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Using the MLRC Digital Media Law Database

A plain-language guide to searching, filtering and sorting the Database, and using the Trend Chart

Click here to return to the Database.

The MLRC Digital Media Law Database is a regularly updated record of developments in digital media law and policy. This guide walks you through everything you need to find what you are looking for and to make sense of the trend chart at the top of the page. No technical background is required.

The page has two interactive parts you should know about:

  • The Trend Analysis chart at the top, which shows how many developments occurred each week in each topic area.
  • The Developments in Digital Media Law database below the chart, where every individual development is listed as a card.

Each part can be searched, filtered, and explored on its own. The sections below cover both.

Part 1: Getting around the database

How the database is laid out

Below the chart you will see cards arranged in vertical columns. Each column is one of the eight topic areas that MLRC tracks:

  • Privacy
  • Intellectual Property
  • Platform Management
  • Other Content Liability
  • Infrastructure
  • Government Activity
  • Global
  • Miscellaneous

The number next to each column heading (for example, 99+ or 71) tells you how many developments are currently in that column.

Each card represents one development and shows:

  • The headline or short title of the development
  • The date it was added
  • A sub-topic tag (for example, “Privacy — Personal Information”)
  • A jurisdiction tag (for example, S.D. Iowa, SCOTUS, Cal. App., or 10th Cir.)
  • A country/region tag for non-U.S. items
  • Any attached news article links or court documents

Scrolling left and right to see all the columns

Unless you have an unusually wide monitor, the database will be wider than your screen. The columns continue past the right edge, so you will need to scroll sideways to reach the later topic areas (V. Infrastructure, VI. Government Activity, VII. Global, and VIII. Miscellaneous).

There are several ways to scroll sideways, depending on the device you are using:

On a laptop or desktop with a trackpad

  • Move your pointer over the database area.
  • Place two fingers on the trackpad and swipe left or right. The columns will slide in that direction.

On a laptop or desktop with a mouse

  • Easiest method: hover your pointer over the database, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard, and turn your mouse wheel. The columns will scroll sideways instead of up and down.
  • Alternative: look at the very bottom of the database for a thin horizontal scroll bar. Click and drag it left or right.

On a phone or tablet

  • Touch the database area and swipe left or right with one finger to bring the next columns into view.

Tip: Scrolling up and down on the page (your normal scroll) only moves the page itself. To move the columns sideways, your pointer or finger has to be inside the database area.

Opening a development to see the full details

Click or tap any card to open it. A new view will pop up showing everything we have on that development, including a short description, links to news coverage, and where available, links to court filings and other documents. To close that view and return to the main page, click the X in the top corner or click outside the pop-up.

Part 2: Searching, filtering, and sorting

The toolbar at the top right of the database has three small icons. From left to right, they are:

  • The funnel icon — opens the filter panel.
  • The up-and-down arrows icon — opens the sort panel.
  • The magnifying glass icon — opens the search box.

You can also see a row of blue chips just under the title showing what filters and sorts are already in place. By default the database is sorted by date (newest first) and is filtered to hide sub-items so that each development appears only once.

Searching for a specific item

Use search when you already know a name, keyword, or phrase to look for.

  1. Click the magnifying glass icon in the top right of the database.
  2. Type your search term in the box that appears. You might type a party name (“Hisense”), a statute or doctrine (“Section 230”), a court (“SCOTUS”), or any word likely to appear in a headline.
  3. The cards in the database will narrow down to show only the developments that match what you typed.
  4. To clear the search and see everything again, delete what you typed or close the search box.

Tip: Search looks across the title and tags of every card. If you are not finding something, try a shorter or different keyword.

Filtering: narrowing the view by topic, court, or date

Filtering is the most powerful tool for working with the database. It lets you say things like “show me only privacy cases from the Second Circuit” or “show me only items added in the last month.”

Adding a filter

  1. Click the “+ Filter” button at the top of the database (or click the funnel icon and then “Add filter”).
  2. A list of fields will appear. Pick the field you want to filter on. Some of the most useful are:
    • Topic — to limit by one of the eight topic areas
    • Sub-topic — for narrower categories like “Defamation” or “Copyright”
    • Jurisdiction — to limit by court or governing body
    • Date — to limit to a specific time period
  3. Choose the value or values you want to include. You can usually pick more than one (for example, two topics at once).
  4. The cards will instantly update to show only those that match.

