Media Law Final

What are serial rights a writer might sell and what then happens to copyright?

When you sell first serial rights to a newspaper, magazine or periodical for a piece of work you've written...that media outlet has the right to be the first place to publish the article/story/ poem. After the piece runs, you're free to resell it to another medium or to package a collection of your work into a book. After the work is published all rights return to the original owner

What is the duration of copyright under current law?

Works before 1978: 95 yrs Works created after 1978: the life of the creator + 70 yrs Works created by more than one person: The life of the last living creator + 70 yrs Works for hire: 95 yrs after publication

What is indecency, under the FCC guidelines?

(FCC) defines indecent speech as material that, in context, depicts or describes sexual or excretory organs or activities in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium.

Demonstrate understanding of the Commercial Speech Doctrine under the law - what does it mean? What is protected/not protected? When can the state regulate

-The government may ban advertising that is false, misleading or deceptive -The government may ban advertising for unlawful goods and services The commercial speech doctrine articulates how much protection the First Amendment Provides. The first Amendment does not protect false or misleading ads or ads for unlawful goods or services. Government may regulate truthful advertising for legal goods and services if... -There is substantial state interest to justify the regulation -There is evidence that the regulation directly advances this interest -There is a reasonable fit between the state interest and the government regulation.

Things that can be copyrighted:

1. Original Literary works 2. Musical works, including any accompanying words 3. Dramatic works, including any accompanying music 4. Pantomimes and choreographic works 5. Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works 6. Motion pictures and other audiovisual works 7. Sound recordings

What 6 specific rights exist under copyright?

1. Reproduce the work 2. Prepare and create derivative works 3. Publicly distribute the work 4. Publicly perform the work 5. Publicly display the work 6. Publicly perform a digital sound recording R C D P D S

Discuss four things that must be considered when using a portion of a copyrighted under the Fair Use standard. Which of the four carries more weight in court?

1. The purpose and character of the use 2. The nature of the copyrighted work 3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as as a whole. 4. The effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. Purpose Amount Nature Effect- carries the most weight!

Things that cannot be copyrighted:

1. Trival materials, titles, slogans and minor variations on works in the public domain. 2. Ideas 3. Facts 4. Utilitarian goods 5. Methods, systems and mathematical principles, formulas and equations.

The miller test: to be obscene...

1. a reasonable person applying contemporary community standards would find the work or the content as a whole (not just one page) appeals to prurient (compulsion towards sick, morbid views of sex) 2. the work (as a whole) must depict patently offensive, sexual, or scatological functions, as defined by state laws 3. works as a whole must lack serious literacy, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Obscenity:

A narrow class of material defined by the Supreme Court in the Miller test. Material that is obscene is not protected by the First Amendment.

ATSC 3.0

ATSC 3.0 next-generation broadcast standard. ATSC is the latest version of the Advanced Television Systems Committee standards, defining how exactly television signals are broadcast and interpreted. OTA TV signals currently use version 1.0 of the ATSC standards, which were introduced all the way back in 1996, initiating the switch from analog to digital TV that was finalized in the U.S. in 2009. Unlike the current standard, ATSC 3.0 makes use of both over-the-air signals and your in-home broadband to deliver an experience closer to cable or satellite. ● designed to allow for 4K resolution and even a major sound upgrade to broadcast TV.

Principles

Aristotle's mean ● Kant's categorical imperative ● Mill's utilitarianism ● Rawl's veil of ignorance ● Judeo-CHristian

Identify and recognize the differences between the TV players: broadcast, cable, streaming, O&O, affiliates, networks, - over which does the FCC have the most control and why?

Broadcast: over the air waves. Anyone with a receiver can hear it. Cable: signals between wire not airwaves. Not everyone can get it. Streaming: using the internet O&O: owned and operated stations; silas talked about this. Usually refers to a TV or radio station that is owned and operated by the network with which it is associated. Affiliates: Silas talked about this too. They have a contract with a big name company but they are their own local station. Networks: Two kinds. Broadcast networks are licensed stations that carry programs by ownership or contract. Cable networks are non broadcast.

What is the Candidate Access Rule and Equal Time for Candidates? How do they affect broadcasters?

