Welcome to the Citizen Media Law Brief, a weekly newsletter highlighting recent blog posts, media law news, legal threat entries, and other new content on the Citizen Media Law Project's website. You are receiving this email because you have expressed interest in the CMLP or registered on our site, www.citmedialaw.org. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe by following the link at the bottom of this email or by going to http://www.citmedialaw.org/newsletter/subscriptions.
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The latest from the Citizen Media Law Project blog...
Sam Bayard takes a comparative look at an English privacy decision.
Max Mosley's S&M Party Not A Matter of Legitimate Public Concern, Says English Court
Tuna Chatterjee reports on a new case involving anonymous speech aimed at a government official.
Memphis Police Sue Critics at MPD Enforcer 2.0 Blog
Sam Bayard discusses an important First Amendment ruling regarding online speech.
Appeals Court Strikes Down the Child Online Protection Act (Again)
Arthur Bright critiques a candidate's claim against an online critic.
Candidate for U.S. Congress Threatens Legal Action Against Blogger
Sam Bayard points to a new article on the intersection of trademark law and free speech.
More Trademark Goodness From Bill McGeveran
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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...
Nationwide Relocation Services v. Walker
Posted July 25th, 2008
Griffis v. Luban
Posted July 23rd, 2008
Three Angels Broadcasting v. Joy
Posted July 23rd, 2008
Ben Ezra, Weinstein, and Company v. AOL
Posted July 23rd, 2008
Lilly v. Rocky Mountain Right
Posted July 22nd, 2008
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Other citizen media law news...
Lawmakers chide attorney general for opposition to shield bill
First Amendment Center - Thurs. 7/24/08
Defamation and the Internet: How the Law Effectively Allows Bloggers to Take Risks Big Media Companies Can't, and How Companies Can Work to Level the Playing Field
Findlaw's Writ - Wed. 7/23/08
Lori Drew Moves to Dismiss Indictment in MySpace Suicide Case
Wall Street Journal Law Blog - Wed. 7/23/08
Techdirt - Mon. 7/21/08
Online Print-On-Demand Publisher Not Liable for Defamatory Material in Book
E-Commerce and TechLaw Blog - Mon. 7/21/08
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The full(er) Brief...
"Mosley, the head of the governing body for Formula One racing, sued the News of the World
for reporting in March 2008 that he organized a 'sick Nazi orgy'
with five prostitutes and for posting a surreptitiously recorded video
of the party on its website. Mosley claimed that the S&M
extravaganza had no Nazi theme and that recording and publishing the
video and story violated his right to privacy under the European
Convention on Human Rights. England's High Court ruled in Mosley's favor yesterday and awarded him £60,000 in compensatory damages and £450,000 in attorneys' fees (ouch!). . . . I wonder whether a U.S. court would reach the same conclusion on the
newsworthiness issue. My research suggests that, in publication of
private facts claims, U.S. courts might recognize a similar zone of
privacy for sexual activity, even when the person involved is a public
figure or celebrity. . . ."
Sam Bayard, Max Mosley's S&M Party Not A Matter of Legitimate Public Concern, Says English Court
"CommercialAppeal.com
reports today that the City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Director
Larry Godwin have filed a John Doe lawsuit against a number of unknown defendants, including the pseudonymous blog operators of MPD Enforcer 2.0, who go by the collective moniker 'Dirk Diggler.' MPD Enforcer 2.0 is a blog popular with Memphis police officers, and
Diggler and many of its users are not fans of Godwin. They have been critical of his leadership and have set up a petition calling for his resignation,
and the blog features an online voting poll asking users whether the
police chief should resign. . . . On July 10, 2008, Godwin and the City obtained a subpoena from the
Chancery Court of Tennessee for the Thirtieth Judicial District at
Memphis, which commands AOL to produce identifying information for the
subscriber who created the email account associated with the blog. . . ."
Tuna Chatterjee, Memphis Police Sue Critics at MPD Enforcer 2.0 Blog
"Yesterday, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court decision ruling that the Child Online Protection Act (COPA)
violates the First Amendment. COPA makes it a crime to knowingly post
sexually explicit material that is 'harmful to minors' on the web 'for
commercial purposes.' Although Congress apparently intended that COPA
apply to commercial pornographers, the statute's broad definition of 'commercial purposes' could draw in ordinary websites that make money
from advertising, which is why Salon Media Group, Nerve.com, and Dan Savage, among others, joined in the lawsuit challenging the Act.
. . ."
Sam Bayard, Appeals Court Strikes Down the Child Online Protection Act (Again)
"George Lilly, the Republican candidate for Colorado's First Congressional District, says on his website that he considers defense of the U.S. Constitution a 'sacred oath.' But after he threatened a libel lawsuit against the Rocky Mountain Right ('RMR') blog, one wonders about his views on the First Amendment. In a June 9, 2008, post,
RMR editor Anthony Surace announced the blog's endorsement of George
Lilly's rival in the Republican primary, Charles Crain. Calling Lilly 'no Republican,' Surace claimed that Lilly was not sufficiently
supporting the Republican ticket in Colorado. Surace also asserted
that Lilly's supporters 'made clear they would not support [presumptive
Republican presidential nominee] John McCain or [Republican candidate
for the U.S. Senate] Bob Schaffer' in the coming elections, and that
Lilly's presence on the ticket 'could be disruptive enough to harm
other Republican candidates running statewide.' This past weekend, Lilly emailed Surace, demanding that the offending post be removed and that RMR issue an apology. . . ."
Arthur Bright,
Candidate for U.S. Congress Threatens Legal Action Against Blogger
"Bill McGeveran, our good friend from University of Minnesota Law School, recently posted on SSRN
a new article about the practical and procedural problems associated
with trademark fair use and other free-expression-related defenses to a
trademark claim. The article, Rethinking Trademark Fair Use, which will appear in the Iowa Law Review at the end of 2008, is an expanded treatment of the issues raised in his Four Free Speech Goals for Trademark Law, which I blogged about back in April. . . ."
Sam Bayard, More Trademark Goodness From Bill McGeveran
