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...

Marc Randazza highlights what the Florida Supreme Court giveth and taketh away in its recent decision rejecting false light claims.
Rapp v. Jews for Jesus, Rehnquist in Brennan's Robes

David Ardia reports on a defamation lawsuit filed against a Florida blogger.
Law School Classmates Fight Over Hog on Ice

Sam Bayard examines Pennsylvania laws regulating polling place activities.
Documenting Your Vote: Pennsylvania Election Laws

David Ardia notes a new approach for dealing with DMCA takedowns.
Copyright, Politics, and McCain's Request for Special Treatment

Marc Randazza reports on a Georgia court's conclusion that nude photos are newsworthy.
Hustler Spread of Murder Victim: Arguably Tasteless, but Certainly First Amendment Protected

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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...

Fahmy v. Hogge
Posted October 24, 2008

Maxon v. Susan Wren
Posted October 20, 2008

Maxon v. Ottawa Publishing Company 
Posted October 20, 2008

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Other citizen media law news...

Man sued for libel over comments on eBay
The Telegraph - Thurs. 10/23/08

Chicago police arrest photographer, take camera, and erase files
FOI/FYI Blog - Thurs. 10/23/08

Nigerian Blogger Arrested
Committee To Protect Bloggers - Thurs. 10/23/08

NY county alters internet DWI 'Wall of Shame'
San Francisco Chronicle - Wed. 10/22/08

Anti-hate crusader wins fight against online foe
Globe and Mail - Wed. 10/22/08

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The full(er) Brief...

"In Jews for Jesus v. Rapp, No. SC06-2491, 2008 WL 4659374 (Fla. Oct. 23, 2008), the Florida Supreme Court appears to do the First Amendment a great service by declining to recognize the false light invasion of privacy tort. However, this is a case of the ghost of William Rehnquist haunting Florida after stealing William Brennan's robes.  After protecting the First Amendment with a few pages of the opinion, the Court polluted most of the ground it gave by strengthening the tort of 'defamation by implication,' and by adopting a standard for defamation cases that does away with the reasonable person test and replacing it with a 'substantial and respectable minority' standard. What should have been a sweeping victory for First Amendment rights is likely to result in a serious chilling effect, more costly defamation litigation, and a new paradigm for defamation law that will substantially disfavor minority groups while creating a completely unworkable standard. . . ."
Marc Randazza, Rapp v. Jews for Jesus, Rehnquist in Brennan's Robes

"Those of you who are regular readers of this blog know that we maintain a database of legal threats (lawsuits, subpoenas, C&D letters, etc.) directed at online and citizen media (BTW, if you know of a threat that we've missed, please add it).  One of the things we try to collect for every entry is whether a party is represented by a lawyer.  Not surprising, we've come across quite a few lawsuits where the defendant had to make due without the benefit of legal counsel (what lawyers call pro se).  It's a much rarer situation where the plaintiff is pro se, but it's not unheard of, especially when the plaintiff is a lawyer.  Rarer still are cases where both parties are lawyers representing themselves.  Well, one of these cases has recently come our way, and as Eric Goldman points out, the case seems to prove the old adage that 'a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.' The case involves Stephen Graham Hogge, operator of the blog, Hog on Ice, who was sued in California by former Miami School of Law classmate Fatima dos Santos Fahmy over statements he made about her on his blog, which he describes as a humorist's view of 'Guns, God, Food, Beer, Tools, Politics, and Whining.' . . ."
David Ardia, Law School Classmates Fight Over Hog on Ice 

"Although Pennsylvania no longer looks like much of a swing state, today I'll discuss the Pennsylvania laws that impact your ability to document your own voting experience through video and still photography, as well as your ability to carry out other newsgathering functions, such as interviewing other voters outside of polling places. While Pennsylvania has no state statute expressly prohibiting the use of cameras or video equipment inside or outside of polling places, an attorney in the Pennsylvania Department of State informs us that county boards of elections may adopt rules banning the use of cameras and video equipment inside those polling places under their authority. Anyone interested in using a camera or video recorder at the Pennsylvania polls on November 4 should therefore contact the local county board of elections to see if there is an outright prohibition in place. . . ."
Sam Bayard, Documenting Your Vote: Pennsylvania Election Laws

"Last week we reported that the McCain campaign had sent a letter to YouTube complaining that its campaign videos were being removed from YouTube as a result of unjustified DMCA takedown requests sent by news organizations whose footage was included in the videos. The campaign's general counsel, Trevor Potter, argued that the videos only incorporated a few seconds of footage, which he said was permitted under the 'fair use' doctrine, and asked YouTube to stop automatically removing any campaign videos in response to takedown requests. . . . Citizen Media Law Project joined EFF, ACLU, and a number of other public interest groups in sending an open letter to CBS, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Fox, and NBC, calling on the networks to stop stifling political debate on the Internet with overreaching copyright claims.  We also sent a letter to YouTube proposing two measures it should adopt to protect everyone's free speech rights. . . ."
David Ardia, Copyright, Politics, and McCain's Request for Special Treatment

"In June 2007, professional wrestling promotrix, Nancy Benoit and her son, Daniel, were the victims of a double murder-suicide committed by her husband, WWE wrestler, Chris Benoit. Approximately 20 years earlier, Ms. Benoit (then Nancy Daus) posed nude for photographer Mark Samansky. Benoit/Daus allegedly had a change of heart and requested that the materials be destroyed. Nevertheless, Samansky kept the video and made stills from it.  After Benoit's murder, Hustler Magazine obtained copies of Samansky's photographs and stills with the intention of publishing them in the March 2008 edition of Hustler Magazine. Benoit's mother, as administrator of her estate, retained counsel who sent a demand to Hustler claiming that the publication of the materials would violate Benoit's copyright and publicity rights. . . . "
Marc Randazza, Hustler Spread of Murder Victim: Arguably Tasteless, but Certainly First Amendment Protected