Introduction to Public Relations Study Guide for Exam 2 Public Relations Law First Amendment Considerations Schenck v United States Clear and Present Danger Test When the nation is at war any speech that has posed a clear and present danger is punishable Gitlow V New York Due Process Gitlow was responsible for publishing and disseminating group s views He published a newspaper which advocated the violent overthrow of the U S Government Near v Minnesota Changed the Clear and Present Danger Test J M Near published a newspaper that was thought to have racist and hateful speech He was arrested Courts ruled in his favor because the newspaper didn t have an immediate danger or harm to anyone Speech may be suppressed IF It s Obscene An Incitement to Violence Threat to National Security During time of War Investor Relations Rule 10b 5 of securities and Exchange Act No dissemination of false or misleading information to investors in order to manipulate information on stock Prohibits insider trading of securities based on material not disclosed to the public If you work in investor relations you CANNOT buy sell stocks Defamation Of Character Libel In writing video ect Defamatory and untrue Defamatory Defaming someone s character Slander Generally spoken defamatory Tort Any civil wrong other than a breach of contract Corporations have character Gossip magazines tell lies but they don t defame You cannot receive punitive damage for slander UNLESS You impune the chastity of a female Or if the business lost money and the slander was the cause In most states if the spoken remark comes from a prepared text it is considered libel A printer He didn t write the book but got in trouble because he didn t want to say who John Twain wrote the book Marcus v Late Late published a tabloid and reported that male clothing designers were homosexuals the floor models were prostitutes and the sale girls were call girls They business sued 3 Types of Laws Criminal Laws Murder is an example Tort Civil anything other than criminal contract Contract laws Agreement contracts that businesses use with each other Five Elements of Libel Publication Must prove the remark was published Identification It has to be easy to identify the person Readily Identifiable Real Defamation Personal reputation Professional reputation like job loss Social contract impeding someone s right to have social contract with others Unprivileged Occasion Absolute Privilege Person a part of a public proceeding ex Murder witness you have protection Qualified Privilege Privilege of the reporter As long as the story from the reporter is an accurate fair report reporter is protected Actual Malice Knowledge of falsity you knew it was a lie Reckless disregard for the truth didn t verify fact check Sheppard v Lanford He wrote a letter to Mrs Sheppard calling her sexual names He went into details about sexual action She took it to court She lost because she had shown her friend the letter When you receive a letter that defames you and you publish it you are then responsible for it Actual Compensatory Damages that the remark causes to money loss Compensation for Punitive non compensatory It is not meant to compensate the plaintiff but to punish the Libel Damages loss injury or harm offending party Defenses Against Libel Truth Fair comment and criticism If you put yourself out in the public eye you are subjected to fair comment and criticism Mccarthy He called people communists in official meetings He falls under qualified privilege because he was part of a proceeding He was protected If you tell lies and damage reputation it s defamation If you tell lies and it doesn t damage reputation it s not defamation The Cherry Sisters v Des Moines Leader The Cherry sisters were performers and they were so bad they had to perform behind nets An article was written about how bad their performance was They sued lost Since they are public people who stand for fair comment and criticism New York Times Co v Sullivan The New York Times had a full page advertisement about the actions against civil right protesters which involved the police Public Safety commissioner Sullivan was not named in the ad He said his character was defamed because of the ad In order for you to claim libel damages as a public official you must prove actual damaged and have to prove the 5 elements of libel Invasion of Privacy Intrusion on a plaintiff s physical solitude Publication of private matters violating ordinary decency Ex publishing a rape victim s name Cantrell v Forest City Publishing Co Putting someone in a false light in the public eye Case of a woman in Ohio A bridge collapsed and her husband died A reporter was sent to interview the woman Photographer took pictures of her children Her children were dirty The publication mischaracterized their living situation and said they were very poor The publication put them in a false light She sued for invasion of privacy on a theory of false light courts went in to her favor Appropriation of some element in an individual s personality for commercial use without You can t use someone s picture without permission for commercial use But you can use permission PUBLIC photos A window is considered an extension of a wall P I C O N Public Interest Convenience of Necessity Privacy is a constitutional right Mapp v Ohio Police went to Mrs Mapp s house and had a warrant to search They found obscene pornographic material They arrested her She claimed invasion of privacy because she had the right to have the material She was found guilty for having the pornographic material Abigail Roberson v Rochester Folding Box Company The company used her image on prints photographs and bags without knowledge or consent Roberson sued The court ruled for Roberson saying it was an invasion of privacy She lost This resulted to privacy statues in New York Pavesich v New England Life Insurance Company A newspaper published something that looked like Pavesich The insurance company had taken the photo without Pavesich s consent And it also has statements that was supposedly stated by Pavesich but really wasn t Time Magazine v Barber Time published a picture of Barber and labeled starving glutton Their photographer took a picture of her in the hospital Her family sued for invasion of privacy Copyright Lasts for a life of the author plus 70 years Lasts for 75 years if copyrighted before 1976 Starts when work is in fixed form Poor man s copyright Before copyrighting a person can
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