CHAPTER FOURTEEN Arguments over freedom of expression have existed since Greek times John Milton wrote a pamphlet called Areopagitica religious argument was advanced in favor of freedom of expression Seditious libel laws laws established in colonial America that made it illegal to criticize government or its representatives Contempt willful disobedience of the rules of a court legislative body First Amendment guarantees freedoms of religion speech press assembly and petition Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 law that once again made it illegal to criticize the government lasted only 2 years Early obscenity laws conflict between governments ability to regulate moral behavior and right to freedom of expression Seditious libel laws returned with WWI Regulating Broadcasting Equal Opportunity Rule if a broadcast station permits one candidate for office to use its facilities it must allow all other candidates for the same office to do the same The Fairness Doctrine no longer in effect required broadcasters to provide airtime for the discussion of important public issues and must discuss all viewpoints Ownership Limitations FCC regulations established to keep broadcasters from becoming too powerful Deregulation the repeal of government rules and regulations Legislators began to feel that business regulation crippled the U S in global competition Telecommunications Act of 1996 removed many restrictions on a wide range of communications industries allowing them to merge at will Media conglomerates became bigger than ever as a result of this law Obscenity offensive content with no social value Supreme Court created and then later refined a definition of obscene Indecency offensive content with possible social value National Security Supreme Court ruled that in all but the most essential national security cases the media must be allowed to publish they can be punished after if they break a law but they must not be prevented in advance from publishing Current Trends in Media Law Globalization media organizations need to keep up with the laws of many countries Very few countries have press freedom laws like the first amendment and many have no constitutional guarantees to freedom of press at all Concentration of Ownership media companies need to be large in order to New Technology media need to keep up with the legal implications of 1 Personal Rights defamation slander libel privacy 2 3 News Gathering Rights sunshine laws Freedom of Information Act shield Intellectual Property Rights copyright trademark patents meet rising legal costs changing technology Three Areas of Media Law laws Personal Rights Privacy 3 primary areas 1 Private Facts protects against the disclosure of embarrassing sensitive 2 personal info that is not essential to a news story Intrusion prevents the press from unauthorized entry when gathering news laws include restrictions on trespassing the use of surveillance equipment secret recordings tapped phone lines telephoto lenses 3 Appropriation individuals own the right to their image and name neither of which can be used without their permission except in the reporting of news Defamation communication that is false and injures a reputation Two types 1 Slander defamation that occurs in a transitory form such as speech 2 Libel published or broadcast defamation Four defenses against a charge of libel 1 Truth 2 The Times rule states that a public figure victim of libel must prove actual malice reckless disregard for the truth of published defamatory info 3 Privilege exemption given public officials to speak without fear of being sued for libel allows judges and witnesses to call a defendant a murderer etc Qualified privilege journalists can repeat the verdict 4 Fair Comment includes any honest criticism or opinion such as that expressed by a movie or book reviewer The Chilling Effect tendency of reporters to self censor because of fear of possible legal action Trade Libel defamation of a company or its products Intellectual Property Rights Federal law covers 3 types of intellectual property writings trademarks patents All writings are protected under copyright law Copyright a right to copy Copyright law law that entitles the owner of a work to make and distribute reproductions of that work for a specific period can be sold to another party First sale doctrine allows purchasers of a copyrighted work to resell it or rent it out Copyright does not protect ideas only the expression of those ideas Any work published or unpublished is protected Fair use doctrine that allows the copying of a portion of a work for a noncommercial use as long as it doesn t interfere with sales Copyright laws need to be reconsidered with each new technology Trademark a word symbol or device that identifies a seller s goods Trademarks can be lost if they become generic terms for a product Fair use of others trademarks includes comparative advertising news reporting and commentary Trademarks can be made out of fairly common expressions Patent an exclusive right granted an inventor to manufacture use or sell an invention for a specified number of years News Gathering Rights Three types of laws seek to ensure that meetings documents and news sources will be made available to news reporters 1 Sunshine laws laws that ensure that public meetings are conducted in the open reporters are allowed to attend requires legislative units to meet at regular times and places and to announce their meetings to the public 2 The Freedom of Information Act ensures open documents by requiring federal agencies to list all their documents and provide them to news agencies and individuals on request 3 Shield laws laws designed to ensure confidentiality of news sources Controversies Censorship right to free expression In order of most protection to least protection of expression 1 Political speech messages about the meaning and correct course of government 2 Artistic speech creative work such as painting dance and literature 3 Commercial speech advertising 4 Indecent speech or indecency Conflict of Rights privacy libel and copyright laws conflict with the public s right to know One of the clearest conflicts is between the right of free press and the right of a defendant to a fair trial Conflict of the first and sixth amendment Gag order judicial command not to speak about trial proceedings Continuance postponement of a trial Sequestering isolating members of a jury Change of venue the moving of a trial to a different location