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Media & Entertainment Law

Media Law Prof Blog

Media law resources, information, and news for the academic community.

Post Frequency: 34.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 12:48:00

Max Mosley Files Lawsuit Against News of the World For Defamation

Posted on April 07, 2009
Max Mosley has filed another lawsuit, this time a defamation suit against the tabloid News of the World. He won an invasion of privacy suit last year against the same paper for its coverage of his sex life. (Here's a...

Ofcom Hits BBC With 150,000 Pound Fine Over Sachsgate

Posted on April 07, 2009
The Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross "Sachsgate" mess continued with a 150,000 pound fine for the BBC. Ofcom ruled that Mr. Brand and Mr. Ross left "gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning" messages on Mr. Sachs' answering machine and that the network is...

Jade Goody's Family Threatens Paper With Lawsuit Over Funeral Photos

Posted on April 07, 2009
The late Jade Goody's family is threatening The People with a lawsuit after the tabloid published photographs of the reality celeb's funeral. Other papers did not, acceding to the family's request for privacy.

Movie Critic Joins Ranks of Unemployed After Downloading Leaked Movie

Posted on April 07, 2009
Movie critic Roger Friedman has left his position at Fox News after reviewing the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine using an illegally downloaded copy. Mr. Friedman gave the film a good review, but that wasn't enough to salvage an act his...

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Choreographer Arrested On Suspicion of Rape

Posted on April 05, 2009
The AP reports that choreographer Alex Da Silva has been arrested on charges of rape. An arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday. Apparently he was investigated on similar charges in 2003, 2004, and 2005 but no charges were filed. Mr. Da...

The First Amendment Audience

Posted on April 04, 2009
Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky has published Nobody's Fools: The Rational Audience as First Amendment Ideal as University of Florida Levin College of Law Research Paper No. 2009-19. Here is the abstract. Assumptions about audiences shape the outcomes of First Amendment cases...

The First Amendment and Anonymous Speech

Posted on April 04, 2009
Paul Horwitz, University of Alabama School of Law, has published Anonymity, Signaling, and Silence as Speech. Here is the abstract. This short article responds to a paper delivered by Professor Martin Redish at a symposium on Speech and Silence in...

Advertising Standards Authority Says VW Ad Too Violent For Children's Hour

Posted on April 02, 2009
The Advertising Standards Authority has nixed a VW ad for pre-watershed viewing; it takes its inspiration from the Jason Bourne and Matrix films, and the agency notes that it's too violent for children and might lead to "copycatting." Here's the...

Keira Knightley Appears As Victim In Ad

Posted on April 02, 2009
Keira Knightley appears as a domestic abuse victim to raise awareness of violence against women in a new ad for Women's Aid.

House Passes Reporter's Shield Bill

Posted on April 02, 2009
The House has passed the Free Flow of Information Act, designed to provide reporters with some "shield" protections at the federal level. A Senate committee is considering a similar measure.

Copyright's Originality Standard

Posted on April 02, 2009
Joseph Scott Miller, Lewis & Clark Law School, has published Hoisting Originality, as Lewis & Clark Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2009-4. Here is the abstract. Copyright's originality standard is ripe for reappraisal. Many have described how copyright...

Another "Sexting" Case, This Time in Pennsylvania

Posted on April 01, 2009
Three Pennsylvania teens facing child pornography charges got something of a reprieve when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to prevent a local district attorney from proceeding with the case. The girls appeared in photos taken more than...

YouTube Suspends Account of Prominent Skeptics Organization

Posted on April 01, 2009
YouTube has suspended the account of skeptical organization JREF, headed up by astronomer Phil Plait, but it's unclear why. Dr. Plait indicates that he's trying to "work things out," but JREF supporters are miffed.

Julie Hilden on the Noonan v. Staples Case

Posted on March 31, 2009
FindLaw's Julie Hilden discusses the 1st Circuit's recent decision in Noonan v. Staples. See an earlier Media Law Blog post on the ruling here.

Max Mosley's Attorney and the PCC's Chair

Posted on March 31, 2009
Attorney Dominic Crossley speaks up in defense of his client Max Mosley here after Sir Christopher Meyer, head of the Press Complaints Commission, defends its role.

