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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

Telecommunications Surveillance Law

Posted on April 21, 2008
Paul M. Schwartz, University of California Berkeley School of Law, has published "Reviving Telecommunications Surveillance Law," in volume 75 of the University of Chicago Law Review (2008). Here is the abstract. Consider three questions. How would one decide if there...

Public Domain Compositions and Their Use in Movies

Posted on April 21, 2008
Paul J. Heald, University of Georgia Law School, has published "Testing the Over- and Under-Exploitation Hypotheses: Bestselling Musical Compositions (1913-32) and Their Use in Cinema (1968-2007)" as UGA Legal Studies Research Paper No. 08-006. Here is the abstract...

Paramount, MGM, Lionsgate Plan To Offer New Premium Movie Channel

Posted on April 21, 2008
Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate are launching a new premium cable channel, to begin in 2009. Previously, Paramount had had a deal to market its movies to Showtime, owned by CBS. Next year, the three studios plan to begin showing their...

TV Military Analysts and Possible Conflicts of Interest

Posted on April 21, 2008
The New York Times discusses the conflicts of interest that television military analysts might have, if they begin or cultivate links to defense contractors or the Pentagon, for example. Read the story here.

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The Tabloids and Their Sources

Posted on April 21, 2008
Two men are on trial at the Old Bailey for attempting to blackmail a member of the Royal family over a sex act, and numerous journalists are witnesses in the proceedings, each explaining the intricacies of checkbook journalism. The Royal...

Regulating Language on the British Airwaves

Posted on April 19, 2008
Mark Lawson discusses offensive language and its regulation on the British airwaves in this piece for the Guardian. Here's an excerpt. You might think that, at the moment, the television regulator Ofcom doesn't know whether it's coming or going on...

The Harry Potter Lexicon Lawsuit May Be Legally Justified, But May Also Be a Bad PR Idea

Posted on April 19, 2008
One commentator remarks that when Rowling roars, some of her fans may roar back.

Journals May Turn To Plagiarism Software To Sniff Out Academic Copying

Posted on April 18, 2008
The Chronicle of Higher Education notes that journals may soon go on technological automated plagiarism patrol to verify that their academic authors don't fail to give credit where credit is due, and forbear recycling their own research, with software programs...

U.S. District Judge Allows IIED Claim Against NBC "To Catch a Predator" To Go Forward

Posted on April 18, 2008
In Conradt v. NBC Universal, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York refused to dismiss NBC's motion to dismiss the plaintiff's suit for intentional infliction of emotional distress and two civil rights claims based on its...

NBC Explores Line Between Entertainment, Product Placement

Posted on April 18, 2008
A new NBC division will assist advertisers in selling products to audiences, according to this story from the AP. NBC Universal Digital Studio will specialize in creating programs centered on advertisers' products. The first two series in the spotlight? A...

Zimbabwe Releases Times Reporter, British Journalist

Posted on April 17, 2008
The New York Times reports that its reporter Barry Bearak has been released by Zimbabwean officials. A Zimbabwean magistrate ruled that the prosecutor had failed to produce that the defendants had broken any law. British reporter Stephen Bevan has also...

Reaction To the Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Georgia State

Posted on April 17, 2008
The Chronicle of Higher Education tracks reaction to that publishers' lawsuit against Georgia State University here.

New Film Arouses Opposition Among London Underground Drivers

Posted on April 17, 2008
Drivers on the London Underground (the Tube) are protesting a new film, Three and Out, starring Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl); the plot centers on a driver who seeks out someone willing to...

Darwin's Drafts

Posted on April 17, 2008
Want to read Charles Darwin's first draft of what evolved into The Origin of Species? It's now available online. Read more here and check out what technology hath wrought here.

SAG, Independent Studio Ink Deal

Posted on April 17, 2008
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) talks are continuing, but meanwhile SAG has crafted a deal with the indie company The Film Department that would ensue work for its members in...

