Comm Law Exam 2

Public figure

In libel law, a plaintiff who is in the media spotlight, usually voluntarily must prove the defendant acted with actual malice in order to win damages.

Bootstrapping

In libel law, the forbidden practice of a defendant claiming that the plaintiff is a public figure solely on the basis of the statement that is the reason for the lawsuit.

The first time a law journal published an article that explained the legal theory about why U.S. courts should recognize a right to privacy was:

1890

false light

A privacy tort that involves making a person seem in the public eye to be someone he or she is not.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Forbids federally funded educational institutions from releasing students' academic records unless they , as adults, or their parents provide consent.

private facts

The tort under which media are sued for publishing highly embarrassing personal information that is not newsworthy or lawfully obtained from a public record.

tortious newsgathering

The use of reporting techniques that are wrongful and unlawful and for which the victim may obtain damages in court.

How have the producers of television programs such as "COPS" dealt with the U.S. Supreme Court rulings on ride-alongs?

They claim to obtain releases from everyone involved in the program.

Which Amendments are considered to protect different aspects of personal privacy?

Third, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth

appropriation

Using a person's name, picture, likeness, voice or identity for commercial or trade purposes without permission.

The best defense against an intrusion lawsuit is

the defendant had the plaintiff's consent

Remarks aired on a radio or television station are likely to be found extreme and outrageous if

the person saying the words knew the plaintiff was particularly susceptible to emotional distress

If a newspaper reporter records a telephone interview

the reporter may use information from the interview in a story without the interviewee's consent

If courts in a state rule that the right of publicity is a property right, that means

the right of publicity survives a person's death

Compared to members of the public, how much access to documents, records and news event sites do journalists have?

the same

The way courts accept and apply the four privacy torts

varies from state to state

Sally, a reporter for the Daily Sun, is at a detective's desk in the police station. There is an official folder open on the desk. Without touching the folder, Sally is able to see a document containing the name of a minor who had been arrested for burning down his parents' garage. Sally writes a story about the arrest, including the minor's name. The minor's parents sue Sally and the Daily Sun for private facts. Sally and the Daily Sun will

win because Sally lawfully obtained, and the Daily Sun published, truthful information from a public record

In an advertisement, Creamy Ice Cream shows a woman eating one of the company's ice cream bars. The woman looks just like Sandra Johnson, a pop singer - but it was not Johnson. Johnson, who didn't give permission to the ice cream company, sues Creamy. Johnson will

win because she did not give the company permission to use someone who looks like her in an advertisement

How long does a federal agency have to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request?

20 days

Private figure

A plaintiff in libel law suits who has no known notoriety.

Libel per se

A statement whose injurious nature is apparent and requires no further proof.

Libel per quod

A statement whose injurious nature requires proof.

Actual malice

Burden of proof required of public official and public figure plaintiffs.

Negligence

Carelessly causing another emotional harm, the defendant should have foreseen that their carelessness would cause harm to the the plaintiff.

Colin, a Channel 3 reporter, rushed to an auto accident scene. He saw two young children leaving an ice cream store. Without seeking anyone's permission and with his camcorder running, Colin asked the children what they knew about a truck that had hit a parked red car killing the person sitting in the car. That was the children's first realization that their father was dead. Acting for the children, their mother sued Channel 3 for intentional infliction of emotional distress. It is likely a court will find that

Channel 3's reporter acted in an extreme and outrageous way

predominant use test

Examines whether the defendant used the plaintiff's name or picture more for commercial purposes or protected expression.

When it comes to recording interstate telephone conversations, what law or regulation applies?

FCC regulations

Of the following, which one is most directly related to regulating access to student records?

FERPA

intrusion

Invasive newsgathering techniques either physically or technologically disturbing another's reasonable expectation of privacy.

What is the purpose of Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act?

It protects Internet service providers (ISPs) from liability in defamation cases if they are only serving as distributors of information.

Jane Johnson was a famous rock star, but retired 20 years ago and withdrew from the public eye. While she was a musician, she stole a very valuable diamond ring from another musician. She quickly returned the diamond, was not arrested for theft, and only her brother knew about the incident. Last week, Spy Magazine published an article revealing the theft. Johnson sued Spy magazine for private facts.

Johnson will lose because passage of time does not change her newsworthiness

"Ride-alongs" have been a commonly used practice in news coverage of law enforcement and other emergency personnel. Which of the following statements about this practice best describes where the law now stands on these?