Broadcasters cannot completely block candidates for federal office from buying airtime on the station to promote their candidacies because of the candidate access rule. ● The candidate access rule was adopted in 1971 states that a broadcast license can be revoked for willful and repeated failure "to allow reasonable access to or to permit the purchase of reasonable amounts of time for the use of broadcasting station by a legally qualified candidate for federal elective office on behalf of their candidacy." ● This statute only applies to candidates for federal offices. ● Equal opportunity or equal times. If a broadcasting station permits one legally qualified candidate for any elective public office to use its facilities, it must afford an equal opportunity for all other legally qualified candidates for the same office. ● If one candidate buys a half-hour of air time the other candidate must be alloted the same amount of time for the same price.

What exactly is copyright? What is necessary for something to be copyrighted?

Copyright: Copyright gives the author or owner of the copyright the sole and exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work in any form for any reason. Lasts 70 years after the author/creator's death. The owner or author of the work must give explicit permission for a copyrighted work to be printed, broadcast, dramatized, or translated. Copyright extends to the "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression."

FCC v CBS Corp (2012) - 3rdCircuit

Court struck down fines regarding Janet Jackson because they found that the FCC had arbitrarily, uncopricorniotious, departed from its long standing prior policy of exempting fleeting broadcast material from the scope of actionable indecency. Basically, CBS was fine.

How has Pacifica shaped FCC policy regarding indecency?

FCC v. Pacifica 1978 - Pacifica radio airs " Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Air." - FCC received complaints by the public, censured the station. - 5/4 voted that FCC claimed the right to create a "safe harbor" for indecency- 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. - The FCC said that the language uses was patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards that was played at times when children were at risk.

FTC

Federal Trade Commission works to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices. They also provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid scams and fraud. Nearly 100 years old The FTC policies unfair methods of business competition and protects consumers from deceptive advertisements.

FDA

Food and Drug Administration Responsible for protecting public health and ensuring that products like cosmetics, drugs, and food are honestly and accurately represented to the public.

How do "works for hire" differ from copyrighted content?

If a work is made for hire, an employer is considered the author even if an employee actually created the work. The employer can be a firm, an organization, or an individual. Ie. books written by an author for a publisher. Works created through a collaborative effort.

1996- Communications Decency Act (CDA)

Made it a crime to transmit (or allow transmission of) indecent material over the internet. The law defined indecency as, "any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other communication that in context, depicts or describes in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards, sexual or excretory activities or organs." 1997 Reno v. ACLU ● Rejected the CDA, 9-0 "indecent" and "patently offensive" lacked precision and had the potential to stop discussion of sexually frank, but legitimated topics on the interweb. ● Placed a heavy burden of protected speech and went far beyond restricting obscene speech under Miller.

Is registration necessary? Why would someone register a copyright?

No, registration is not necessary, but is strongly advised. You will get profit for the work Some might consider registering for a copyright because the work is protected for 70 years after one's death.

Local Radio Ownership

Ownership restrictions are based on a sliding scale that varies by the size of the market: ● In a radio market with 45 or more stations, an entity may own up to eight radio stations, no more than five of which may be in the same service (AM or FM). ● In a radio market with between 30 and 44 radio stations, an entity may own up to seven radio stations, no more than four of which may be in the same service. ● In a radio market hosting between 15 and 29 radio stations, an entity may own up to six radio stations, no more than four of which may be in the same service. ● In a radio market with 14 or fewer radio stations, an entity may own up to five radio stations, no more than three of which may be in the same service, as long as the entity does not own more than 50 percent of all radio stations in that market.

1998 Child Online Protection Act (COPA)

Prohibits commercial Web sites from knowingly transmitting to minors material that is harmful. Harmful material was defined as material, with respect to minors, is specifically created to appeal to prurient interests. ● 2004 Court upheld an injunction against enforcement of COPA -Ashcroft v ACLU ● Courts touted idea of filters, to be less restrictive than COPA ● COPA never took effect due to its potential infringement on the First Amendment Didn't meet strict scrutiny standards

retransmission consent

Retransmission consent is a provision of the 1992 United States Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act that requires cable operators and other multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to obtain permission from broadcasters before carrying their programming. Under the provision, a broadcast station (or its affiliated/parent broadcast network) can ask for monetary payment or other compensation, such as carriage of an additional channel. If the cable operator rejects the broadcaster's proposal, the station can prohibit the cable operator from retransmitting its signal.

Explain scarcity as a guiding principle behind broadcast regulation. Why does it matter?

Spectrum scarcity: There is a finite number of frequencies on which to broadcast and in turn there are more people who want to broadcast than there are available frequencies. Someone has to decide who has the privilege to broadcast-thus the government stepped in.

