Debuting in its first edition, Communication Law is an engaging and
accessible text that brings a fresh approach to the fundamentals of mass media law.
Unique in its approach and its visually attractive design, this text
differentiates itself from other current texts on the market while presenting students
with key principles and landmark cases that establish and define communication law and
regulation, providing a hands-on learning experience.
Table of Contents
PREFACE
CHAPTER ONE: SOURCES OF LAW & SYSTEMS OF JUSTICE
Learning Objectives
Flag burning and the First Amendment
Sources of Law
Up Close: “Party Politics in Early America”
Statutory Acts
Hierarchy of Law
The Common Law
Actions in Equity
Executive Orders
Up Close: “Ordering Freedom of Access”
Administrative Agencies
Systems of Justice
Criminal Procedures
Pre-trial Phase.
Trial Phase.
Post-trial phase
Civil Procedures.
Pre-trial phase
Trial Phase
Post-trial Phase
Up Close: Elements in a Criminal Cases and Civil Actions
Court System
The Appeals Process
Supreme Courts
Granting Certiorari
Oral Arguments and Opinions
Scholarship in Law
Research procedures
Case Law Sources
Briefing the Case
Citation.
Facts
Issue
Decision
Explanation
Rule of Law
Concurrences & Dissents
Summary
Unsolved Case: Divided Circuits?
CHAPTER TWO: FIRST AMENDMENT IN PRINCIPLE AND PRACTICE
Learning Objectives
Drawing the Line
Up Close: Free Expression versus Fear
The Value of Free Expression
Discovery of Truth
Up Close: John Milton’s Areopagitica
Democracy
Stability of Society
Self-Fulfillment
So then, Which Value is the Important One?
The First Amendment Restricts Government Action
Words ? Speech
Speaker Rights versus Listener Rights
Up Close: Measuring the Climate for Free Expression
Reviewing the First Amendment
Who is Congress
The Meaning of No Law
Abridging Freedom
Compelling Speech
Speech and Press
Right of Assembly
Right of Petition
Summary
Unsolved Case: 21st Century Terrorism
CHAPTER THREE: FORUMS OF FREEDOM
Learning Objectives
The Umbrella of Free Expression
The Origin of Forums
Student Expression Lessons
History Matters
Speaker’s Impact Matters
Symbolic Speech
Disruption Test
Speaker’s Medium Matters
Who controls the channel?
Who owns the content?
Compatible Use of the Form?
Workplace Rules an Expression
Shopping Malls
Freedom of Expression for Employees
Disruptions to the Workplace
Levels of Scrutiny
Intermediate Scrutiny
The Open Forum Test
Up-Close: “Free Speech Zones”
Protesting on Principle
Viewpoint Discrimination
Pro-Life Protests
Up-Close “Nuremberg Files”
Inflicting Harms
Dangerous Speech
Up-Close: “The Heckler’s Veto”
Revisiting the “Fighting Words” Doctrine
Modern Hate-Crime Controls
Flames of Racism
Summary
Unsolved Case: Student Web sites — How far can they go?
CHAPTER FOUR: CENSORSHIP AND SEDITION
Learning Objectives
Crackdown on Dissent
Seeds of Sedition
The American Experience
Up Close: “A Great Noise in the World”
Alien & Sedition Acts
Sedition During Times of War
The Espionage & Sedition Cases
The Schenck Case
Abrams v. United States
Up Close: The American Civil Liberties Union
Bad Tendency or Clear & Present Danger?
Gitlow v. New York
Up Close: Doctrine of Incorporation
Whitney v. California
The Smith Act
Dennis v. United States
Yates v. United States
Brandenburg v. Ohio
Theories of Prior Restraint
Twentieth Century Landmarks
Up Close: “Anti-Semitism in Print”
A Taxing Question
Prior Restraint by Injunction
Pentagon Papers Case
Banning the Bomb
Free Speech for Spies?