Merely accompanying emergency personnel does not grant the consent necessary; journalists who make that assumption are susceptible to an intrusion lawsuit.

newsworthiness

Of sufficient interest or importance to the public to warrant reporting in the media.

Public official

Plaintiffs in libel law suits who are employed by any government agency at any level must prove that the media defendant acted with "actual malice".

Electronic Freedom of Information Act

Provides a person access to records held by federal executive branch agencies including computer records.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Provides a person access to records held by federal executive branch agencies.

What is the purpose of a SLAPP?

To harass one's critics into silence

Libel Proof

a reputation so tarnished that it couldn't be brought any lower, even by the publication of false statements of fact. In most jurisdictions, as a matter of law, a dead person has no legally-protected reputation and cannot be defamed.

When a judge talks about a transformative use in a right to publicity case, he or she is referring to

a use which is not a literal reproduction of the plaintiff's likeness, but a use in which the defendant has added a creative element to the likeness, such as making it a parody of the likeness

False light differs from libel because

in false light, a plaintiff must show the statement would highly offend a reasonable person; in libel a plaintiff must show injury to reputation

Which of the following could lead to a successful intrusion lawsuit?

a. Walking across someone's lawn to a window and taking a picture through a small opening in the drapes b. Hacking into someone's computer d. A and B above only

A student at Glorious State University, with 500 faculty, sends an e-mail message to all members of her media law class saying, "Many GSU faculty - in all departments - sell heroin to the students." A GSU English professor likely

a. could not successfully sue for libel because the professor could not prove identification

Elements that could help show actual malice include

a. failure to check facts b. fabricating interviews c. all of the above C

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that public officials and public figures bringing suits for intentional infliction of emotional distress must prove

actual malice

Joan is intent on getting the City of Westview to build more bike lanes. She has written many letters to the local paper, been a guest on local radio talk shows, appeared numerous times before the city council and even paid for a billboard urging her cause. One day a local radio station talk show host says that two years ago Joan ran her car into a bicyclist who was riding in a bike lane. Joan says the story is false and sues the station (and the show host) for libel. What level of fault will Joan have to prove, and why?

actual malice, because Joan is a limited purpose public figure since she voluntarily thrust herself into a public controversy

The Freedom of Information Act permits access to records held by federal

agencies

Which phrase below is most closely synonymous with "celebrity?"

all-purpose public figure

Who may use the FOIA to request federal government records?

anyone (citizens & non-citizens)

Emotional distress is defined as

being frightened or extremely anxious

Words within direct quotation marks

can be the basis of a successful libel suit if they substantially change the meaning of what the plaintiff actually said

Jerome tells Chris, a reporter for the Gazette, that Ron robbed a local bank. The Gazette prints the story. Ron claims the story is not true and sues for libel. Ron

can successfully sue the Gazette because it republished a libel

A century ago when plaintiff's first brought lawsuits claiming defendants caused them emotional distress,

courts rarely allowed plaintiff's to recover for emotional distress

Which privacy tort is most similar to libel?

false light

Newsgathering is protected primarily by

federal and state statutes

Most of the recent Supreme Court cases involving privacy are directly tied to which Constitutional amendment?

fourth

In cases involving the use of drones to photograph private property, courts around the world have

generally punished this uninvited photography without establishing clear rules or tests

A plaintiff suing a television station for negligent infliction of emotional distress must prove the station

had a duty to the plaintiff to use due care

A reporter meets a fire truck at a huge blaze engulfing a large house. The reporter asks the fire fighters if she can follow them into the garage attached to the house, which is the one part of the building not yet covered in flames. The fire fighters say "yes," and the reporter follows the fire fighters into the garage. The homeowner

likely will be able to successfully sue the reporter for intrusion if the homeowner did not give the reporter permission to be in the house

In a newspaper gossip column, Sally wrote that she did not like Sam's hair, which he had dyed purple. Sam felt insulted and sued Sally for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Sam will

lose the lawsuit because insults are not outrageous.

A false light plaintiff must prove the story

made him or her appear to be someone he or she is not

ride-along

observing a government official or law enforcement for journalistic purposes

Tortious newsgathering is a newsgathering pitfall

of overly aggressive newsgathering using wrongful and unlawful reporting techniques

When it comes to recording face-to-face conversations, the majority of U.S. states are

one-party states

In situations where an illegally-obtained recording falls into a journalist's hands (as in Bartnicki v. Vopper), what is true?

particularly when it involves a matter of public concern, the unknown origin does not remove the First Amendment right to broadcast the recording

The right of citizens to take photographs in public places, including locations of police activity, is

protected to some degree by the First Amendment