Cable TV Consumer Protection and Competition Act (1992)

The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 amended the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (which had in turn amended the Communications Act of 1934). The 1992 act marked a return to regulation in the areas of cable rates, services, and programmer access; the establishment of further protection and provision for public access channels; and the extension of obscenity regulations to include cable and public access channels. The 1984 cable act had deregulated much of cable broadcasting, and court decisions had further weakened regulations. An alliance of interest groups comprised of programmers, consumer groups, public interest advocates, and some cable companies opposed this state of affairs, arguing that they were being placed at a competitive disadvantage by deregulation or that the act had neglected abiding public interests. These groups successfully lobbied for reforms and re-regulation. The 1992 act recognized that cable had become the primary delivery system for broadcast programming and that most customers had little freedom of choice.

Children's Television Act (1990)

The Children's Television Act requires each U.S. broadcast television station to air programming specifically designed to serve the educational and informational needs of children. It also limits the amount of time broadcasters and cable operators can devote to advertisements during children's programs.

Federal Communications Act 1934

The Communications Act of 1934 combined and organized federal regulation of telephone, telegraph, and radio communications. The Act created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to oversee and regulate these industries. The Act is updated periodically to add provisions governing new communications technologies, such as broadcast, cable and satellite television. General Provisions. The Communications Act, as amended, is an expansive statute regulating U.S. telephone, telegraph, television, and radio communications. Its seven subchapters regulate virtually all aspects of the communications and broadcasting industry, including assignment of frequencies, rates and fees, standards, competition, terms of subscriber access, commercials, broadcasting in the public interest, government use of communications systems. The Act also provides for more detailed regulation and oversight via the establishment of the FCC. ● aims "to provide for the regulation of interstate and foreign communication by wire or radio, and for other purposes." The Act established regulations for the communications industry, including radio, telephone, and telegraph communication

US Copyright Act (1976)

The Copyright Act ("Act") of 1790 requires registration of a work to receive copyright protection. The Act provides the author with sole right and liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing and vending. This right was granted by the Act for a term of 14 years. The authors were also given right to renew the same for one additional 14 years term. This Act was borrowed from 1709 British state of Anne.

Cable Communications Policy Act 1984

The Federal Communications Commission gained jurisdiction to regulate cable in 1984 with the passage of the Cable Communications Policy Act. (Photo by flash.pro via flickr, CC BY 2.0) As an amendment to the Communications Act of 1934, the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 formally gave the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) jurisdiction over the cable television industry. The act subsequently elicited several First Amendment challenges for allegedly interfering with the expressive rights of the cable industry. The 1984 act codifies many of the regulations governing cable that had developed during the 1960s. One result was that the FCC no longer has to justify its regulation of cable television based on cable's interface with over-the-air, broadcast television. The four most significant provisions of the act affect: ● franchises, ● cable rates, ● public, educational, and government channels, and ● programming. ● Awarding franchises ● State and local governments received power to award franchises and to determine the qualifications necessary for systems to be awarded local franchises. State or local governments can revoke an operator's franchise or deny renewal of it if the operator fails to comply substantially with the existing agreement, provides inferior service, proves to be legally or technically unqualified, or fails to meet the future needs of the community

Lanham Act

The Lanham Act sets out procedures for federally registering trademarks, states when owners of trademarks may be entitled to federal judicial protection against infringement, and establishes other guidelines and remedies for trademark owners. ● The Lanham Act (also known as the Trademark Act of 1946) is the federal statute that governs trademarks, service marks, and unfair competition. It was passed by Congress on July 5, 1946 and signed into law by President Harry Truman. The Act took effect on July 5, 1947.

National Broadband Plan (federal stimulus package) 2009

The National Broadband Plan, released by the FCC on March 17, 2010, sets out a roadmap for initiatives to stimulate economic growth, spur job creation and boost America's capabilities in education, health care, homeland security and more. The plan includes sections focusing on economic opportunity, education, health care, energy and the environment, government performance, civic engagement and public safety. ● broadband Internet access is available and how fast it is.

Telecom Act of 1996

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is the first major overhaul of telecommunications law in almost 62 years. The goal of this new law is to let anyone enter any communications business -- to let any communications business compete in any market against any other. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has the potential to change the way we work, live and learn. It will affect telephone service -- local and long distance, cable programming and other video services, broadcast services and services provided to schools. The Federal Communications Commission has a tremendous role to play in creating fair rules for this new era of competition. At this Internet site, we will provide information about the FCC's role in implementing this new law, how you can get involved and how these changes might impact you. This page will include information listing the proceedings the FCC will complete to open up local phone markets, increase competition in long distance and other steps. You will find copies of news releases summarizing action, announcements of meetings where these items will be discussed, and charts describing the work ahead of us and where (within the FCC) and when it will be completed. Please note: some of the links on this page lead to resources outside the FCC. The presence of these links should not be taken as an endorsement by the FCC of these sites or their content.

