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 (8th ed. 2011).  Additional materials will be available online.

1. Defamation (9/12/2011)

• Notes on defamation, pp. 166-76, 182-84
  

• New York Times v. Sullivan and Notes, pp. 184-202
  
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. and Notes, pp. 202-215
  
• Note on Public and Private Figures, pp. 215-225
  
• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps and Notes, pp. 225-230
  
• Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. and Notes, pp. 230-234
  
• Cases and Notes on Neutral Reportage, pp. 243-245, 247-258
  
• Notes on retraction, overseas liability, and other issues, pp. 258-262

Additional reading (optional)

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

 
2.  Privacy (9/19/2011)

A. Privacy and freedom of expression

• Notes on the tort of disclosure, pp. 263-275
  

• Notes on Constitutional Limitations, pp. 275-278
  
• Florida Star v. B.J.F. and Notes, pp. 278-289
  
• Cases and Notes on false light, pp. 289-298
  
• Notes on appropriation of name or likeness, pp. 299-311
  
• Note on Data Protection Statutes, pp. 311-312

B. Unmaking online speakers

• Nathaniel Gleicher, John Doe Subpoenas: Toward A Consistent Legal Standard

C. Online self-revelation

• The Ladettes Who Glorify Their Shameful Drunken Antics on Facebook, The Daily Mail, November 5, 2007
  

• David Colker, Facebook Photos Could Be Hazardous to Your Health Benefits, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 24, 2009
  
• Jeffrey Rosen, The Web Means the End of Forgetting, New York Times, July 21, 2010
  
• WikiHow, How to Delete Yourself From the Internet
  
• Electronic Frontier Foundation, Data on the Wire (Section on TMI on the Web)
  
• Random House Editor Jason Pinter Gets Dooced, Gawker.com, March 6, 2007

3.  Communications torts (9/26/2011)

A. Infliction of Emotional Distress

• Hustler v. Falwell and Notes, pp 313-326
  

• Conradt v. NBC Universal (S.D.N.Y. 2008)

B. Economic Harm

• Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. and Notes, pp. 326-333

C. Incitement and Aiding and Abetting

• Herceg v. Hustler Magazine and Notes, pp. 333-345
  

• Rice v. Paladin Enterprises and Notes, pp. 345-354
  
• Braun v. Soldier of Fortune Magazine and Notes, pp. 354-364

D. Indirect Burdens: Financial Disincentives and Taxation

• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. New York State Crime Victims Board, pp. 84-90
  

• Leathers v. Medlock, pp. 91-97

 

4. Prior Restraints and National Security (10/03/2011)

A. Prior Restraint

• Notes and Near v. Minnesota, pp. 26-36.
  

• New York Times v. United States (Pentagon Papers) and Notes, pp. 36-41
  
• Nebraska Press Association v. Stewart and Notes, pp. 41-40
  
• Note on Gag Orders, pp. 50-53
  
• Note on Prior Restraints and the Internet, pp. 53-58
  
• Note on Contempt Sanctions, pp 63-64
  
• Mills v. Alabama and Notes, pp. 65-69
  
• Landmark Communications, Inc., v. Virginia, pp. 69-72
  
• Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co., pp. 73-77

B. Wikileaks

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. v. Wikileaks, pp. 58-62
  

• Yochai Benkler, A Free Irresponsible Press
  
• Glenn Greenwald, The War on Wikileaks and Why it Matters, Salon, March 27, 2010
  
• Glenn Greenwald, The Wikileaks Afghanistan Leak, Salon, July 25, 2010
  
• Raffi Khatchadourian, No Secrets: Julian Assange's Mission for Total Transparency, The New Yorker, June 7, 2010
  
• L. Gordon Crovitz, Julian Asange, Information Anarchist, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 6, 2010
  
• David Samuels, The Shameful Attacks on Julian Assange, The Atlantic, Dec. 3, 2010
  
• Controversial Holocaust Historian David Irving Emails, Nov. 2009, Wikileaks site
  
• Kim Zetter, Hackers Post Private E-Mails of Accused Holocaust Denier, Wired, Nov. 14, 2009
  
• Ryan Calo, Wikileaks: Lessons for Consumer Privacy, Stanford Center for Internet and Society, Nov. 29, 2010

 
5. Broadcast and Cable Regulation (10/17/2011)

• Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo and Notes, pp. 78-84
  

• Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC and Notes, pp. 110-116
  
• Notes on Equal Time and Equal Opportunities, pp. 116-118
  
• CBS, Inc. v. FCC and Notes, pp. 118-122
  
• Notes on Ownership Regulations, pp. 122-125
  
• Turner Broadcasting v. FCC and Notes, pp. 142-151
  
• Comcast Corporation v. FCC and Notes, pp. 157-164
  
• Balkin, Media Access: A Question of Design, 76 George Washington L. Rev. 933 (2008)

 
6. Content Regulation in Broadcast Media and the Internet (10/24/2011)

A. Indecency

• Notes and FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, pp. 125-134
  

• Action for Children's Television v. FCC (ACT III)
  
• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group and Notes, pp. 135-142
  
• Reno v. ACLU and Notes, pp. 151-157
  
• FCC v. Fox (2d Circuit, July 13, 2010)