Panic-peddling Flyers
Up Close: Judicial Temperament
Restraint in the Age of Terrorism
Hezbollah Television
Coffin Coverage
Arguments for Free Expression
Summary
Unsolved Case: Treason
CHAPTER FIVE: LIBEL
Learning Objectives
Defining Libel
Civil Versus Criminal Libel
Making a Case for Libel
1. Identification
2. Defamatory Language
Up Close: Celebrity Justice
3. Falsity
4. Publication
Up Close: Blogging Perils
5. Fault
Categorizing Plaintiffs
Other Defenses
Privilege
Fair Comment
Up Close: Vaudeville Fair Comment
Neutral Reportage
Retractions
Damages
The Process of Libel
Summary
Unsolved Case: Forum Shopping
CHAPTER SIX: THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY
Learning Objectives
Cell Phone Privacy or Piracy?
Defining the Right to Privacy
Constitutional Privacy
State Laws Vary
Original Scholarship on Privacy
Privacy Defined
Intrusion
Visual Intrusions
Up Close: Video Voyeurism
Public v. Private Property
Privacy and the Paparazzi
Data Snooping
Up Close: One Nation Under Surveillance
Digital Privacy
Is Surreptitious Recording an Intrusion?
Up Close: Food Lion Case
Commercial Appropriation
Right to Publicity
Up Close: Is that You in the Video Game?
Celebrity Publicity Rights
Celebrity Impersonators
Privacy After Death? .
Public Disclosure of Private Facts
Defenses to Private Fact Claims
The Florida Star Case
Sex and Violence Cases.
Up Close Box: HIPAA Rules
False Light Invasion of Privacy
Journalistic Embellishments
Actual Malice Test
Summary
Unsolved Case: The Hurt Locker
CHAPTER SEVEN: OBSCENITY AND INDECENCY
Learning Objectives
Unresolved Questions of Content and Context
Colonial Controls
Comstockery
Early 20th Century Changes
Literary Test Case
Roth-Memoirs Test
Sexual Orientation and Perversion
Pandering Erotic Works
Variable Obscenity
Miller v. California
Privacy and Pornography
Community Standards
Jenkins v. Georgia
Social Values
Child Pornography
Congressional Acts
Child Pornography Prevention Act
Communications Decency Act
Child Online Protection Act
Children’s Internet Protection Act
PROTECT Act
Cinema Censorship
The Miracle Case
Times Film Corp. Case
Freedman Rules
Ratings System
Legion of Decency
Production Code’s Demise
Up Close: “What the Ratings Mean”
Feminist Mystique
Nude Dancing
Up Close: The Show Me Less State
Broadcast and Cable Indecency
Cable Television
Fleeting Exposures and Expletives
Fox v. FCC
Nipplegate
Broadcast Indecency Act
Dial-a-Porn Law
Indecent Violence
Video Game Ratings
Summary
Unsolved Case: “Sexting” Crimes
CHAPTER EIGHT: MEDIA AND COURTS
Learning Objectives
The Trial of the Century…At the Time
Up Close: The Supreme Court’s Sheppard Decision
Pretrial Publicity
Protecting Fair Trial Rights
Change of Venue
Continuance
Sequestration
Voir Dire
Judicial Admonition
Control of Courtroom
Contempt of Court
Gag Orders
Compelling Reporters to Testify
The Branzburg Test
Up Close: The Grand Jury Process
Shield Laws
Up Close: Privilege
From the Trenches: Federal Shield Law, By Congressman Mike Pence
Newsroom Searches
Cameras in the Courtroom
Must Courtrooms Be Open?