FCC v Fox Television (2012)

This case dealt the FCC a relative minor blow when the court threw out fines that the FCC imposed on Fox and ABC for airing alleged indecent content during 2002-2003. These involved Cher and Nicole Richie saying fleeting expletives at the Billboard Music Awards (Fox) and Charlotte Ross' nude buttocks and side boob (ABC). These occurrence happened BEFORE the 2004 order in the Bono case. The timing proved pivotal as Justice Anthony Kennedy concluded that neither Fox nor ABC had fair notice of the new policy.

1996 Child Pornography Prevention Act(CPPA)

United States federal law to restrict child pornography on the internet, including virtual child pornography. ❖ The first prohibited any visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. ❖ The second prohibited the advertisement of such. The Supreme Court struck down CPPA in 2002 in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition as a violation of the First Amendment for being too broad. BUT THEN....(next card)

Discuss the 3 guiding principles in FCC policy:

competition: the airways are scarce so their is going to be competition diversity: localism:

Obscene material is sometimes referred to as

hard-core pornography.

How does the FCC primarily control stations? Identify and understand:

licensing: engineering: ownership: content:

net neutrality

no information sent or received over the Internet is more important than any other piece of information. This means your favorite Netflix show doesn't get priority over a YouTube video. The debate over this concept is fairly simple. Some people and businesses want to keep the Internet and broadband neutral - meaning no one's more special than anyone else online. These people want the Internet to be considered a public utility, such as water or electricity. As long as you pay for the service, anything delivered via the service gets equal priority. On the other side of the debate, some businesses want net neutrality ended so their data gets priority. This means their sites, videos, and music would be delivered faster to consumers.

Obscenity is______ protected by the First Amendment

not

Statutory:

the written law established by enactments expressing the will of the legislature, as distinguished from the unwritten law or common law

Is censorship allowed for obscenity?

yes

FCC v fox

● 2002 and 2003, Fox Television Stations broadcast the Billboard Music Awards, an annual program honoring top-selling musicians. ● During the broadcasts, one musician used an explicative in his acceptance speech, and a presenter used two expletives. ● The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), although it had previously taken the position that such fleeting and isolated expletives did not violate its indecency regime, issued notices of liability to Fox for broadcasting the profane language. ● The FCC argued that previous decisions referring to "fleeting" expletives were merely staff letters and dicta and did not accurately represent its position on the matter. ● Fox appealed the FCC sanctions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. ● The Second Circuit held that the FCC's liability order was "arbitrary and capricious" under the governing Administrative Procedure Act because the FCC had completely reversed its position on fleeting expletives without giving a proper justification.

Be familiar with the makeup of the FCC.

● 5 commissioners that serve 5 year terms ● The president also selects one of the commissioners to serve as chairman. ● Only three commissioners can be of the same political party at any given time and none can have a financial interest in any commission-related business. ● All commissioners, including the chairman, have five-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term.

Bigelow vs. Virginia (1975-Commercial Speech Doctrine)

● A Virginia statute made it a misdemeanor for "any person, by publication, lecture, advertisement, or by the sale or circulation of any publication, or in any other manner, [from encouraging] or [prompting] the procuring of abortion or miscarriage." ● Bigelow, director and managing editor of the Virginia Weekly, was convicted under this law when his newspaper ran an advertisement for an organization which referred women to clinics and hospitals for abortions. ● The Court held that the Virginia law infringed upon Bigelow's First Amendment rights and violated the Constitution. ● Citing prior holdings such as New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), Justice Blackmun denied the Supreme Court of Virginia's ruling that commercial speech is not afforded First Amendment protection.

TV stations are required to:

● Air at least three hours per week of core programs. ● Identify core programs by displaying the symbol E/I throughout the program. ● Provide parents and consumers with advance information about core programs and when they are being aired.

