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When the 30-Second Ad Becomes a Pay Per View Feature

By E.L. Lipman

On Tuesday of this past week, a special panel of federal judges denied a challenge to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act ? more colloquially known as the McCain-Feingold law. The plaintiffs in the suit were the producers of a film entitled ?Hillary: The Movie.? The producers sought to avoid application of the disclaimer, disclosure and financing requirements of the BCRA to their film.

As the panel concludes, however, the provisions of the BCRA are applicable because the film makes claims as to Hillary Clinton's fitness for office, and these claims are slated for broadcast on cable television within ?60 days before a general, special, or runoff election? or ?30 days before a primary or preference election, or a [national] convention.?

The panel?s decision, which raises all sorts of interesting questions about the differences between movie houses and cable television, as venues for such messages, is accessible here.

Full post as published by Within the Scope on January 20, 2008 (boomark / email).