U. S. Journalists To Go On Trial In North Korea

Posted on March 31, 2009
The New York Times reports that North Korea will put two U. S. journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, on trial for entering the country illegally and for committing "hostile acts" against it. Read more here.

Iowa Bill Would Restrict Campaign Speech, Political Cartoons

Posted on March 30, 2009
Here's a link to the text of that Iowa bill that would ban political cartoons and restrict the distribution of campaign material without the permission of candidates. Here's short commentary from Eugene Volokh and Rick Hasen, both of whom note...

SCOTUS Won't Hear Virginia's Appeal In Spam Law Case

Posted on March 30, 2009
FindLaw reports that the Supreme Court has denied cert in the case of Virginia v. Jaynes, the anti-spam case in which Jeremy Jaynes, the "spam king," had obtained reversal of his conviction under a Virginia anti-spam statute. The Virginia Supreme...

The Courts and Academic Speech

Posted on March 30, 2009
Peter Schmidt reviews the application of Garcetti v. Ceballos in the courts in a column for The Chronicle of Higher Education here. See his follow-up, discussing a loss for Delaware State University professor Wendell Gorum in the Third Circuit here.

Fulbright Scholar Competition Now Open

Posted on March 30, 2009
From the Fulbright folks. The Fulbright Scholar competition for 2010-2011 is open. The Fulbright Scholar Program is offering lecturing, research or combination lecturing/research awards in over 125 countries for the 2010-2011 academic year. Opportunities are available not only for college...

Encouraging the Marketplace of Ideas

Posted on March 30, 2009
Maurice E. Stucke, University of Tennessee School of Law, has published Concentrated Media is Something We Can't Ignore: A Response to Speaker Pelosi. Here is the abstract. This essay briefly responds to a request that the U.S. Department of Justice....

Under the New Administration, Lesser Known Media Enter the Spotlight

Posted on March 29, 2009
From the New York Times, a report on the black news media under the Obama administration.

British Home Secretary Apologizes Over Charges For Movies

Posted on March 29, 2009
British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says she will repay the costs of films that she and her husband watched at home and then charged taxpayers. The films include some adult movies. The Home Secretary has apologized and says the charges...

Call For Papers in Semiotics and Law

Posted on March 27, 2009
SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS 8th International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law (IRSL 2009) (2-5 December 2009) TRANSPARENCY, CONTROL AND POWER: ISSUES IN LEGAL SEMIOTICS Convenor: Vijay K. Bhatia Conference Venue: Department of English, City University of Hong Kong ...

Wiki Knowledge and Wiki Law

Posted on March 27, 2009
Matthew Rimmer, Australian National University, ANU College of Law, has published Wikipedia, Collective Authorship, and the Politics of Knowledge, in Intellectual Property Reforms: Fostering Innovation and Development (Christopher Arup & William Van Caenegem (Edward Elgar, 2009)...

New Jersey Teen Faces Charges For Posting Explicit Photos of Herself On MySpace

Posted on March 27, 2009
NPR has aired this story about a teen facing charges of distributing child pornography for posting explicit nude photographs of herself on MySpace. More and more youngsters are posting such photos without understanding the possible legal consequences.

Father of Jade Goody's Children Asks Media To Stop Taking Photos of Them

Posted on March 25, 2009
The father of late reality star Jade Goody's children has asked media to show restraint in taking photographs of their two small children, aged five and four. Pictures of the two boys have been prominent in newspapers and tabloids since...

Constitutional Protection of Free Speech and Australian Copyright Law

Posted on March 25, 2009
Melissa De Zwart, Monash University Faculty of Law, has published The Future of Fair Dealing in Australia: Protecting Freedom of Communication, in volume 4 of SCRIPT-ed. Here is the abstract. This article considers the role of the concept of freedom....

The Votes Are In--It's Colbert By a Landslide

Posted on March 25, 2009
ABC News first reported this tidbit a few days ago, but the votes are now in. Pseudocommentator Stephen Colbert got his real fans to keyboard in his name as the moniker for the International Space Station's new add-on, and it...

Bad Little Britney

Posted on March 25, 2009
Jesse Sheidlower riffs on Britney Spears' new song "If U Seek Amy" and its not so hidden meaning here for Slate. The Parents Television Council has already complained about the lyrics, notes the Volokh Conspiracy's Jonathan Adler.

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