Janet Jackson- Super Bowl

● At the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, while singing a duet with Justin Timberlake, in which he sang "gonna have you naked by the end of this song," Janet Jackson experienced a "wardrobe malfunction" that exposed her right breast for a few seconds. The FCC fined CBS $550,000. ● CBS appealed, and the Third Circuit threw out the fine as arbitrary and capricious (basically the same reasoning that the Second Circuit had used in the first indecency policy decision). ● The FCC petitioned for certiorari, and the Supreme Court denied review on June 29, 2012, just days after "deciding" Fox. Federal Communications Commission v. CBS Corp., 567 U.S. ___, No. 11-1240 (2012). Chief Justice Roberts reluctantly concurred, saying that after Fox (including its treatment of nudity) "it is now clear that the fleeting expletives policy also applies to images. He added, ominously, that "Any future 'wardrobe malfunctions' will not be protected on the ground relied on by the court below." (This illustrates how precarious the broadcasters' position is.)"

These can be trademarked:

● Brand names ● Colors ● Sounds ● Distinctive designs or appearances

2001- Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

● Congress's third attempt to limit access to the Internet in 2001. ● The law requires public libraries to install anti-pornography filters on all their computers that provide Internet access in order to continue to receive federal funding that subsidizes internet costs. ● Filters tend to "overblock" and screen out innocent material and important information regarding safe sex, rape breast cancer and STDs. ● United States V. American Library Association -Court upheld CIPA against a challenge that the act violated the First Amendment rights of adult library patrons. Courts made it clear that adults must ask for content to be unblocked.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

● Digital Millennium Copyright Act (or DMCA) is a rather controversial law by US government enacted in 1998 by then-president Bill Clinton. The aim of DMCA is to balance the interests of copyright owners and users and look into any sort of copyright infringement that surface in the digital world. ● DMCA is intended to regulate digital media and deal with copyright challenges the digital world faces. DMCA not only looks into the copyright infringement issues faced by users on the internet but also reinforces penalties for offenders. ● DMCA in its original form was censured by several scientists who believed that this will largely disrupt growing IT industry of US. Following worldwide criticism, the law faced several revisions to incorporate various exceptions, but still, several countries prefer their own version of the law.

In FCC vs. FOX how did the Supreme Court handle the basic structure of indecency laws laid out in Pacifica? What did the FCC do wrong, according to the court?

● Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for seven members of the court, vacated the lower judgment and remanded the case. The Supreme Court held that the FCC's standards, as applied to the broadcasts in this case, were vague. The FCC did not give proper notice to broadcasters that they would be fined for fleeting expletives, so the practice violated due process. ● the FCC decided in 2004 that this non-sexual use of the vulgarity could be deemed indecent even though "fleeting" and not repeated. ● Justice Stevens, the author of Pacifica, dissented. Stevens said the majority had misread Pacifica, which did not authorize the FCC's treating an isolated expletive as indecent. He said Pacifica was a "narrow" decision and the FCC's previous policy of penalizing only "deliberate and repetitive" indecent language marked the "outer boundaries" of proper enforcement.

Outline the details of the Miller case

● Marvin Miller was convicted of violating the California Penal Code for sending 5 unsolicited brochures to a restaurant in Newport Beach. ● The brochure advertised erotic books, and films and contained erotic pictures. ● The recipient of the brochure complained. ● Miller was prosecuted by the State. ● Chief Justice Warren Burger(Supreme Court) agreed that material is only obscene if... 1. An average person, applying contemporary local community standards, finds that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to a prurient interest in sex. 2. The work depicts in a patently offensive way sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law. 3. The work in question lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

Miller v California (1973)

● Miller, after conducting a mass mailing campaign to advertise the sale of "adult" material, was convicted of violating a California statute prohibiting the distribution of obscene material ● Some unwilling recipients of Miller's brochures complained to the police, initiating the legal proceedings. ● In a 5-to-4 decision, the Court held that obscene materials did not enjoy First Amendment protection. ● The Court modified the test for obscenity established in Roth v. United States and Memoirs v. Massachusetts, holding that "[t]he basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest. . . (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."

Local Radio/TV Cross-Ownership

● Ownership restrictions are based on a sliding scale that varies by the size of the market. ● In markets with at least 20 independently owned "media voices" (defined as full power TV stations and radio stations, major newspapers, and the cable system in the market) an entity can own up to two TV stations and six radio stations (or one TV station and seven radio stations). ● In markets with at least 10 independently owned "media voices" an entity can own up to two TV stations and four radio stations. ● In the smallest markets an entity may own two TV stations and one radio station. ● In all markets, an entity must comply with the local radio and local TV ownership limits.

