MLRC Bulletin 2015 Issue 3
To Give Fees or Not to Give Fees, That Is the Question (With a Different Answer in Every Circuit)
The Circuit Split Over Attorneys’ Fees Awards Under the Copyright Act By Lincoln Bandlow and Rom Bar-Nissim[1] I. Introduction The attorneys’ fees provision of the Copyright Act is important to clients and attorneys alike. Since its inception, the provision has vexed courts and resulted in a split in the circuits as to the proper application…
Jordan Litigation Fouls First Amendment Defense
By Steven P. Mandell and Tina Salvato[1] Michael Jordan made headlines this year with two separate lawsuits in which he claimed that two Chicago supermarket chains violated the Illinois Right of Publicity Act (“IRPA”) when they used his identity in ads ostensibly congratulating him on his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The courts’…
A Book’s Profits as a Remedy for Defamation? And Other Interesting Issues Raised by Ventura v. Kyle
By Merriam Mikhail[*] In October, an attentive Eighth Circuit panel heard oral argument in what Chief Judge Riley described as “obviously a very interesting case” arising from a mere page-and-a-half passage in the New York Times bestseller, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History. The military memoir, the heart…
True Threats and the First Amendment: The Impact of Elonis v. United States
By Jeff Hermes* On June 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Elonis v. United States, 135 S.Ct. 2001 (2015), in which the Court once more grappled with the parameters of legally actionable threats. While many had hoped that the Supreme Court would take the opportunity to elucidate the contours of the “true threats” doctrine…
Newsgathering and Drones: A Year in Review
By Charles D. Tobin and Christine N. Walz[1] In 2015, despite a number of obstacles—including continued turbulence in Congress, delays with federal regulation, and proposals by overprotective privacy advocates—the news media made significant progress in efforts to deploy unmanned aerial systems (“UAS”), or drones, as vehicles for everyday newsgathering. During this past year: The Federal…
Online Media Protection in California: The Amendment to Civil Code Section 48a
By Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. and Theodore M. Kider[1] On September 28, 2015, after a decades-long wait, California libel law finally entered the digital age. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. approved an amendment to the statute that limits damages for publications and broadcasts sued for libel and slander, expanding protection for publications beyond “newspaper[s]” to…
MLRC Bulletin 2015 Issue 3
Download Publication Online Media Protection in California: The Amendment to Civil Code Section 48aTheodore J. Boutrous Jr. and Theodore M. Kider Newsgathering and Drones: A Year in ReviewCharles D. Tobin and Christine N. Walz True Threats and the First Amendment: The Impact of Elonis v. United StatesJeff Hermes A Book’s Profits as a Remedy for…