Law Commons^™

Statement On Pr7-180 "Public Service Commission Of The District Of Columbia Patricia Morris Worthy Resolution Of 1987", J. Clay Smith Jr.

Selected Speeches

No abstract provided.

The Right To Speak, The Right To Hear, And The Right Not To Hear: The Technological Resolution To The Cable/Pornography Debate, Michael I. Meyerson

All Faculty Scholarship

The advent of cable television presented a new opportunity to consider the competing interests on each side of the free speech/pornography debate. This Article attempts to construct an analysis that will be consistent with Supreme Court teaching on how government, under the first amendment, may constitutionally regulate legal obscenity, particularly in the name of protecting those who wish to avoid exposure to such material.

The Article shows how, unlike earlier battles over technology and pornography, cable television presented the novel opportunity to have a technological rather than a censorial solution to this difficult problem.

Blanket Music Licensing And Local Television: An Historical Accident In Need Of Reform, Frederick C. Boucher

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cable Television Rights Of Way: Technology Expands The Concept Of Public Forum, Lawrence E. Spong

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that the public forum analysis is the proper standard for evaluating a cable television company's claim of access to public rights of way. Part I discusses the constitutional basis for this standard. Part II examines the ideological justifications for the public forum doctrine and argues that public rights of way are public forums for cable television purposes. In addition, it explains the application of the public forum doctrine to cable access questions and the doctrine's advantages over other standards.

Suing The Press: Libel, The Media, And Power, Michael L. Chidester

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Suing the Press: Libel, the Media, and Power by Rodney A. Smolla

Protecting The Best Men: An Interpretive History Of The Law Of Libel, Frank G. Zarb

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Protecting the Best Men: An Interpretive History of the Law of Libel by Norman L. Rosenberg

"In Stark Contravention Of Its Purpose": Federal Communications Commission Enforcement And Repeal Of The Fairness Doctrine, Michael J. Bolton

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note analyzes current FCC policy to determine whether the agency violated its statutory purpose and acted unlawfully by restricting and later repealing the fairness doctrine. Because the Commission's attack on the doctrine has been based, in part, on conclusions drawn from the doctrine's history, Part I examines prior FCC enforcement of the fairness doctrine. Part II views the Commission's contemporary enforcement and repeal of the doctrine. Finally, Part III assesses Commission action in light of its legislative mandate and administrative law standards of judicial review to conclude that the FCC both violated its administrative responsibilities by deemphasizing enforcement of …

California Art Preservation Act: Proving Actual Damages, Ronald T. Michioka

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

California became the first state in the nation to statutorily recognize the personal rights of artists in their creations when it enacted section 987 of the California Civil Code. The California Art Preservation Act prohibits the alteration of a work of fine art by anyone other than its creator. In addition to other remedies, an aggrieved artist may seek to recover "actual damages" for an unauthorized alteration of his or her

work. Addressing the difficulty of proving actual damages, this Note discusses the types of proof of actual damages which are allowed in other torts which protect a person's reputation …

Consistency Over Time: The Fcc's Indecency Rerun, L. A. Powe Jr.

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The FCC reinvigorated the decade-old Pacifica indecency standard in a trio of cases involving Howard Stern's popular radio talk show, songs aired on a college station, and a play about two gays dying of AIDS who discuss their sexual fantasies over the phone that was aired on Pacifica's Los Angeles station. The trio maintains a surprising consistency with past commission behavior. First, it is the direct result of politics and the need to give the Republican right a victory. Second, it reestablishes what the original Pacifica action was meant to cover. Finally, it is yet another example of the belief …

Policy-Making At The Fowler Fcc: How Speeches Figured In, Daniel Brenner

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Part of the legacy of FCC Chairman Mark Fowler are the speeches in which he advocated his theory of deregulation. The author, Fowler's legal advisor and principal speech-writer, states his view of the Fowler chairmanship, indicating which speeches were intended, at least by those in office, to be the milestones of that period. He offers an appraisal of the successes and failures of the chairmanship. Additionally, he generalizes about the limits of the speech-making function at an administrative agency, given its responsibility to Congress.