FCC v Pacifica (1978)

● Pacifica radio airs " Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Air." ● FCC received complaints by the public, censured the station. ● 5/4 voted that FCC claimed the right to create a "safe harbor" for indecency- 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Roth vs. United States (1957)

● Roth operated a book-selling business in New York and was convicted of mailing obscene circulars and an obscene book in violation of a federal obscenity statute. ● Roth's case was combined with Alberts v. California, in which a California obscenity law was challenged by Alberts after his similar conviction for selling lewd and obscene books in addition to composing and publishing obscene advertisements for his products. ● In a 6-to-3 decision written by Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., the Court held that obscenity was not "within the area of constitutionally protected speech or press."

What are the key ownership rules affecting television? Radio?

● Rules that restrict major television networks from owning and syndicating television programs. People have to go through the FCC. ● Require broadcasters to formally ascertain the needs and interests of the audiences ● Requires broadcasters to report all sides of important public controversies ● The National TV Ownership rule does not limit the number of TV stations a single entity may own nationwide so long as the station group collectively reaches no more than 39 percent of all U.S. TV households. ● The Commission's rules prohibit common ownership of a full-power broadcast station and daily newspaper. ● FCC rules effectively prohibit a merger between any two of these networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC.

Be familiar with a few key issues in children's programming on TV under the Children's Television Act.

● The Children's Television Act of 1990 was enacted by Congress on October 18, 1990. One of the major goals of the Act was to increase the quantity of educational and informational broadcast television programming for children. ● programming that furthers the positive development of children 16 years of age and under in any respect,including the child's intellectual/cognitive or social/emotional needs." ● 30 minutes long ● Aired 7:00 am to 10:00 p.m. ● A regularly scheduled weekly program not preempted more than 10 % of the regular time.

Bono/ Golden Globes

● The Federal Communications Commission declared U2 singer Bono's acceptance remarks at the 2003 Golden Globe awards show "indecent," reversing an October decision. ● The FCC chose not to fine NBC and/or its broadcast affiliates, which aired the awards show. The FCC did, however, put broadcasters on notice that any future use of the "f-word" would be deemed indecent. Such a ruling could include financial sanctions and "possible license revocations, if appropriate," the commission said in a press release. ● This is the first time the FCC has ruled a word that does not fall under its own definitions of "indecent," as determined within the context of its use, to be indecent.

Radio act 1927

● The Radio Act of 1927 ("Act") was enacted to bring order to the chaos of radio broadcasting. The Act created a Federal Radio Commission (FRC). The Commission was responsible for granting and denying licenses, and assigning frequencies and power levels for each licensee. ● The Commission was not given any official power of censorship, although programming could not include "obscene, indecent, or profane language." ● The provisions of the Act were found under 47 USCS §§ 81-119. The Act stands repealed now. The FRC was replaced by the Federal Communication Commission in 1934.

Discuss some of the ways the courts have treated child pornography differently.

● The production, distribution and possession of child pornography is not protected by the First Amendment. ● Federal images outlaw images of minors engaged in "sexually explicit conduct" ● It does not have to meet the Miller test to be outlawed ● There must be a lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area to constitute child pornography.

What would the FTC consider as deceptive advertising?

● There must be a representation, omission, or practice that is likely misleading to the consumer. ● The act or practice must be considered from the perspective of a consumer who is acting reasonably. ● The representation, omission or practice must be material. Example: Kashi Company claims to sell all natural product but their products are full of synthetic GMO's

Why does the Lanham Act matter?

● Was adopted 60 years ago by Congress to stop unfair competition in the marketplace. ● Prevents one advertiser from making false statements about his/her goods. ● Rules against false advertising, which are designed to remedy unfair competition, generally allow only economic competitors to sue.

Radio acts 1912

● With congressional passage of the Radio Act of 1912, the U.S. government entered the regulatory realm of radio. ● Although this medium is clearly covered by the speech protection of the First Amendment, both the nature of this technology and its widespread availability to people (including children) who cannot read have continued to raise unique First Amendment issues that were reflected in this early legislation. ● The 1912 law was preceded by the Wireless Ship Act of 1910, but a key flaw was that it did not allocate radio frequencies, and as a result, interference over the airwaves remain

These cannot be trademarked:

● Words or names that are considered generic ● Widely used messages ● Direct religious quotes, passages, citations

PROTECT Act

❖ Prohibits a person from knowingly advertising or soliciting material that is child pornography. United States v. Williams the Court upheld the PROTECT Act, concluding that it was neither broad nor over vague.