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Media & Entertainment Law

Media Law Prof Blog

Media law resources, information, and news for the academic community.

Post Frequency: 34.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 12:48:00

Bale Apologizes; Meanwhile BBC Broadcasts Part of Unedited Tape

Posted on February 08, 2009
Christian Bale has apologized for the tirade he loosed at "Terminator 4" director of photography Shawn Hurlbut, saying he (Bale) "acted like a punk." He delivered the mea culpa via phone to an L.A. radio station. Meanwhile both the rant...

Shepard Fairey Arrested Over Graffiti

Posted on February 08, 2009
Shepard Fairey, who's currently battling copyright infringement claims with the AP, was arrested for "tagging property with graffiti," while he was enroute to an event at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Law enforcement indicated warrants were issued in...

Lawyers, Lawyers, Everywhere For Fall

Posted on February 06, 2009
Ah, yes, they're back in vogue for fall (did they ever really go away?) Attorneys are the careerists of choice for fall dramas, although health professionals are not far behind. NBC will be offering up a new David E. Kelley...

Six Face Trial Over Translation of Koran

Posted on February 06, 2009
Six Afghanistani men are jailed over a translation of Koran which critics say is unauthorized, and because it does not include the original Arabic version, is also heretical. They have had trouble finding legal assistance, and fear that they will...

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JuicyCampus Runs Out of Juice

Posted on February 05, 2009
JuicyCampus, the gossip website, is shutting down. Matt Ivester, the site's founder, says a lack of revenue, not threats of lawsuits or nasty publicity, has led to the demise of the operation.What a wild ride this has been! In the...

Judge Says No To SAG Leadership Request For TRO

Posted on February 05, 2009
SAG President Alan Rosenberg and other members of the guild's board went to court to try to undo last week's ouster of Doug Allen, but a judge denied the request for a temporary restraining order. Here's more from the Hollywood...

AP Says It's Entitled To Credit, Cash, For Artist's Use of Obama Photo

Posted on February 05, 2009
Artist Shepard Fairey and the Associated Press are now locked in a battle over the copyright to an image of President Barack Obama. Photographer Mannie Garcia took the original photo of then candidate Obama, and Mr. Fairey used it as...

After-Grokster Liability

Posted on February 05, 2009
Mark Bartholomew, University at Buffalo Law School (SUNY), has published "Copyright, Trademark and Secondary Liability after Grokster," in the 2009 volume of the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts. Here is the abstract. Even though secondary infringement doctrine in...

Internet Law in a Nutshell

Posted on February 05, 2009
Michael L. Rustad, Suffolk University Law School, has published Internet Law in a Nutshell (2009). Here is the abstract.This clear, handily organized primer is ideally suited for law students or lawyers who need a brief exposition of the core cases...

MPs Hear Testimony on Financial Information, Relationships Between Journalists, Government

Posted on February 05, 2009
At least one journalist told Members of Parliament this week that he thought that the government gave the media information in order to influence bank share prices. According to Guardian reporter Simon Jenkins, "The government, knowing it was about to...

Reaction To Carol Thatcher Firing

Posted on February 05, 2009
Some BBC staff say the reaction against Carol Thatcher for that "golliwog" remark was disproportionate. She was fired, but others, such as Jonathan Ross (remember Sachsgate) who have made equally offensive remarks have only been put on probation. Read more...

Hollywood's War With the Pirates

Posted on February 05, 2009
The New York Times's Brian Stelter and Brad Stone write about Hollywood's digital piracy war here.

Congress Sends Bill Authorizing Digital Delay To President's Desk

Posted on February 04, 2009
A bill delaying the digital switchover until June 12 is on its way to President Obama's desk. The House vote was 264-158.

K-E-Double L-O-Double Good....

Posted on February 04, 2009
The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a Kellogg's ad for cookies after the consumer lobby Which? complained that an ad campaign for Nutri-Grain Soft Oaties cookies with the tagline "Wholesome cookie goodness" in which a cookie replaced the "o"s, was...

Carol Thatcher Dropped From BBC For Racist Remark

Posted on February 04, 2009
Carol Thatcher, daughter of former British PM Margaret Thatcher, is out at the BBC's The One Show after she was overheard referring to a tennis player as "a golliwog." In British slang, a "golliwog" is a racist term for a...

