77-year old crooner and all round national treasure against the BBC for its coverage of a police search of his…
Brammer v. Violent Hues Productions, LLC: Long Live the Right-Click License?
By Scott J. Sholder On June 11, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia threw the copyright bar a curveball, issuing what many on both sides of the proverbial “v” consider a bizarre and potentially troubling ruling on fair use. The opinion in Brammer v. Violent Hues Productions, LLC (which has…
Swing and a Miss for Copyright Claim Against The Art of Fielding
By Elizabeth McNamara and Adam Lazier A federal judge in New York has dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the author of the bestselling novel The Art of Fielding, finding there to be no substantial similarity between that book and Bucky’s 9th, an unpublished novel written by the plaintiff. The decision is an important reminder…
Update on State Legislation Affecting the Media
From the MLRC State Legislative Committee One of the primary functions of the Media Law Resource Center is to serve as a resource for media lawyers in terms of dealing with common problems. Dealing with case law issues is just one facet of that role. Members of the MLRC’s State Legislative Committee realize how quickly…
Maine To Follow Federal PACER Model for Access to State Court Records Online
Rejects “Practical Obscurity” By Sigmund Schutz, Benjamin Piper, and Katie Graichen The Maine Judicial Branch received a $15 million appropriation to create a state-of-the-art electronic case management system capable of providing 24/7 public access over the internet to all public court records in Maine—a federal PACER system for Maine state courts. But whether to allow…
Pennsylvania Appeals Court Unseals Records in Prosecution of Penn State Officials
By Dana Green and Michael Berry A Pennsylvania appeals court delivered a significant victory to The Associated Press in its efforts to challenge the extensive sealing of court records related to the scandal surrounding Pennsylvania State University and Jerry Sandusky, a prominent football coach at the university. Commonwealth v. Spanier, No. 637 MDA 2017, 2018…
D.C. Circuit Prescribes a “Double Dose of Deference” for Reviewing Decisions on FOIA Attorney’s Fees
By Max Mishkin On July 9, 2018, a divided D.C. Circuit panel issued the latest ruling in a fifteen-year odyssey of FOIA litigation, affirming the district court’s decision not to award attorney’s fees to a journalist who sought records from the CIA related to the assassination of President Kennedy. Morley v. CIA (Morley XI), 2018…
Texas Appeals Court Affirms Dismissal of Libel Case over Dallas Morning News’ Reporting on Arson Murder of Lawyer
Anti-SLAPP dismissal was properly granted to A.H. Belo Corporation in a libel suit over articles published in The Dallas Morning News on the police investigation of the arson murder of a Dallas lawyer, according to a ruling by the Texas 5th District Court of Appeals. Vodicka v. A.H. Belo Corporation et al., No. 05-17-00728-cv, 2018…
Mexican Journalist Seeking Asylum Finally Free From Detention
By Chuck Tobin, Steven D. Zansberg and Mark Flores Under pressure from a federal judge to rebut well-grounded charges that it jailed the Mexican journalist for speaking out against the Trump Administration’s policies, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto from detention. He and his son Oscar, also released, continue their fight…
Once More Unto The Breach: An Update On The Reporters’ Shield Bill
By Mara Gassmann Amidst cries of fake news, violence against journalists, and stripping reporters of press credentials and the ability to ask questions, the media bar knows well that this is a uniquely challenging time for our clients. Yet one glimmer of hope may be a Reporters’ Shield Bill recently reintroduced in the U.S. House…
New York Limits Reporters’ Right to Challenge Subpoenas
By David McCraw It’s a question every news organization faces at some time: how to quickly get in front of an appeals court when a trial judge has denied a reporter’s motion to quash a subpoena. The answer for New York news organizations is no longer clear in the wake of a recent decision by…
From the Executive Director’s Desk: MLRC Institute Partners with Knight to Train Journalists in Legal Fundamentals
And a Fond Farewell to a Colleague As readers of this column are aware, a few years ago the MLRC Institute, the MLRC’s charitable c(3) sister entity, changed its mission entirely: rather than run a Speakers’ Bureau where we would match groups looking for First Amendment speakers with our member lawyers, we initiated a program…
MediaLawLetter July 2018
Download Publication MLRC From the Executive Director’s Desk: MLRC Institute Partners with Knight to Train Journalists in Legal FundamentalsAnd a Fond Farewell to a Colleague Ten Questions to a Media Lawyer: Lee Williams, CNN REPORTER’S PRIVILEGE New York Limits Reporters’ Right to Challenge Subpoenas Once More Unto The Breach: An Update On The Reporters’ Shield…