1. Legal & Ethical Issues in News

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. LIBEL  Defenses against Libel  Truth  Privilege  Fair Comment

6. 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

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

8. Access to information  Free Press-Fair Trial  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

9. 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

10. Copyright  Copyright Act of 1976  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

11. 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