Britney Spears's Former Manager Sues For Defamation

Posted on February 04, 2009
Sam Lufti, who was Britney Spears' manager, has filed suit against the star and her parents for defamation and IIED just after the Spears family was granted a restraining order against Mr. Lufti and two others. Mr. and Mrs. Spears...

Is It SNL...Or Is It Memorex?

Posted on February 03, 2009
Those sketches featuring "MacGruber" and looking like a takeoff on "MacGyver" might have looked like Saturday Night Live sketches but they were real Pepsi ads, although SNL producer Lorne Michaels produced them and SNL cast member Will Forte starred. NBC...

Joe "Girls Gone Wild" Francis Has a Very Bad Day

Posted on February 03, 2009
Things are going from bad to worse for "Girls Gone Wild" entrepreneur Joe Francis. He showed up hours late for a court hearing in Los Angeles, and when he finally materialized, the very annoyed judge had him arrested. And why...

Christian Bale Baleful On Set of "Terminator: Salvation"

Posted on February 03, 2009
From CNN: A tape of Christian Bale going nuts on set over the director of photography, who was checking the lighting. Why is the tape public now? According to CNN, the studio sent the tape to its insurance company "just...

The Press's Take on Kelo

Posted on February 03, 2009
Lynne B. Sagalyn, Columbia Business School, has published "Positioning Politics: Kelo, Eminent Domain, and the Press," in Land and Power: The Impact of Eminent Domain in Urban Communities (Princeton University Press, 2008). Here is the abstract. This paper explores the...

Law Schools, US News' Law School Rankings, and a New Study Discussing Them Both

Posted on February 03, 2009
Katherine Mangan of the Chronicle of Higher Education discusses Michael Sauder and Wendy Nelson Espeland's The Discipline of Rankings: Tight Coupling and Organizational Change, a study of US News' rankings of law schools, and the law schools' reactions to them,...

London Lite Issues Apology To David Walliams Over Montage

Posted on February 03, 2009
The British "free paper" London Lite has apologized to "Little Britain" star David Walliams for a photo montage that suggested he and model Peta Todd are in a "relationship." The paper said, "We are happy to do that and apologise...

ASA Finds That Videogame Industry Ads Follow Rules

Posted on February 03, 2009
After examining the industry pattern of video game marketing, the Advertising Standards Authority has found that the overwhelming majority of ads conform to its code. Concerns had been raised by Dr. Tanya Byron, a clinical psychologist. Here's a link to...

Arizona TV Station's Super Bowl Broadcast Interrupted, For a Few Seconds, By Indecent Material

Posted on February 02, 2009
Tucson station KVOA-TV says its broadcast of the Super Bowl was interrupted by about 10 seconds' worth of pornography. Only Comcast customers saw the snippet. From the KVOA-TV website: KVOA-TV is investigating pornographic material viewed during the Super Bowl by...

Newspapers Admit Errors Over Heather Mills Stories

Posted on February 02, 2009
At least four newspapers have corrected stories after Heather Mills's lawyers have complained about their coverage of the former Beatle's ex-wife, admitting that articles that alleged that she had spent millions on a new swimming pool and other improvements to...

Egyptian Court Overturns Sentences For Journalists

Posted on February 02, 2009
An Egyptian appellate court has overturned the prison sentences of four editors convicted of defaming or criticizing President Hosni Mubark, but left in place heavy fines. The journalists have vowed to continue the fight to eliminate the fines.

Law Enforcement and Cell Phone Signal Jamming

Posted on February 01, 2009
More law enforcement agencies want to jam cell phone signals in order to track down suspects or prevent crime. But use of such technology requires balancing of public safety against individual rights. Read more here in an MSNBC story and...

Watching "Watchmen"

Posted on February 01, 2009
In today's New York Times, a discussion of the eagerly anticipated film Watchmen, so recently the subject of litigation.

The Public Interest in Protecting Confidential Sources

Posted on January 30, 2009
David M. Abrahamowicz has published "Calculating the Public Interest in Protecting Journalists' Confidential Sources," at 108 Columbia Law Review 1949 (2008). Here is the abstract. Most federal circuits recognize a qualified journalist's privilege not to identify a confidential source...

Actress Nancy Cartwright Uses "Bart Simpson" Voice in Scientology Ad

Posted on January 29, 2009
Nancy Cartwright, who voices "Bart Simpson" on the Fox hit "The Simpsons," may be in trouble with the show's producers over a recorded call she made for the Church of Scientology. While she identifies herself as "Nancy Cartwright" after first...

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