Stacking multiple filters

You can add as many filters as you like. They work together, so each filter narrows the results further. For example, adding a Topic filter for “I. Privacy” and a Jurisdiction filter for “SCOTUS” will show only Supreme Court privacy items.

Removing a filter

Each active filter shows up as a small chip near the top of the database. Click the chip and choose “Delete filter,” or click the X next to the value, and the filter will go away. To clear everything quickly, just refresh the page.

Tip: Leave the “Parent item: Is empty” filter alone. It is what stops the same development from appearing twice. Removing it can make the database look cluttered.

Sorting: changing the order the cards appear in

Sorting changes the order of the cards within each column. By default the database is sorted by date with the newest items first, which is why you see the “Date” chip with a downward arrow near the top.

  1. Click the up-and-down arrows icon in the top right (or click the existing “Date” chip).
  2. To reverse the order (oldest first), click the arrow next to “Date” so it points up instead of down.
  3. To sort by something else, remove the date sort and add a new one. You might sort by jurisdiction, sub-topic, or title.
  4. You can also stack sorts. For instance, sort first by jurisdiction and then by date, and the cards will be grouped by court with the newest within each court at the top.

Part 3: Using the Trend Analysis chart

What the chart shows

The chart at the top of the page is a line graph that counts how many developments fall into each topic area, week by week.

  • The horizontal axis (bottom) shows weeks, moving from the earliest on the left to the most recent on the right.
  • The vertical axis (left) shows the number of developments in a given week.
  • Each colored line represents one topic area. The legend below the chart tells you which color is which topic.

When a line is high, that topic had a busy week. When two lines cross or run close together, those topics had similar levels of activity. A spike that rises far above the surrounding weeks usually points to a notable event in that area of law.

Reading specific numbers

Hover your pointer over any point on a line, and a small label will appear showing the exact count for that week and topic. On a phone or tablet, tap the point instead.

Filtering the chart to compare what you want

By default the chart shows all eight topics at once, which can look crowded. Filtering lets you focus on the comparison that actually interests you.

  1. Click the “+ Filter” button above the chart, or click the small funnel icon in the upper right corner of the chart area.
  2. Choose a field to filter on. The most useful choices are:
    • Topic — to show only the topic lines you want to compare
    • Sub-topic — to look at a narrower slice (for example, only Copyright items within Intellectual Property)
    • Jurisdiction — to see the trend for just one court or country
    • Date — to zoom in on a specific time window
  3. Pick the values you want to include. The chart redraws immediately to reflect your selection.

Tip: The chart has its own filters that are separate from the database filters. Changing one does not change the other, so you can filter the chart down to two topics for comparison while still browsing the full database below.

Comparing categories: a few common examples

Comparing two topics head to head

Add a Topic filter and choose just two areas, for example “I. Privacy” and “II. Intellectual Property.” The chart will show only those two lines, making it easy to see which area had more activity in any given week and how the two have moved relative to each other over time.

Tracking one topic across courts

Filter by Topic (say, “IV. Other Content Liability”) and the chart will show only that topic. If you then look at the database below using the same topic filter, you can see which specific cases drove the peaks and valleys you see in the chart.

Looking at a single time period

Add a Date filter to limit the chart to a window such as the last three months. The horizontal axis will redraw to cover just that window, which makes short-term spikes much easier to spot.

Watching a single court or jurisdiction

Filter by Jurisdiction (for example, “SCOTUS” or “S.D.N.Y.”) to see how that particular court’s digital media docket has shifted across topic areas over time.

A few final tips

  • Filters, sorts, and searches you apply on the page are only visible to you. They do not change the database for anyone else, and they reset when you reload the page.
  • If the page starts looking confusing, refresh it. That clears everything you have changed and brings you back to the default view.
  • The intro paragraph on the page includes a definitions here link that explains exactly what each of the eight topic areas covers. It is worth a quick read the first time you use the database.
  • The database is updated regularly, so the chart and the cards will look different each time you visit. New developments are added at the top.
  • Questions or feedback go to Jeff Hermes at jhermes@medialaw.org