Judge Allows Copyright Infringement Suit To Proceed Against State Employee

Posted on April 17, 2008
The Chronicle of Higher Education notes that a federal judge dismissed a copyright infringement case against the Board of Regents of California State University, based on a sovereign immunity claim, but is allowing the case to proceed against an employee...

Duke University Fails to Shut Down Website

Posted on April 16, 2008
Duke University has lost in its attempt to close down a website that tracks the lawsuit filed against it by the Duke lacrosse players. The University had argued that the website violates a North Carolina State Bar rule. Here's more...

The Teachable Moment

Posted on April 16, 2008
USC film student Alice Mathias writes about the limiting of free expression for what seem like good reasons--fear of campus violence--in this essay for the New York Times. How do you balance the First Amendment and school safety?

Settle This, "Potter" Judge Tells Parties

Posted on April 16, 2008
According to this AP account, the judge in the Harry Potter "Lexicon" case has told the parties they should try to settle their differences out of court. Judge Robert Patterson told Ms. Rowling and RDR Books, "?I think this case,...

Publishers Sue Georgia State Over Copyright Infringement

Posted on April 16, 2008
Three publishers are suing Georgia State University for copyright infringement, alleging ?systematic, widespread, and unauthorized copying and distribution" of numerous copyrighted materials. The publishers are Sage, Oxford and Cambridge. The University has not commented on the lawsuit, but the Association...

French National Assembly Takes Aim at Websites That Promote Thinness

Posted on April 16, 2008
That anti-anorexia French bill passed by the National Assembly earlier this week also targets websites and print publications, according to this article in the Independent. "Although the law would also apply to magazines, it is mostly aimed at internet sites...

Yesterday's Harry Potter Testimony

Posted on April 16, 2008
Steven VanderArk testified yesterday in the Harry Potter lawsuit, and was apparently quite emotional on the stand, according to New York Times reporter Anemona Hartocollis. Meanwhile, the blogosphere abounds with Potterisms, or at least titles: Harry Potter and the Supernatural...

ASA Says easyJet Easter Ad Campaign Laid an Egg

Posted on April 16, 2008
The Advertising Standards Authority told airline easyJet that the Easter ad campaign it ran last year with the tag line "Up to 25% off every seat, every route, every day" was misleading since some seats sold for more than they...

Daily Telegraph Journalists Hold Off On Strike

Posted on April 16, 2008
The Guardian reports that the anticipated labor action at the Daily Telegraph is delayed, even though management let go two long-time journalists, a married couple, and the entire customer relations department. The National Union of Journalists local intends to wait...

French Legislature Considering Bill That Would Ban "Inciting" Anorexia

Posted on April 15, 2008
The National Assembly of France has passed a bill that would make it illegal to "incite" people to make themselves too thin, this after a Brazilian model died from the effects of anorexia. The bill's sponsor is Valery Boyer. The...

Associated Press Photog Still Being Held by US; Iraq Drops Charges

Posted on April 15, 2008
An Iraqi tribunal has dismissed the last charges against an AP journalist, but the US military is still holding him, without comment.

Monday's Harry Potter Testimony

Posted on April 15, 2008
Here, in an article from the New York Times.

The Blogosphere

Posted on April 15, 2008
Sunny Woan, Santa Clara University, has published "The Blogosphere: Past, Present, and Future: Preserving the Development of Alternative Journalism," in volume 44 of California Western Law Review. Here is the abstract. This article emphasizes the importance of preserving the unfettered...

More On the Most Recent Harry Potter Lawsuit

Posted on April 14, 2008
In today's New York Times, Motoko Rich further explores the Rowling lawsuit against RDR Books, which seeks to publish that Harry Potter encyclopedia by Steven VanderArk.

Lonely Planet Responds To Kohnstamm's Claims

Posted on April 14, 2008
The Lonely Planet folks have launched a counter-attack against writer Thomas Kohnstamm's claims that parts of the guides he wrote for the publisher are inaccurate or faked. Read more here in a BBC article.

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