B. Violence

• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association

 
7. The Legal Regulation of Newsgathering (10/31/2011)

• Shulman v. Group W. Production and Notes, pp. 393-399
  

• Sanders v. American Broadcasting Companies and Notes, pp. 399-407
  
• Note on Trespass, pp. 407-410
  
• Berger v. Hanlon and Notes, pp. 410-413
  
• Note on Wiretapping and Eavesdropping, pp. 413-416
  
• Bartnicki v. Vopper and Notes, pp. 416-426
  
• Taus v. Loftus and Notes, pp. 426-436
  
• Food Lion v. Capital Cities/ABC and Notes, pp. 436-443
  
• Notes on Negligence and Damages, pp. 443-450

 
8. Press Privileges (11/07/2011)

• Notes and Branzburg v. Hayes, pp. 451-465
  

• Notes on the Reporter's Privilege, pp. 465-472
  
• O'Grady v. Superior Court and Notes, pp. 472-479
  
• Too Much Media LLC v. Hale
  
• Note on Applying the Privilege in Leaks Cases, pp. 479-487
  
• Note on Applying the Privilege to Non-Confidential Information, pp. 487-488
  
• Gonzales v. National Broadcasting Company and Notes, pp. 488-494
  
• Notes on Search Warrants, pp. 494-500

9.  Access to Judicial Proceedings (11/14/2011)

• Notes and Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, pp. 572-585
  

• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court (II) and Notes, pp. 585-596
  
• Note on Civil Trials, pp. 596-599
  
• Note on Juvenile Proceedings, pp. 599-602
  
• Note on Courtroom Photography and Broadcasting, pp. 602-606
  
• Hollingsworth v. Perry, (U.S. S.Ct., January 13, 2010)
  
• Note on Access to Jurors and Witnesses, pp. 606-611
  
• Note on Access to Judicial Records and Discovery Materials, pp. 611-614
  
• Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart and Notes, pp. 614-628

 
10. Access to Government Information (11/28/2011)

• Note on FOIA, pp. 501-503
  

• National Archives and Records Administration v. Favish and Notes, pp. 504-509
  
• Notes on FOIA, pp. 509-515
  
• Note on Information and National Security After 9/11, pp. 515-519
  
• Note on Open Goverment Initiatives, pp. 519-527
  
• Notes and Houchins v. KQED, pp. 527-538
  
• Gilk v. Cunniffe (1st Cir., August 26, 2011)
  
• Cases and Notes on Access to Military Operations, pp. 538-549
  
• City of Oak Creek v. Ah King and Notes, pp. 549-555
  
• Cases and Notes on Discriminatory Access, pp. 555-566
  
• Doe v. Reed and Notes, pp. 567-571

 

11. Intellectual Property and Intermediary Liability on the Internet (12/05/2011)

A. Fair Use

• Cases and Notes on Copyright, pp. 365-380, 382-389
  

• 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. Misappropriation

• Cases and Notes, pp. 380-382
  

• Shyamkrishna Balganesh, "Hot News": The Enduring Myth of Property in News

C. Section 230

• Notes and Zeran v. America Online, pp. 235-243
  

• Balkin, The Future of Free Expression in a Digital Age, 36 Pepperdine L. Rev. 707 (2009)
  
• Wikipedia, The Sigenthaler Controvery

D. 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

 
12. The Future of News and New Business Models for Journalism, Part One (12/12/2011)

A. The Changing Business Climate

• Choire Sicha, A Graphic History of Newspaper Circulation Over the Last Two Decades, The Awl, Oct. 26, 2009
  

• Pew Research Center, Newspapers Face A Challenging Calculus
  
• Ken Doctor, The Newsonomics of the Next Recession, Nieman Journalism Lab, Aug. 11, 2011
  
• Eric Alterman, The Death and Life of the American Newspaper, The New Yorker, March 31, 2008
  
• Jeff Jarvis, Hard Economic Lessons for News, Buzz Machine, April 25, 2011
  
• Roy Greenslade, Journalists as Entrepreneurs? That's Fine, but not if they Have to Sell Advertising, the Guardian, Oct. 20, 2010

B. Problems for the Democratic Function of the Press

• 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?
  
• FCC, The Information Needs of Communities, Executive Summary

13. The Future of News and New Business Models for Journalism, Part Two (12/14/2011)

C. Proposals for Reform

• 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

D. Behavioral Advertising as a Business Model

• Center for Democracy and Technology, CDTs Guide to Behavioral Advertising (2009)
  

• Ken Doctor, The Newsonomics of Do Not Track
  
• Electronic Frontier Foundation, Google Begins Behavioral Targeting Ad Program, March 11, 2009
  
• Miguel Helft and Tanzina Vega, Retargeting Ads Follow Surfers to Other Sites, The New York Times, Aug. 29, 2010
  
• Your Apps Are Watching You, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 17, 2010
  
• Joel Rosenblatt, Apple Sued Over Applications Giving Information to Advertisers
  
• Declan McCullagh, Web Monitoring for Ads? It May Be Illegal
  
• In the Matter of Google, Inc. and DoubleClick, Inc., Before the Federal Trade Commission, April 20, 2007
  
• Genevive La Court v. Specific Media, Inc. (Complaint)