Media Law Fall 2010

Media Law

Jack M. Balkin and Adam S. Cohen

The casebook for the course will be Franklin, Anderson and Lidsky, Mass Media Law: Cases and Materials (7th ed. 2005), with the 2009 Supplement.  Additional materials will be available online.

1. Defamation (9/13/2010)
 

• Notes on defamation, pp. 252-53, 259-62
• New York Times v. Sullivan and Notes, pp. 272-96
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. and Notes, pp. 296-313
• Note on Public and Private Figures, pp. 313-324
• Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. and Notes, pp. 330-337
• Notes, 2009 Supplement, pp. 29-34
• Note on Neutral Reportage, pp. 345-346
• Notes on retraction, overseas liability, and other issues, pp. 359-364
• Note on foreign libel judgments, 2009 Supplement, pp. 36-39

Additional reading (optional)

• Elena Kagan, “A Libel Story Then and Now,” 18 Law and Soc. Inquiry 197 (1993)

2.  Privacy and other communications torts (9/20/2010)

A. Privacy

• Notes on the tort of disclosure, pp. 365-377
• Notes and Florida Star v. B.J.F. pp. 377-393
• Notes on false light, pp. 393-403
• Notes on appropriation of name or likeness, pp. 403-415
• Note on appropriation of name or likeness, 2009 Supplement, pp. 40-41

B. Infliction of Emotional Distress

• Hustler v. Falwell and Notes, pp 417-429
• Note on the Hatfill Case, 2009 Supplement, pp. 41-44
• Conradt v. NBC Universal (S.D.N.Y. 2008)

C. Economic Harm

• Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. and Notes, pp. 429-436

3. Prior Restraint and National Security (9/27/2010)

• Notes and Near v. Minnesota, pp. 89-98.
• New York Times v. United States (Pentagon Papers) and Notes, pp. 98-104
• Note on Injunctions, pp. 104-110
• National Press Association v. Stewart and Notes, pp. 116-132
• United States v. Rosen, 2009 Supplement, at 5-7
• Tory v. Cochrane, 2009 Supplement, at 7-10
• Notes on Wikileaks, 2009 Supplement at 10-12
• Glenn Greenwald, The War on Wikileaks and Why it Matters, Salon, March 27, 2010
• Glenn Greenwald, The Wikileaks Afghanistan Leak, Salon, July 25, 2010

4. Broadcast and Cable Regulation (10/04/2010)

• Note on the History and Significance of the Press Clause, pp. 56-69
• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo and Notes, pp. 69-76
• Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC and Notes, pp. 76-85
• Notes on Equal Time and Equal Opportunities, pp. 137-145
• Turner Broadcasting v. FCC and Notes, pp. 201-220
• Leathers v. Medlock and Notes, pp. 224-232.
• Balkin, Media Access: A Question of Design, 76 George Washington L. Rev. 933 (2008)

5. Content Regulation in Broadcast Media and the Internet (10/11/2010)

A. Indecency

• Notes and FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, pp. 145-158
• United States v. Williams, 2009 Supplement, at 13-16
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, pp. 159-166
• Note on Indecency on the Internet, pp. 166-168
• Note on COPA, 2009 Supplement, at 21.
• FCC v. Fox (2d Circuit, July 13, 2010)
• Note on Television Violence, 2009 Supplement, at 19-21

B. Incitement and Aiding and Abetting

• Herceg v. Hustler Magazine and Notes, pp. 437-449
• Rice v. Paladin Enterprises and Notes, pp. 449-458
• Braun v. Soldier of Fortune Magazine and Notes, pp. 458-468

6. The Legal Regulation of Newsgathering (10/25/2010)

• Notes,  pp. 500-501
• Dietemann v. Time and Notes, pp. 503-508
• Wilson v. Layne and Notes, pp. 509-514
• Shulman v. Group W. Production and Notes, pp. 514-520
• Deteresa v. American Broadcasting Companies and Notes, pp. 520-530
• Sanders v. American Broadcasting Companies and Notes, pp. 530-538
• Bartnicki v. Vopper and Notes, pp. 537-547
• Food Lion v. Capital Cities/ABC and Notes, pp. 547-559
• Cases and Notes, 2009 Supplement, pp. 45-51

7. Press Privileges (11/01/2010)

• Branzburg v. Hayes and Notes, pp. 560-584
• Judith Miller Case and Notes, 2009 Supplement, pp. 51-66
• Gonzales v. National Broadcasting Company and Notes, pp. 585-597
• Notes on Shield Legislation, pp. 597-599
• Notes on Search Warrants, pp. 599-602
• Note on Computer Records, 2009 Supplement, pp. 66-69

