Media Law: Understanding Freedom of Expression  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter Outline  History  Today’s Media Law  Controversies

 What are the 5 clauses of the first amendment?  Name the different types of mass media that exist in our society  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 The Development of the Philosophy of Free Speech  Freedom to protest was important to the founders U.S. colonies ▪ After breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church  Protestants chaffed under England’s licensing laws ▪ Not allowed to express religious views for more than a 100 years.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteed citizens of the new country five essential and related freedoms: ▪ Religion ▪ Speech ▪ Press ▪ Assembly ▪ Petition  The First Amendment ignited a sometimes bitter debate about free speech that continues to this day.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 In 1798, The Alien and Sedition Acts,  Illegal to criticize the government, through Congress.  Aimed at publishers supporting Thomas Jefferson,  Lasted two years, helped Jefferson win the presidency in 1800  The Comstock Act, passed in 1873,  Banned all sex education, birth control, and abortion information,  Made it illegal to send these materials through the mail.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Investigative journalists influenced passage of laws such as ▪ the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 ▪ the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, ▪ Lead to restrictions in what and how the media could advertise.  In 1917, the Espionage Act upheld the censorship of ideas considered injurious to the war effort.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Clear and Present Danger doctrine  Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the in 1919  “The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that the United States Congress has a right to prevent.”  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Regulating Broadcasting  FCC regulated more than placement of radio stations on the frequency spectrum. ▪ The Equal Opportunity Rule ▪ Stations must give equal opportunity for other candidates of same office. ▪ The Fairness Doctrine ( ) ▪ Required broadcasters to give time for discussion of big public issues.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Telecommunications Act of 1996, ▪ Removed many of the restrictions on a wide range of communications industries ▪ Allowing cable TV, long distance carriers, local phone companies, information services and Internet service providers to merge at will. ▪ What are some mergers or companies that grew as a result of this that you know of  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 In 1957, the Supreme Court decreed that a work could be declared obscene ▪ If, according to the perceptions of the average person applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appealed to the prurient (lustfully depraved) interest of the consumer. ▪ This definition tended to confuse rather than clarify.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 In 1964 Justice Potter Stewart expressed frustration at the difficulties of defining obscenity ▪ When he famously said “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it”.  A new category, indecency, was created for broadcast controls. ▪ The FCC considers material indecent if it is “offensive to community standards for broadcasting.”  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Concentration of Ownership  Large legal settlements have encouraged the concentration of media ownership ▪ Because only large corporations can afford such settlements.  Concentration of ownership has caused many of these large settlements. ▪ In 1997, a jury awarded $223 million to a brokerage firm that said it had been libeled by Dow Jones’ The Wall Street Journal.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 New Technology  In 1996, Congress passed the Communications Decency Act,  Which made it a crime to transmit indecent material over the Internet if minors had access to it ▪ But the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional ▪ Why would this be unconstitutional  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 New Technology  Other laws had to be written for crimes that did not exist before the Internet. ▪ A 1996 law made computer espionage illegal. ▪ In the 1990s, federal law made the development and purposeful transmission of computer viruses illegal.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 The Legal System and Types of Law  In the U.S. there are 52 different court systems: one for each state, one for Washington, D.C. and one for the federal government. ▪ In criminal law ▪ Criminal acts. ▪ In civil law ▪ Disputes between private parties ▪ Constitutional law ▪ The U.S. Constitution prevails, ▪ Any state or local law that contradicts the First Amendment cannot be legally implemented.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Statutory law  Collection of laws written by legislative bodies, such as the U.S. Congress,  Administrative law  Made up of the rules and regulations of governmental agencies such as the FCC, FTC, and the Federal Election Commission (FEC).  Common law  Made up of judges’ rulings which become precedents for future cases.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Protection of Rights  Personal Rights: ▪ An individual’s right to be left alone, especially in one’s home, ▪ established through common law. ▪ Privacy law is always changing with the times. ▪ After September 11th attacks, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act ▪ Act gives govt expanded rights to access personal and private communications and examine books Americans buy or check out of the library.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Defamation  Communication that is false and injures the reputation of an individual.  Slander  Defamation that appears in transitory form, such as speech.  Libel  Published or broadcast defamation.  In most cases, truth is the absolute defense against a charge of libel.  A public figure must prove actual malice ▪ Either knew it was false or had a reckless disregard for the truth,.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Intellectual Property Rights  Copyright law grants the author right to make and distribute copies of that work for a specified period. ▪ First-sale doctrine ▪ Allows purchasers of copies of a copyrighted work to resell it or rent it out. ▪ Copyright does not protect ideas, ▪ Only the expression of ideas, such as a screenplay or novel.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

▪ The copyright sign does not have to appear in a work for it to be protected. ▪ Fair use allows copying of a work for noncommercial use as long as it does not exploit the copyright holder. ▪ Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998 ▪ Made it a crime to break through any technology intended to secure digital copies of software, literary works, videos, and music.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Trademarks are any  Word, symbol, or device - or combination of the three –  That identify one seller’s goods and distinguishes them from goods sold by others. ▪ Names like Jell-O, Walkman and Xerox, and symbols such as Microsoft’s Windows logo and Playboy’s bunny are registered trademarks.  Trademarks as generic terms  Fair use of trademarks ▪ Word or common symbol can be used by others  Expressions as trademarks  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Newsgathering Rights  Sunshine laws, or open meeting laws, ▪ Ensure that public meetings are conducted in open sessions where the press can report on them.  The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) ▪ A federal law to ensure pen documents. ▪ Requires federal agencies to list all their documents and provide them for news agencies on request. ▪ “Top secret” documents or documents that would violate privacy laws are exempt from FOIA.  Shield law ▪ Designed to ensure confidentiality of news sources.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

 Some forms of speech are more protected than others. ▪ Political speech ▪ Ideas and facts that backup the ideas about the meaning and correct course of government is the most protected. ▪ Artistic speech ▪ Including creative work such as painting, dance and literature. ▪ Commercial speech ▪ includes advertising. ▪ Indecent speech ▪ Enjoys the least protection.  © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved