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April 2015

MediaLawLetter March 2015

PUBLICATION:

in this issue

Across the Pond: Updates on UK Media Law

Anonymity, Whistleblowing, Prince Charles and the Black Spider Memos and More By David Hopper Anonymity Set AsideYNB –v- TNO [2015] EWHC 826 One is beginning to see the approach of the newly-appointed media specialist judge Mr Justice Warby. Early indications are that he is striking a fair balance between libel and privacy claimants and freedom…

Online Newspaper Defies Subpoena for Videos of Local Board Meeting

Lack of Knowledge at Local Level on Shield Law and First Amendment Basics By Raymond M. Baldino and Joshua M. Lurie New Jersey’s Shield Law along with the freedom of press was recently tested in late February in a case involving a hyperlocal online newspaper New Brunswick Today. The newspaper defied a subpoena issued by…

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Fourth Circuit Vacates Unconstitutional Sealing and Gag Orders in United States v. Blankenship

By Matthew L. Schafer Last month, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a writ of mandamus vacating as unconstitutional a district court order sealing nearly all public filings in the high-profile criminal trial of Don Blankenship, a former coal executive, and gagging nearly everyone with information about the circumstances surrounding that trial. The per…

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No Prior Restraint or Criminal Contempt When Terrorism Suspect Gives Telephone Interview From Jail

Defendant and Lawyer Disagree on Wisdom of Interview By Susan Grogan Faller and Susan Jahangiri The Court’s Order begins with the sentence, “At approximately 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, Defendant [Christopher Lee Cornell a/k/a Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah, through one of his Public Defenders], filed a motion asking the Court to issue an order to…

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The Associated Press Sues U.S. Department Of State

On March 11, 2015, The Associated Press (“AP”) filed an action under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) against the U.S. Department of State, seeking the release of records documenting the official actions of the State Department, including those of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other high-ranking State Department officials, in connection…

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Doctor Disciplinary Hearing May be Opened to Cameras

Case May Expand Media Access to Quasi-Judicial Proceedings By Bernie Rhodes, Emily Caron and Cynthia Counts The presence of video cameras in Georgia courtrooms has been a regular part of news reporting for decades, but now that kind of transparency – for the first time in Georgia – may be recognized by other quasi-judicial proceedings,…

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Fourth Circuit Affirms Order Setting Aside Default Judgment Against Yelp

And Dismisses Libel Complaint Under Section 230 of the CDA By Laura R. Handman and Micah J. Ratner On March 18, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court’s order setting aside a $200,000 default judgment and dismissing a libel action against Yelp Inc. (“Yelp”) arising out of a critical…

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2nd Circuit Issues Opinion Construing Immunity Provisions of CDA

Affirms Dismissal of Defamation Action By Robert L. Rogers, III In its first opinion construing immunity provisions of the Communications Decency Act (the “CDA”), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Ricci v. GoDaddy.com joined “the consensus” of its sister courts in other Circuits by holding that a website operator is immune under the CDA…

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FCC Releases Text of Net Neutrality Order

Judicial Challenges Afoot By Cliff Sloan, John Beahn and Joshua Gruenspecht On March 12, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) issued the text of its long-awaited network neutrality regulations, which if allowed to stand will have far-reaching implications for the media, content, broadband, Internet and technology industries. The complicated nature of the FCC’s net…

Court: Insurer Had No Duty to Defend Under “Intent to Injure” Exclusion

By Anna Smith Applying Minnesota law, the Eighth Circuit recently held that an insurer was not required to defend insureds who allegedly posted false and defamatory reviews of a business competitor. Sletten & Brettin Orthodontics, LLC v. Cont’l Cas. Co., No. 13-2918 (8th Cir. March 19, 2015). Background Douglas Wolff, a dentist, and St. Croix…

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Ga. State, Anti-SLAPP Defense Prompts Early Libel Case Dismissal

Case Concerns Physician Disciplined In Cosmetic Surgery Deaths By Cynthia Counts and Bernie Rhodes A Cobb County Superior Court judge has dismissed a libel claim in which a physician alleged that investigative television news coverage of the deaths of several of her cosmetic surgery patients led to the suspension of her license. Dodds v. Murphy….

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Florida Court Dismisses Libel Suit by Ex-Fugee

By Constance M. Pendleton and Yonatan Berkovits In March, a Florida district court dismissed a libel action brought against the New York Post by Prakazrel Michel, AKA “Pras”—one of the founding members of the Grammy-winning rap group the Fugees. Michel v. NYP Holdings, (March 4, 2015). Mr. Michel sued over an article published on the…

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Court Denies Michael Jordan’s Motion for Summary Judgment on Right of Publicity Claim

Ad Did Not Meet “Commercial Purpose” Prong of Illinois’s “Right of Publicity” Law In the latest skirmish in Michael Jordan’s right of publicity suit over an ad congratulating him on his induction into the basketball Hall of Fame, an Illinois federal district court denied summary judgment to Jordan on his state right of publicity claim,…

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Twenty-Five Years After Milkovich, Supreme Court Separates Fact From Opinion in a Securities Act Case

By Jeff Hermes In 1990, the Supreme Court ruled in Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. that there was no “wholesale defamation exemption for anything that might be labeled ‘opinion’ ” under the First Amendment. 497 U.S. 1, 18 (1990). The Court noted that its allocation of proving falsity to the plaintiff in Philadelphia Newspapers v….

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MLRC Conference on Hispanic and Latin American Media Law

Lawyers from the Americas Discuss Cross-Border Content and Distribution Challenges On March 9, approximately 70 lawyers from around North and South America met at the University of Miami School of Communication for MLRC’s third annual conference on Legal Issues of Concern for Hispanic and Latin American Media. This year’s conference included delegates from Argentina, Brazil,…

From the Executive Director’s Desk

By George Freeman In early March, I thought I would take a respite from my monthly column; there was nothing I was inspired to write about. Then I attended the MLRC’s Latin American Media Conference in Miami, and thought I would write about how interesting and engaging both the programs and the participants were, and…

Summary Judgment for Oprah in “Own Your Power” Trademark Case

On March 5, 2015, Judge Crotty of the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment for the defendants in Kelly-Brown v. Winfrey, No. 11-cv-07875, a multiyear trademark dispute that has already seen one visit to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and may see another. The case involved the following federally…

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MediaLawLetter March 2015

 Download Publication MLRC From the Executive Director’s DeskThe Jinx and Sharing Incriminating Evidence with Authorities MLRC Conference on Hispanic and Latin American Media LawLawyers from the Americas Discuss Cross-Border Content and Distribution Challenges SUPREME COURT Twenty-Five Years After Milkovich, Supreme Court Separates Fact From Opinion in a Securities Act CaseCourt’s Analysis May Be of Interest…