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It, John R. Worthington

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The author argues that the Department of Justice and the divested Bell Operating Companies are trying to persuade the divestiture court to do directly what the Dole Bill tried to accomplish indirectly, namely, eliminate the provisions of the AT&T consent decree which restrict those companies from entering lines of business in which they could abuse their bottleneck power. The author suggests that the Department's recommendations to remove these restrictions are fundamentally flawed and completely unprincipled - and that, furthermore, recent history and present realities show that federal regulators cannot prevent the anti-competitive abuses which the decree was crafted to prevent. …

Mfj: Judicial Overkill - Further Perspective And Response, Robert B. Mckenna, Ronald L. Slyter

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The authors postulated in Volume 9:1 of COMM/ENT that the line-ofbusiness restrictions imposed in the AT&T divestiture decree-which sharply limit the business activities in which the divested exchange carriers may operate-were based upon fundamentally flawed premises. In this rejoinder, the authors take issue with those who would oppose the rights of the regional holding companies to own non-telecommunications- related enterprises. The authors suggest that the regulators are fully capable of properly fulfilling their statutory tasks in areas where exchange carriers have market power, and that the United States Congress has the legislative and constitutional power to eliminate the consent decree's …

Freeing The Telephone Company Seven: The Justice Department Joins The Chorus, James P. Denvir

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In January of this year, the Department of Justice submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia its recommendations concerning the line-of-business restrictions contained in the consent decree which was entered in U.S. v. AT&T. The Department recommended that restrictions on information services and manufacturing be lifted entirely and that the inter-exchange service restrictions be modified. The author discusses the marked departure from earlier positions of the Justice Department that these recommendations represent. The rationale for the Justice Department's change in position, as well as anticipated difficulties the Department would likely encounter in persuading the court …

Congress And The Federal Communications Commission: The Continuing Contest For Power, Harry M. Shooshan Iii, Erwin G. Krasnow

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article discusses the changing relationship between Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. The authors suggest that the Commission's status as an independent agency has been eroded by the emergence of a new system of checks and balances imposed by Congress. The use of riders on appropriations bills and the enactment of statutory moratoriums have served to increase Congressional involvement in, and control over, Commission decision-making. After discussing specific examples of how these new tools of legislative oversight have affected major Commission decisions, the authors conclude that the challenge for the Commission in the future will be to learn from …

Cameras In The Courtroom: A First Amendment Right Of Access, Richard H. Frank

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In Westmoreland v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a per se ban on television access to a federal courtroom does not violate the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The author asserts that Westmoreland and two similar courts of appeal decisions upholding absolute prohibition of electronic access to judicial proceedings are indefensible under recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions such as Chandler v. Florida and the Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia line of cases. The author details the widespread success of television access to courtrooms in over eighty percent of the …

Constitutional Struggle Over Telecommunications Regulation, Rita M. Cain

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

For almost two decades, federal telecommunications regulators had preempted state telecommunications regulations based on the supremacy of federal policy. The federal courts consistently upheld this federal exercise of power. This article examines that trend and the recent Supreme Court decision that abruptly reversed the trend, Louisiana Public-Service Commission v. FCC. The immediate and substantial impact of that decision is examined and, in some cases, questioned.

West V. Mead Data Central: Has Copyright Protection Been Stretched Too Far, Thomas P. Higgins

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The Eighth Circuit recently held that Mead Data Central infringed West Publishing's copyright by using page numbers from West's case reporters in its computer-assisted legal research system, LEXIS. Mead Data Central intended to insert West's page numbers in its case database so that LEXIS users could have pinpoint citations to pages in West's case reporters. The author examines the opinion in detail, concluding that the court's decision stretched copyright protection too far. The author maintains that the unfortunate result of West Publishing Co. v. Mead Data Central should be changed through judicial action or legislative amendment to the Copyright Act. …

United States Regulation Of Transborder Speech, Stephen R. Barnett

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Regulation of transborder speech - speech flowing into or out of the country - is a relatively neglected subject that now appears to be attracting increased attention in American law. This article presents a survey and commentary on United States laws regulating transborder speech. Its many topics include ideological restrictions on visitors' visas, regulation of "political propaganda" distributed by foreign agents in the United States, government certification of "educational" films for dutyfree circulation abroad, and restrictions on the reception of television programming from foreign communications satellites for purposes of home viewing, university study, or retransmission by American news organizations. The …

The Works Made For Hire Doctrine And The Employee/Independent Contractor Dichotomy: The Need For Congressional Clarification, Bennett J. Fidlow

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The author examines the "works made for hire" doctrine and the confusion that has arisen in the federal courts over it. The author reviews the development of the doctrine and recent case law interpreting its codification in the 1976 Copyright Act. He concludes that, although the U.S. Supreme Court may render a decision on the doctrine, Congresional legislation would be the best course for its clarification.

