Digital Media Law

Covering the latest legal updates and rulings, the second edition of Digital Media Law presents a comprehensive introduction to all the critical issues surrounding media law. Provides a solid foundation in media law Illustrates how digitization and globalization are constantly shifting the legal landscape Utilizes current and relevant examples to illustrate key concepts Revised section on legal research covers how and where to find the law Updated with new rulings relating to corporate political speech, student speech, indecency and Net neutrality, restrictions on libel tourism, cases filed against U.S. information providers, WikiLeaks and shield laws, file sharing, privacy issues, sexting, cyber-stalking, and many others

Digital Media Law offers a practical guide to the law of media and communication, focusing on digital channels, models, and technologies. It draws together the aspects of media law that are most critical for those engaged in the production and distribution of digital media, from traditional broadcasters and internet-based services to major internet platforms. As an expert scholar and educator in media law, Christopher S. Reed brings considerable experience as an in-house lawyer for a U.S.-based media company with extensive news, sports, and entertainment operations. This blend of practical and scholarly insight delivers a textbook which packs foundational principles and concepts into the context of the digital environment, focusing on how those doctrines are applied in the face of rapidly evolving newsgathering, production, and distribution technologies. Key features include: "In the News" sections that tie the legal principles to real-world events or situations An integrated fictional case study of a media enterprise Insights into digital media policy This accessible textbook is the ideal companion for advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as practitioners interested in law, journalism, and media studies.

The growing presence of digital technologies has caused significant changes in the protection of digital rights. With the ubiquity of these modern technologies, there is an increasing need for advanced media and rights protection. Media Law, Ethics, and Policy in the Digital Age is a key resource on the challenges, opportunities, issues, controversies, and contradictions of digital technologies in relation to media law and ethics and examines occurrences in different socio-political and economic realities. Highlighting multidisciplinary studies on cybercrime, invasion of privacy, and muckraking, this publication is an ideal reference source for policymakers, academicians, researchers, advanced-level students, government officials, and active media practitioners.

We are all journalists and publishers now: at the touch of a button we can send our words, sounds and images out to the world. No matter whether you're a traditional journalist, a blogger, a public relations practitioner or a social media editor, everything you publish or broadcast is subject to the law. But which law? This widely used practical guide to communication law is essential reading for anyone who writes or broadcasts professionally, whether in journalism or strategic communication. It offers a mindful approach to assessing media law risks so practitioners can navigate legal and ethical barriers to publishing in mainstream and social media. This sixth edition has been substantially revised to reflect recent developments in litigation, and the impact of national security laws and the rising gig economy where graduates might work in the news media, PR, new media start-ups, or as freelancers. It covers defamation, contempt, confidentiality, privacy, trespass, intellectual property, and ethical regulation, as well as the special challenges of commenting on criminal allegations and trials. Recent cases and examples from social media, journalism and public relations are used to illustrate key points and new developments. Whether you work in a news room, in public relations or marketing, or blog from home, make sure you have The Journalist's Guide to Media Law at your side. 'Whether you're an MSM editor or reporter, a blogger, a tweeter or a personal brand, this book might save your bacon.' - Jonathan Holmes, former ABC Media Watch host 'The leading text book from which most journos learned their law' - Margaret Simons, associate professor in journalism, Monash University

"Media law is a fast-developing area of scholarship that raises many high-profile and controversial questions. Recent issues include the use of privacy injunctions, the regulation of the press, the political power of media moguls, mass leaks of government information, and the responsibility of the digital media to prevent the spread of extreme content and fake news. This study looks at these issues and the key debates in media law. The book includes chapters examining the protection of personal rights to reputation and privacy, the administration of justice, the role of government censorship, the protection of the newsgathering process, the regulation of the media and the impact of digital communications. The analysis is grounded in an account of media freedom that looks at the important democratic functions performed by the media and journalism. Examining various key themes, this study shows how those functions continue to evolve in a changing political culture and also how the media are subject to a range of legal and informal constraints. The book asks whether the law strikes the right balance in protecting media freedom while preventing the abuse of media power, and considers the future of media law in the digital era. It is essential reading for students and scholars of media law alike."--

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat allow users to connect with one another and share information with the click of a mouse or a tap on a touchscreen—and have become vital tools for professionals in the news and strategic communication fields. But as rapidly as these services have grown in popularity, their legal ramifications aren’t widely understood. To what extent do communicators put themselves at risk for defamation and privacy lawsuits when they use these tools, and what rights do communicators have when other users talk about them on social networks? How can an entity maintain control of intellectual property issues—such as posting copyrighted videos and photographs—consistent with the developing law in this area? How and when can journalists and publicists use these tools to do their jobs without endangering their employers or clients? Including two new chapters that examine First Amendment issues and ownership of social media accounts and content, Social Media and the Law brings together thirteen media law scholars to address these questions and more, including current issues like copyright, online impersonation, anonymity, cyberbullying, sexting, and live streaming. Students and professional communicators alike need to be aware of laws relating to defamation, privacy, intellectual property, and government regulation—and this guidebook is here to help them navigate the tricky legal terrain of social media.

This volume explores and explains sameness and difference between the United States and France in the matters of freedom of expression on the Internet, the management of the tensions that arise between freedom of expression and the right of privacy of public figures, the comparative role of interest groups in the regulation of Internet content in both countries, the intellectual property implications of the digitization and transfer of journalistic works from print to searchable electronic databases, how courts in the United States and France managed the copyright issues that were triggered by the Google Book Search project, as well as the clash between intellectual property rights and freedom of expression in the area of parody or “gripe” web sites on the Internet. The volume presents American exceptionalism and the French exception as functionally equivalent logics that lead to different freedom of expression outcomes. This book makes a significant contribution to comparative communication law studies, an area that has not received serious academic interest.

This comprehensive textbook provides a thoughtful introduction to both the legal and ethical considerations relevant to students pursuing careers in communication and media. The fully revised, sixth edition continues to integrate fundamental legal and ethical principles with cases and examples from both landmark moments and recent history. It expands upon the previous edition's exploration of international and non-U.S. law, introduces a new chapter on digital and social media, and incorporates discussion of new technologies and media throughout its coverage of core topics such as privacy, intellectual property, defamation and commercial speech. Coverage of recent court cases and congressional hearings brings readers up to date on the evolving discussion surrounding Facebook, Twitter and today’s other major online players. This hybrid textbook is ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses in media and communication that combine law and ethics. Online resources including chapter PowerPoint slides, study guides and sample teaching materials are available at www.routledge.com/9780367748562