Legal & Ethical Issues in News

Anyone can sue... Tort -- a wrong other than breach of contract for which an injured party is able to bring a lawsuit against the person who injured him/her Civil Law vs. criminal law Time & Money Lose Case, Win Appeal

Lawsuit process Complaint and response Must respond Deny everything, move to dismiss Discovery (interrogatories, depositions) Set trial date / settle out of court Trial (which court jurisdiction?) Appeal

LIBEL Libel = false report that damages the reputation of an individual Elements needed to prove libel: False, presented as fact Publication Identification Defamation (reputation, not character) Fault Negligence Actual Malice

LIBEL Defenses against Libel Truth Privilege Fair Comment

LIBEL on the Internet Two main issues: Who is responsible for the libel? Courts have ruled that Content Providers (such as a news web site) are responsible for libel, not Common Carriers (such as Internet Providers like AOL and MSN) What jurisdiction applies? Courts have been inconsistent on whether libel laws apply from state where libel originates or state where most viewers impacted

PRIVACY Invasion of Privacy - 4 types: False Light Publishing private facts Appropriation Intrusion

Access to information Free Press-Fair Trial Shield Laws Balance between news coverage hype and a fair trial in the courtroom Cameras in the courtroom introduced in 1965; two-thirds of states allowed by 1991 Presumptively open Shield Laws State laws that protect reporters from naming anonymous sources for police investigations Freedom of information State and federal laws give citizens and journalists the right to view government documents Open meetings U.S. Patriot Act 2001 has taken away access rights to many federal, state documents HIPPA 1996 has complicated access to health information that is generally public

Access to information Anti-SLAPP legislation Limited Invitation Apparent Authority Trespass Police orders Public vs. private property Designated Public Forum Inaccessible public property Private property

Copyright Copyright Act of 1976 Who owns a copyright? For all works created before 1978, copyright protection is 95 years from date of creation For works created Jan. 1, 1978, and later, copyright protection is life of the author plus 70 years Who owns a copyright? News organizations own all produced material Identified by , “copyrighted,” year and owner’s name Fair Use Doctrine - portions of copyrighted material can be used without permission of the copyright holder: Purpose of the use is non-commercial Nature of the work is intended for mass use Amount of the work used is just a portion Use will not have a major economic impact on the market

Copyright and the Internet Downloads Compression technology has made downloading MP3 files, such as music and movies, fast and easy The record industry has fought back against “illegal downloads” and peer-to-peer networks that prevent paying for such files Napster™ became the poster child for this fight, but the recording industry goes after anyone downloading large files with hefty fines and jail time Criminal & Civil