The Federal Communications Commission 1981-1987: What The Chairman Said, Mark S. Fowler

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Speeches of Mark Fowler-Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 1981-1987-are edited and arranged according to subject matter. The speeches represent Fowler's vision for the FCC during his tenure. They may serve as a useful research tool for scholars and practitioners in the communications field.

Visual Arts And The Law: A Bibliography, Part I, Gail I. Winson

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

The Bbc Gets A New Chairman And A Lot Of Trouble, Harvey L. Zuckman

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

The Fcc Under Mark Fowler: A Mixed Bag, Henry Geller

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The FCC's performance under Chairman Mark Fowler (1981-87) calls for a mixed verdict, in the author's estimate. Fowler's reliance on competition, the marketplace, and deregulation, fit the common carrier area, but ill served the present public interest standard of the Communications Act in the broadcast field. This article assesses FCC activities in this period in the above two fields, and also in the cable television and spectrum areas.

Dialing For Foreign Telecommunications Market Access: Is The United States Getting A Busy Signal From Japan?, Robert E. Boone, Iii

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Japan is one country that appears to be following United States policies. On April 1, 1985, the Japanese Government converted Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (NTT) from a government-run, publicly-held corporation into a private entity. Japan adopted the Electric Telecommunication Business Act in December 1984 to create an environment in which private entities can compete. The full extent to which the Japanese Government intends to open its market to non-Japanese firms remains unclear. This Note will discuss the development of Japanese telecommunications policy and the current United States tele-communications policy with respect to market access. The Note then will …

Allocation Of Risk Based On The Mechanics Of Injury In Sports: A Proposed Presumption Of Non-Fault, Gerald J. Todaro

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article analyzes the interrelationship between sports safety measures and sports injury litigation. The author urges the courts to abandon the doctrine of assumption of the risk and proposes a presumption of non-fault to ensure that unavoidable injuries in sports are excluded from compensation. The evidentiary presumption is predicated on the assumption that some injuries are impervious to injury avoidance practices and techniques. Under the presumption, coaches and instructors who negligently create additional risk of injury for the athletic participant face liability.

Philadelphia Newspapers V. Hepps: Unanswered Defamation Questions, John L. Diamond

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In this commentary, the author analyzes the United States Supreme Court's decision in Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps. While recognizing the Court's narrow holding, this commentary focuses attention on the vital defamation questions left unanswered by the Hepps decision.

Introduction, Dennis Patrick

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

A Critique Of The Fowler Fcc's 1984-85 Multiple Ownership Rule, Herbert H. Howard

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In 1984-85, the Federal Communications Commission liberalized its rules governing multiple ownership of broadcast stations. Since then, television station ownership has undergone rapid change as stations and entire groups have become vehicles for quick capital gains by speculators. Elimination of the Commission's three-year holding rule, coupled with economic speculation and rising station values resulted in a marked increase in station trading and ownership instability. The author analyzes the Fowler Commission's multiple ownership rule and the elimination of the long held "anti-trafficking" policy and questions the wisdom of the latter in terms of industry instability.

Posadas De Puerto Rico V. Tourism Company Of Puerto Rico: The End Of The Beginning, P. Cameron Devore

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In a speech delivered in November 1987, the author analyzes developments in the commercial speech doctrine since the Supreme Court's 1986 decision in Posadas de Puerto Rico v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico. The speech argues that Posadas is distinguishable on its unusual facts from other commercial speech cases, and is fundamentally inconsistent with the Supreme Court's seminal commercial speech decision in Central Hudson Gas & Electric v. Public Service Commission (1980). The author believes that a total ban on tobacco advertising would be impermissible under the first amendment, and not legitimized by Posadas. Finally, the speech reviews other significant …

Stone Got Caught Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Grand Juries' Power To Subpoena Outtakes That Reveal Confidential News Sources, Marty Kassman

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Detroit television journalist Bradley Stone had a brief stay in jail because he refused to provide a grand jury with a few seconds of videotape. The tape consisted of outtakes from Stone's report on violent teenage gangs. Stone claimed a first amendment right to withhold that tape from the grand jury, which was investigating the murder of a state trooper. This note explores whether there is, and whether there should be, first amendment protection of confidential news sources. The author analyzes the various opinions in the key Supreme Court case on the subject, Branzburg v. Hayes. The note traces the …