Court Rejects Challenge to Restriction on Photographing Inside Polling Locations
Newspaper Wanted to Document New Voter ID Procedure A Pennsylvania federal court this month rejected a constitutional challenge to a state election law limiting access to polling places. PG Publishing Company d/b/a The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette v. Aichele, No. 12-960, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145242 (W.D. Pa., Oct. 9, 2012) (Fischer, J). The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sought…
Media Coalition Successfully Fights Gag Order, Request to Seal Records, in George Zimmerman Murder Trial
By Scott D. Ponce and Charles D. Tobin Citing the arguments made by a coalition of fifteen media organizations, a Florida trial judge has denied the prosecution’s requests for a gag order and to seal subpoena proceedings in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, who is charged with second degree murder in the death of…
Ninth Circuit Issues Divergent Commercial Speech Decisions
By Ambika K. Doran & Bruce E.H. Johnson On October 15, 2012, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued two decisions notable for their discussion of what constitutes commercial speech under the First Amendment. The court’s decisions to find yellow pages directories fully protected speech, but not a billboard advertising a television program, are nothing…
French Court Prohibits Further Publication of Topless Kate Photos by Closer Magazine
By Jean-Frederic Gaultier For several days in mid-September, the English media was filled with headlines about French celebrity magazine Closer’s publication of topless pictures of the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge, though emotion mainly concerned those pictures of the Duchess. Many reporters wondered how this could be authorized, whether it could it be prohibited, and…
Irish High Court Quashes Deposition Subpoena for U.S. Litigation
Journalist & Expert Privilege: Requirement for Deposition Not Convincingly Established By Kieran Kelly and Ronan Lupton The Irish High Court this year held that an ex parte application to depose witnesses, made on behalf of a Defendant to proceedings in the District Court of Colorado requiring witness testimony had not been convincingly established on its…
Bob Latham Is the Winner With Winners And Losers
By James Stewart You may be wondering why a sports book is being reviewed in the MediaLawLetter. As with all things MLRC , it was Sandy’s idea. I found myself at the Jackson Walker drink em up at Reston talking with Sandy and Bob Latham. Then there was something about Bob having written a sports…
Drones: The Final Frontier in Privacy Rights?
By Mickey H. Osterreicher While the use of drones by the military is nothing new, discussion of this technology is becoming more frequent and even became part of the last Presidential debate. Simply stated, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), more commonly called a drone, is an apparatus that flies through the air with no pilot…
Civil Rights Lawsuit against Producers of the Bachelor and Bachelorette Shows Dismissed
First Amendment Defense Wins at Pleading Stage A Tennessee federal district court this month dismissed a civil rights lawsuit against ABC and the producers of The Bachelor and Bachelorette shows for failing to cast people of color as the lead in either of the popular reality television shows. In a case of first impression, the…
Albert Einstein’s Postmortem Publicity Rights Expired Under New Jersey Postmortem Publicity Rights Expired Under New Jersey Law
Dismisses Lawsuit Against General Motors By Steve Rummage, Kelli Sager, and Ambika Doran On October 15, the federal district court for the Central District of California dismissed a lawsuit filed against General Motors by Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which has long claimed to own the postmortem publicity rights of Albert Einstein. Hebrew University of Jerusalem…
Libel and False Light Claims Against “Grumpy Accountants” Blog Can Proceed
Blog Posts by Professors “Likely to be Taken Seriously” A Pennsylvania federal court denied a motion to dismiss libel and false light claims over statements made by two business school professors on their “Grumpy Old Accountants” blog. Zagg, Inc. v. Catanach, No.12-4399 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 27, 2012) (Bartle, J.) (applying Utah law). The court rejected…
Illinois Supreme Court Confirms Intrusion Upon Seclusion Tort Is Valid In Illinois
By Jeff Davis In Lawlor v. North Am. Corp. of Ill., 2012 Ill. 112530 (Oct. 18, 2012), the Illinois Supreme Court confirmed what all five Illinois appellate districts had already recognized—that the tort of intrusion upon seclusion is actionable in Illinois. Lawlor involved a sales employee’s (the plaintiff’s) departure from the defendant company to a…
A Loss for the “Randy Rabbi”: Court Finds Article Substantially True, Newspaper Defendant Not Grossly Irresponsible
By Katherine M. Bolger and Rachel F. Strom Last month, a New York State Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Long Island-based Rabbi against NYP Holdings, Inc. (“NYP”), the publisher of the New York Post, finding that the Post’s article and video, which discussed and showed the Rabbi “cavorting” with two women in…
Louisiana Federal Court Retracts Narrow Interpretation of State Anti-SLAPP Statute
Defendant Still Loses Special Motion to Strike By Mary Ellen Roy and Dan Zimmerman In the January 2012 MediaLawLetter, we reported on a decision in Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center v. Marzano-Lesnevich, No. 11-2102 (E.D. La. Nov. 23, 2011) (Barbier, J.). In response to a motion to reconsider (which the Court construed as a Rule 59(e)…
Court Dismisses Defamation Action Filed By Insurance Executive Against Slate, Eliot Spitzer
As a Matter of “Grammar and Logic” Statements Not About Plaintiff By Katharine Larsen A federal district judge from the Southern District of New York dismissed a defamation action filed by a former insurance executive against former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and the publisher of Slate.com. Gilman v. Spitzer et al., No. 1:11-cv-05843-JPO (S.D.N.Y….
Illinois Appellate Court Reaffirms Narrow Scope of Anti-SLAPP Statute
Public Official’s Lawsuit Is “Retaliatory” But Not Covered By Statute An Illinois appellate court this month affirmed that the state anti-SLAPP statute did not apply to a state court judge’s libel and privacy lawsuit against a television station. Ryan v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., et al., No.1-12-0005, 1-12-0007 (Ill. App. Oct. 23, 2012) (Connors, Harris,…
New Mexico Newspaper Wins False Light Case
By Gregory P. Williams A New Mexico district court judge has dismissed a false light case filed by a former mayor against the local newspaper and its publisher, holding that New Mexico does not allow a public official to recover for false light invasion of privacy. Harry Mendoza v. Robert Zollinger and Gallup Independent Company,…
MediaLawLetter October 2012
Download Publication LIBEL AND PRIVACY N.M. Dist.: New Mexico Newspaper Wins False Light CaseNewspaper Wins JNOV after Mistrial Mendoza v. Zollinger and Gallup Independent Company Illinois Appellate Court Reaffirms Narrow Scope of Anti-SLAPP StatutePublic Official’s Lawsuit is “Retaliatory” But Not Covered by Statute Ryan v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., et al. S.D.N.Y.: Federal Court Dismisses…