Constitutional Law › Art, Entertainment & Sports Law › Communications & Media Law

Jackson Walker's VIA Media Postcard - April 2013

In This Issue: - Steve Fogle's Feature: Out of the Blue - A recent unexpected court order restricting the media from reporting on certain details of a high-profile criminal case serves as a reminder that the...more

Jackson Walker's VIA Media Postcard - March 2013

In This Issue: - Chip Babcock Communique: Has the Internet Changed the First Amendment? - Chip Babcock participated in a panel discussion on this topic at a recent American College of Trial Lawyers...more

Donald Trump Sues Bill Maher for Monkeying Around on Late-Night Talk Show

Here at Law Law Land, there are a few pearls of wisdom we like to repeat — perhaps to a fault — just because they are so helpful and right. Copyright law doesn’t protect ideas, only the expressions of ideas. Being legally...more

Outtakes from Documentary Are Protected by Reporter's Privilege

The outtakes from a documentary film produced by Ken Burns and others on the Central Park Five are protected from discovery under the First Amendment. In 2012, Florentine Films released The Central Park Five, a documentary...more

Free Speech and The Super Bowl

Litigation and the Super Bowl go together in modern America like litigation and, well, anything (e.g. tattoos, Bill Russell) in modern America. But since the Super Bowl is on most of our radars for the next few days,...more

2012 Media Year in Review Media Law Bulletin - January 2013

Now that 2013 has arrived, we look forward to a new year of media cases. However, in order to orient ourselves for 2013, it is important to stop and take a look back at some of the relevant entertainment and media cases of...more

Filmmaker's Lawyer Asserts Privilege to Oppose NYC Subpoena [Video]

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- John Siegal, partner at Baker Hostetler LLP, talks about his representation of filmmakers Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon and their company, Florentine Films, in a battle with the City of New York...more

Jackson Walker's VIA Media Postcard - November/December 2012

In This Issue: - Paul Watler's Perspective: One of the few places of refuge from the political campaign advertising onslaught was public television and radio. That may change depending on a little-noticed First Amendment...more

Haunted House Doesn’t Scare Off Filmmaker

Many people consult with psychics. Not an unusual thing to do (certainly not in California). But not a lot of people spend the next 38 years adding rooms to their houses because the soothsayer said spirits would kill them...more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- November 1, 2012

Table of Contents: - Winchester Mystery House, LLC v. Global Asylum, Inc., Cal. Ct. App., California court of appeal affirms grant of defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding that defendant established...more

Can You Be Forced to Get Your Halloween Scares From a Billboard?

My daughter has always been squeamish about eyeballs. Ask her to name the scariest movie of all time? Who Framed Roger Rabbit, of course. She saw it once (and only once) at the age of four, and the scene near the end,...more

Jackson Walker VIA Media Postcard - October 2012

In This Issue: - Steve Fogle's Feature: Voting Matters – Our democratic experiment cannot survive many years of voter apathy, and it's our job to ensure that is not the final word. Vote early, vote your conscience,...more

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF...

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS. The attached communication -- "Towards a comprehensive European framework for...more

Indecency: Where Do We Go From Here?

In two recent articles, I discussed the Supreme Court indecency decision in the Fox case and the disappointment of the communications bar and of broadcasters in the failure of the Supreme Court to resolve the First Amendment...more

H.R. 6530 – Global Free Internet Act of 2012 (Companion Bill to H.R. 6529 Introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren / D-CA on 09/21/2012)

H.R. 6530 -- Global Free Internet Act of 2012: The Global Free Internet Act of 2012 would establish a formal process in the U.S. government for evaluating policies that pose threats to Internet users and online services....more

Music Law Weekly Case Update for Music Industry Executives -- September 13, 2012

Table of Contents: Capitol Records Inc. v. Thomas-Rasset - Circuit court reinstates $222,000 statutory damages award against defendant, individual, for willful infringement related to her downloading and making...more

Jackson Walker VIA Media Postcard - September 2012

In This Issue: - Chip Babcock Communique: The government should think twice before suing Matt Bissonnette for his eyewitness account of the Osama Bin Laden raid in No Easy Day. - In Memoriam: When Ann...more

$222K Verdict in File-Sharing Case Headed for Supreme Court

You might remember KaZaA, a file-sharing site that allowed users to share music. Jammie Thomas-Rasset likely remembers it, and vividly. She was the first person to challenge the recording industry when it began coming after...more

So, Now That The Supreme Court Has Ruled ... What's Up With Indecency?

Originally published on AllAccess.com. Pretty much everyone in broadcasting knows that the Supreme Court has ruled in the Fox/CBS case. The court did not settle the constitutional issue and, while the cases were...more

Trudeau v. FTC

Brief For The CATO Institute As Amicus Curiae Supporting Petitioner

There's a fine line between protecting the public from fraud and censoring unorthodox opinions - a line across which the government often stumbles. That was the case in September 2007, when the Federal Trade Commission filed...more

Diagrama de decisión para la publicación de imágenes de adultos

Diagrama para la toma de decisiones sobre la publicación de imágenes de adultos...more

Jackson Walker VIA Media postcard - July 2012

In This Issue: - Stacy Allen Speaks: In Neely et al. v. Wilson et al., the Texas Supreme Court will decide the fate of the third-party allegation rule -- a decision that could have a substantial impact on newsrooms...more

Depicting Trade-marks in Artistic Works: University of Alabama vs New Life Art

Although a decision from the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has limited precedential value in Canadian courts, the decision in University of Alabama vs New Life Art, Inc. (filed June 11, 2012) (hat tip: Hollywood, Esq.) is...more

Three Point Shot - June 2012

In This Issue: - Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Says “Yep” to Copyright Infringement Suit...1 - Former Gold Medalist Can’t Clear Olympic Ad Hurdle...2 - Delay of Game in Former Coach’s NCAA Lawsuit...3...more

Warner Bros. Dropkicks Louis Vuitton’s Lawsuit Over The Hangover: Part II

Louis Vuitton has been busy practicing all kinds of legal kung fu in court lately. First, it unleashed a Chuck Norris-like flurry of legal roundhouse kicks to the dome upon hundreds of counterfeiters in the form of...more