8.  Access to Judicial Proceedings (11/08/2010)

• Notes and Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, pp. 671-681
• Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court and Notes, pp. 681-684
• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court (II) and Notes, pp. 684-700
• Notes on Courtroom Photography and Broadcasting, pp. 700-705
• Notes on Access to Judicial Proceedings, 2009 Supplement, pp. 82-84
• Hollingsworth v. Perry, (U.S. S.Ct., January 13, 2010)
• Notes on Access to Jurors and Witnesses, pp. 705-709
• Notes on Access to Judicial Records and Discovery Materials, pp. 710-712
• Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart and Notes, pp. 713-726

9. Access to Government Information (11/15/2010)

• Cases and Notes on FOIA, pp. 603-632
• Cases and Notes on FOIA, 2009 Supplement, pp. 69-78
• Notes and Houchins v. KQED, pp. 634-643
• Hammer v. Ashcroft, 2009 Supplement, pp. 79-81
• Cases and Notes on Access to Military Operations, pp. 643-653
• City of Oak Creek v. Ah King and Notes, pp. 653-659
• Cases and Notes on Discriminatory Access, pp. 659-670

10. Copyright (11/29/2010)

A. Fair Use

• Cases and Notes on Copyright, pp. 469-492
• Ian Shapira, “The Death of Journalism (Gawker Edition),” The Washington Post, August 2, 2009
• Gawker and The Washington Post: A Case Study in Fair Use, Neiman Journalism Lab, August 1, 2009
•  Ringgold v. Black Entertainment Television, Inc., 126 F.3rd 70 (2nd Cir. 1997)

B. Intermediary liability for copyright infringement

• Viacom v. YouTube (S.D.N.Y., June 23, 2010)
• DMCA Section 512
• Chilling Effects discussion of DMCA Section 512

11. Intermediary Liability on the Internet (12/06/2010)

A. Section 230

• Notes and Zeran v. America Online, pp. 337-345
• Notes on section 230, 2009 Supplement, pp. 34-35
• Balkin, The Future of Free Expression in a Digital Age, 36 Pepperdine L. Rev. 707 (2009)

• Rebecca Tushnet, Power Without Responsibility: Intermediaries and the First Amendment
• Wikipedia, The Sigenthaler Controvery

B. Intermediaries and Cyberbullying

• Nancy Kim, Imposing Tort Liability on Websites for Cyber-Harassment

• Bradley Areheart, Regulating Cyberbullies Through Notice-Based Liability
• Nathaniel Gleicher, John Doe Subpoenas: Toward A Consistent Legal Standard

12. Broadband Regulation and Network Neutrality (12/13/2010)

• Tim Wu and Christopher Yoo exchange on Network Neutrality, Keeping the Internet Neutral [SSRN]

• Tim Wu, Network Neutrality FAQ
• Jack Balkin, Remarks at FCC Workshop on Freedom of Speech, Democratic Engagement, and Network Neutrality
• Larry Downes, “The Case Against the FCC’s Net Neutrality Plan,” CNET, Oct. 29, 2009
• Austin Schlick, “A Third Way Legal Framework for Addressing the Comcast Dilemma”
• Google/Verizon, A Joint Policy Proposal for An Open Internet
• Richard Whitt, Facts about our network neutrality policy proposal
• Cindy Cohn, A Review of Verizon and Google’s Net Neutrality Proposal
• Tribe and Goldstein, Proposed “Net Neutrality Mandates Could be Counterproductive and Violate the First Amendment
• Michael Burstein, Towards a New Standard for First Amendment Review of Structural Media Regulation

13. The Future of News and New Business Models for Journalism (12/15/2010)

A. The Problem

• Pew Research Center, Newspapers Face A Challenging Calculus

• Jay Rosen, Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press
• Leonard Downie, Jr., and Michael Schudson, The Reconstruction of American Journalism
• Ed Baker, The Future of News, Part One and Part Two
• John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney, The Life and Death of Great American Newspapers
• Paul Starr, Goodbye to the Age of Newspapers (Hello to a New Era of Corruption) [print version]
• Yochai Benkler, A New Era of Corruption?

B. Proposals

• Geoffrey Cowan and David Westphal, “Public Policy and Funding the News”
• David Swensen and Michael Schmidt, News You Can Endow
• Ackerman and Ayres, A National Endowment for Journalism
• Steve Brill, Turning Around the Times– And Journalism
• FTC Staff Discussion Draft, Potential Policy Recommendations to Support the Reinvention of Journalism
• Poynter Institute, “5 Ways to Monetize the Future of News Media”
• Center for Democracy and Technology, CDT’s Guide to Behavioral Advertising (2009)