Media Law Flashcards

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1
Q

Details of Miller Case

A

Miller v. California (1973) – Unsolicited brochures sent to Newport Beach
Restaurant (Calif.) advertised erotic books and film – prosecuted by state authorities

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1
Q

Obscenity

A

– Obscenity is defined as material that, as a whole, appeals to a
prurient interest in sex, is found patently offensive because it affronts contemporary community
standard relating to the description or representation of sexual matter, and it is utterly without social
value.

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2
Q

How does 1st Amendment protect child porn?

A

-Is not protected by the First Amendment

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3
Q

Copyright, What is necessary?

A

-Protects expressions of ideas, applies to original works of authorship
-works must be “fixed” to a tangible means of
expression

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4
Q

What rights exist under copyright? There are 6

A
  • Reproduce the work
    -Prepare and create derivative works
  • Publicly distribute the work
    -Publicly perform the work
  • Publicly display the work
  • Publicly perform a digital sound recording
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5
Q

What can be copyrighted?

A
  • Literary works
  • Musical Works
  • Dramatic Works
  • Pantomimes and Choreographics works
  • Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
  • Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
  • Sound recordings
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6
Q

What cannot be copyrighted?

A
  • Trivia materials
  • Ideas
  • Facts
  • Formulas and equations
  • Utilitarian goods
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7
Q

Duration of copyright under current law

A
  • Works created after Jan 1978: life of creator + 70 years
  • Works created more than one person: Life of last creator + 70 years
  • Works for hire: 95 years after publication
    -Works created before Jan 1978: 95 years.
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8
Q

When is a creative work copyrighted?

A

-once you create the work

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9
Q

How do works for hire differ from copyrighted content?

A

-works for hire are works whose ownership
belongs to a third party rather than the creator

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10
Q

What kinds of copyrighted work is considered fair use?

A

-To determine fair use consider the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted
work, the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole, and the effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the work.

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11
Q

What is not considered fair use?

A
  • Imaginative work is less likely to support a claim of fair use
  • Unpublished work
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12
Q

Why would someone register copyright?

A

-Statutory damages, attorney fees, invoking U.S. customs
to prevent importation of infringing goods

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13
Q

Demonstrate understanding Commercial Speech Doctrine under law, what does it mean, what is protected/ not?

A

-1st Amendment doesn’t protect false ads for unlawful goods or services.
- Gov. May regulate truthful advertising for legal goods and services if the following condition are met:
-Substantial state interest to justify regulation
-Evidence that regulation directly advances this interest
- Reasonable fit between state interest and gov. regulation.

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14
Q

What does the FTC consider as deceptive advertising?

A
  • If it is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances.
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15
Q

Identify and recognize legal differences between TV entities: Broadcast, cable, streaming, O & O, affiliates, networks.

A

Broadcast – FCC license holders, the transmission of radio and tv through the electromagnet
spectrum (spreading of information)
Cable – exists through non-broadcast means (cable, satellite, phone lines)
Streaming – transmitting or receiving data over a computer network as a steady, continuous
flow

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16
Q

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

A

there is only so much space
available in the transmission pathway; the public owns it because it is too valuable to keep private

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17
Q

Be familiar with the key policy objectives of the FCC and how they apply: competition, localism, diversity

A
  • ?
18
Q

How does the FCC primarily regulate stations? Identify and explain: licensing, engineering, ownership, content

A

– through cable, radio, television, satellite, and wire
a. Licensing – License applicants must be a citizen of the US or have less than 25% foreign
ownership; must have sufficient funds
b. Engineering – Applicant must be able to hire or possess technical qualifications
c. Ownership – A single company or individual may own television stations whose signals reach
no more than 39% of the total national viewing audience
d. Content –

19
Q

How long is a television broadcast license in effect until it must be renewed?

