Comm Law

O.K. Christmas is over, classes start in a week and Samuel Alito’s Supreme Court nomination hearings start tomorrow. More »

I was gone to the ranch on Thursday and Friday, so I missed the death of Wisconsin’s William Proxmire, former U.S. senator. Proxmire was known for anti-waste crusading as well as the Hutchinson v. Proxmire decision at the U.S. Supreme Court, which established limits to congressional absolute privilege from libel prosecution. More »

Coca-Cola has a new slogan: “Welcome to the Coke side of life.” It would be protected by trademark law, but for the life of me I can’t find Coke’s Trademark application at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For it to be protected, they’ve got to use it in commerce. More »

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in Rumsfeld v. FAIR, which challenges the Solomon Amendment. That law requires all universities that accept government funding, which is just about all of them, to allow the military to recruit on campus. More »

The Washington Post reports some are complaining about the White House “holiday” cards this year, which include no reference to Christmas. More political correctness? An attempt to stay in line with the Establishment Clause? Religious sensitivity?

A U.S. district judge has ruled a high schol girl can sue the school that told her mother the girl was kissing another girl at school, even though many people at the school understood her to be gay. Seems to me the public disclosure of private fact tort requires a private fact. More »

I missed this but the House of Representatives passed a measure last month allowing cameras in federal courts. Two similar bills are working their way through the Senate.

Abilenian Billie Sol Estes had his fraud conviction overturned by the Supreme Court because of the use of television cameras during his trial in the 1960s, but courts have since ruled that video cameras aren’t inherently prejudicial, especially now that they are inobtrusive and can fit in the palm of your hand. More »

We were talking in class yesterday about how the FCC does not regulate cable in the same way it regulates broadcast. At the same time FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was suggesting cable should clean up its act or face more regulation. As we said in class, regulating cable in the age of podcasting may be like keeping the tide out with a broom.

Often this type of self-regulation is implemented to avoid government involvement. More »

There are some First Amendment cases among these 10 cited by Alito critics. More »