The Colorado Supreme Court has dealt another blow to the First Amendment, holding that public health concerns trump the First Amendment in cases involving bans on smoking. Curious Theatre v. Colorado Department of Health and Public Environment The Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act (which went into effect in 2006) prohibits indoor smoking of tobacco and…
The Hollywood Reporter’s lawyer-oriented site, THR, Esq. Entertainment & Media Law Blog: has a great piece by Eriq Garder that surveys the Top 5 ways reality shows can get sued. Recommended reading for all up-and-coming producers of reality shows, documentary films, and other media featuring real-world situations. Tweet
Flipping ‘the Bird’ Is Protected Speech: “A Federal Court in Pittsburgh ruled this week that A Pittsburgh motorist was exercising his constitutional right of free speech when he gave the finger to a police officer and another driver during an argument over a parking space. Not a good idea, but not a crime. (Hat Tip:…
Further follow up to my post on Wednesday regarding YouTube’s automated audio-muting of user-generated videos containing unlicensed music….. According to this piece at the Hollywood Reporter.. YouTube is taking things a step further… allowing users to REPLACE offending music in video soundtracks with pre-cleared music…. (automatically?) I ask you again… does this kind of filtering…
Recommended reading: Andrew J. Contigula’s blog has a good summary of last week’s Supreme Court argument in FCC v. Fox Television Stations. The case is being closely followed by entertainment and communications lawyers, and deals with the Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement efforts against ‘indecent’ speech and broadcasts containing “fleeting expletives”, such as those uttered by…
I was interviewed earlier this week for Praxis Theatre’s blog. “It’s an interesting 10 qustions with…” format Here’s the link: http://praxistheatre.blogspot.com/2008/09/10-questions-gordon-p-firemark.html Tweet
The First Circuit Court of Appeals today decided an interesting case concerning first amendment protection for the publisher of materials obtained unlawfully. In the case, Jean v. Massachusetts State Police video footage was recorded by a nanny-cam during an arrest and warrantless search of the arrestee’s private residence. After the arrest, the arrestee gave the…
Win some, lose some. Apple computer lost its appeal in a case involving a blog’s early disclosure of the company’s upcoming new products. Last year, following a number of incidents, Apple sued a ‘rumor site’ which had broken several stories about forthcoming Apple products. Apple argued that the site was violating the company’s trade secrets,…