A

-8 years

20
Q

Be familiar with the makeup of the FCC

A

5 member board, 5 year term; chair is selected by the president; no more than
a simple majority can be from the same political party

21
Q

What are the key ownership rules affecting television and how many stations can a company own? Radio? (big picture, not within a single market)

A

– applies limits on the number of broadcast stations (tv and
radio) an entity can own
-Affecting radio – Radio stations cannot operate above the frequency they are alleged to

22
Q

What type of television programming is the most highly regulated, due to statutory action? children’s, sports, news, entertainment? Why?

A

children’s
programming

23
Q

What types of television and radio providers are regulated by the FCC and what are not?

A
24
Q

How is FCC regulation primarily enforced?

A

-?

25
Q

How does the FCC define indecency?

A

-Protected by the First Amendment; “language or material that, in
context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community
standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities or organs”

26
Q

How has Pacifica shaped FCC policy regarding indecency?

A

FCC vs. Pacifica 1978 – Comedian George
Carlin performed “Seven Dirty Words you can’t say on TV,” aired by Pacifica radio in the afternoon
a. FCC received complaints (by the public), censured the station
b. Challenged – Supreme Court upheld 5-4 vote – protections from material being heard by
children, entering the home

27
Q

How did the Cable TV Regulation of the early 90’s (Cable Policy Act ‘92) impact local broadcasters in the area of retransmission consent?

A

-?

28
Q

When is the “Safe Harbor” in effect due to Pacifica?

A
  • 10 PM to 6 AM
29
Q

Identify some key details of the following indecency cases and how and why the court(s) ruled the way they did: Bono/Golden Globes- FCC v Fox Television, Janet Jackson/Superbowl(FCC vs, CBS)

A

FCC declared U2 singer Bono’s use of the f-word in his acceptance speech at
the 2003 Golden Globe awards as “indecent” and “fleeting”
a. The FCC did not fine NBC but declared any future use of the word would be deemed
indecent.
b. The Clear Airwaves Act was decided to ban eight words and phrases that were deemed
indecent and inappropriate.

30
Q

Miller v. California (1973)

A

– Unsolicited brochures sent to Newport Beach Restaurant (Calif.)
advertised erotic books and film – prosecuted by state authorities

31
Q

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

A

– Prevents the circumvention of technological measures that
control access to copyrighted works – so-called encryption codes
o Outlaws the manufacture, important or sale of devices used to circumvent such
protections

32
Q

Lanham Act

A

-Law that helps people protect their trademarks

33
Q

Federal Communications Act of 1934

A
  • Foundation for the regulation of broadcasting in the United States
34
Q

Telecom Act of 1996

A

– first major overhaul of telecommunications law; goal is to let anyone
enter any communications business and compete in the market

35
Q

FCC V. Pacifica, 1978

A

Comedian George Carlin performed “Seven Dirty Words you can’t say on
TV,” aired by Pacifica radio in the afternoon
c. FCC received complaints (by the public), censured the station
d. Challenged – Supreme Court upheld 5-4 vote – protections from material being heard by
children, entering the home

36
Q

Communications Decency Act 1996 and Section 230

A
  • Attempt to prevent minors from gaining access to sexually explicit materials on the internet
37
Q

FCC v. CBS, 2011

A
  • Supreme court found that right of access as provided for in section 312 of Comm Act did not violate broadcasters 1st Amendment Rights.
38
Q

FCC v. Fox Television, 2012

A

FCC modified its indecency enforcement regime to regulate so-called
fleeting expletives was neither arbitrary nor capricious

39
Q

Cable TV Consumer Protection and Competition Act (1992)

A

-required cable TV systems to carry most local broadcast TV channels and prohibited cable operators from charging local broadcasters to carry their signal.

40
Q

Net Neutrality

A
  • Concept that states organizations, such as internet service providers, should treat all data on the internet equally.
41
Q

Spectrum Scarcity

A

there is only so much space available in the transmission
pathway; the public owns it because it is too valuable to keep private

42
Q

Film and Television

A
  • Illegal downloading of movies has been a problem for a # of years
  • use of camcorders in theatres for piracy
  • many video products are stolen or copied during the production process