Up Close: Closing Criminal Court
Summary
Unsolved Case: Texting in the Courtroom
CHAPTER NINE: FREEDOM OF ACCESS
Learning Objectives
Access Denied
The Origins of Access
The Constitution and the Common Law
The Freedom of Information Act
Electronic - FOIA
Policy Shifts
FOIA Steps to Access
From the Trenches: Chas. N. Davis
Using the FOIA
FOIA Initiatives
FOIA Responses
Accelerating the FOIA
FOIA Assessment of Fees
Up Close: The Price of Sunshine
FOIA Exemptions
Up Close: Pictures of Shame
Removing FOIA Barriers
Up Close: Presidential Records
Sunshine in Government Meetings
Up Close: Emails and Text Messages
State Government Access
Laws that Restrict Access
State Driver’s License Records
Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act
Privacy of Health Records
Press Freedoms to Gather Information
Summary
Unsolved Case: “Discount Window”
CHAPTER TEN: BROADCAST REGULATION
Learning Objectives
Radio’s Regulatory Roots
Wireless Ship Act of 1910
Radio Act of 1912
Washington Radio Conferences
Trial Balloons
The Federal Radio Commission (1927)
Federal Jurisdiction
Rationale for Regulation
Competing Theories
Precedents of Punishment
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
The Commissioners
Rule-Making Process
Licensing Stations
Licensing Process
Licensing Requirements
Public Inspection File
Infractions
Licensing Renewal
Deregulation
The Telecommunications Act
FCC Analysis of Competition
Television Ownership Limits
Radio Ownership Limits
Duopoly Rule
Cross-Ownership
Rethinking Cross-Ownership
Spectrum Auctions
Localism & Diversity
Up Close: Enhanced Disclosure Forms
Minority Ownership
Minority Employment
Programming Issues
Children’s Content
Core Programming
Defining Children’s Programs
Embedded Advertising
Product Placement
TV Violence & Children
Political Content
Fairness Doctrine
Fairness Origins
Equal Opportunities
Who is a Legally Qualified Candidate?
Reasonable Access
Exemptions
Newscasts
News Interviews
News Documentaries
Spot News Coverage
Debates
Fine Points of Equal Opportunities
Public Broadcasting
Up Close: Public Television’s Heroine
Broadcasting’s Other Obligations
Hoaxes and Distortions
Up Close: The Holy Grail
Station and Sponsor Identification
Summary
Unsolved Case: Performance Tax
CHAPTER ELEVEN: TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Learning Outcomes
A Level Playing Field
In the Beginning
Defining the Messenger
FCC Jurisdiction
Early Competitors
Natural Monopoly
Pendulum of Cable Regulation
Copyright Issues
Syndicated Exclusivity
Must Carry Regulation
Turner I & II
Retransmission Consent
Up Close: “Dallas and its Cable Dilemma”
Cable Act of 1984
Cable Consumer Act of 1992
Registration and Requirements
Public Access Obligations
Midwest Video Cases
A la carte channels
The 70/70 Rule
Satellite Television Regulation
Open Sky Policy
Direct to Home Satellite
Alternative Subscription Services
Wireless Cable (MMDS)
Digital Delivery Options
The Telecommunications Act of 1996
Effective Communication
Vertical and Horizontal Integration
Telephone Competition
Triple or Quadruple Play
Voice-Over Internet Protocol
IPTV Regulation
Summary
Unsolved Case: Universal Service
CHAPTER TWELVE: ADVERTISING LAW
Learning Objectives
Paternalistic Approaches to Regulating Advertising
Roots of Advertising Regulation
The Central Hudson Test
Deceptive Advertising
Likely to Mislead
Reasonable Consumer
Material to Purchasing Decision
Factual Claims
Up Close: Legitimate Evidence
What About Statements of Opinion?
Up Close: The Special Case of Testimonials
Actions
Other Agencies and Advertising
Self Regulation
Summary
Unsolved Case: Is it Advertising or Isn’t It?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: MEDIA BUSINESS LAW
Learning Objectives
Contracts
Elements of a Contract
Releases as a Contract
Labor Contracts
Hold-Harmless Clauses
Media and Antitrust
Labor Laws
Child Actors
Equal Employment Opportunities
Labor Unions
Up Close: Media Labor Organizations
Corporate Speech
Investing in Media
Insider Trading
Merger Mania
Summary
Unsolved Case: Tiger Woods
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Learning Objectives
A Constitutional Right? Really?
What is Copyright?
Licensing Performance Rights
Up Close: The Unusual Case of Happy Birthday
Up Close: Production Music
Derivative Works
An Exception to Distribution Rights
Copyright-able Works
Copyright Registration
The Duration of a Copyright
Up Close: Works for Hire
The Doctrine of Fair Use
Purpose and Character of the Use
Nature of the Copyrighted Work
The Amount and Substantiality of the Use
Effect on the Market
Trying to Do the Right Thing
Devices that Facilitate Infringement
Trademarks
Up Close: Comparing Apples to Apples
The Red Light at 3 a.m.
Summary
Unsolved Case: Fan Fiction
432 pages, Paperback