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Digital Journalist's Legal Guide
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Everything online journalists need to protect their legal rights. This free resource culls from all Reporters Committee resources and includes exclusive content on digital media law issues.

News

Format: 2013-05-06
Format: 2013-05-06
Journalists covering Arkansas oil spill threatened with arrest
April 9, 2013
Journalists covering an Arkansas oil spill in a suburban neighborhood said they were threatened with arrests, kicked out of the disaster site and had to seek permission from ExxonMobil to fly over the evacuated area. An ExxonMobil pipeline ruptured in Mayflower, Ark., on March 29, causing 22 homes to be evacuated in the small town located north of Little Rock. So far, more than 19,000 barrels of oil have been collected.
Judge delays deciding if Fox News reporter must testify
April 9, 2013
Fox News reporter Jana Winter won't have to testify about her confidential sources regarding the notebook of alleged theater shooter James Holmes – for now.
Order prohibiting journalist from ever writing about Haitian prime minister dismissed; but PM can refile complaint
April 9, 2013
A federal judge in Miami today dismissed the defamation suit against a U.S.-based Haitian journalist and retracted a previous court order prohibiting him from ever publishing anything about the Haitian prime minister and a Florida businessman.
Judge unseals records in Holmes case; hearing Wed. will determine if reporter must testify about source
April 5, 2013
The new judge presiding over the James Holmes trial unsealed the highly coveted search and arrest warrants in the case on Thursday, providing the media with new details about the high-profile Colorado movie theater shooting.
Requestors can immediately sue agencies that fail to provide timely responses, court finds
April 4, 2013
Individuals seeking records under the federal Freedom of Information Act can immediately sue agencies that miss the statute's deadlines for properly responding to a request, a federal appeals court reaffirmed Tuesday.
Fox News reporter may return to Colo. courtroom to defend confidential sources
April 3, 2013
Subpoenaed Fox News journalist Jana Winter will have to return to a Colorado courtroom to possibly testify about who gave her sealed information in the James Holmes case, a judge ordered Monday. However, Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour said in Monday’s hearing that he intends to make Holmes’ lawyers “jump through all the hoops” before forcing Winter to share who gave her details of a notebook Holmes sent to his psychiatrist days before he allegedly opened fire in an Aurora movie theater, killing 12 people.
D.C. appeals court to consider issuing redacted opinion in high-profile sealed case
March 29, 2013
In response to a letter from the Reporters Committee, a federal appeals court has taken a critical first step toward unsealing an opinion in a high-profile Washington, D.C. corruption case. The appellate court treated the letter as a motion to intervene and unseal part of the record. The court ordered the parties to respond and suggest redactions to its opinion within 30 days.
Fox News reporter scheduled to appear in Colo. courtroom Monday in James Holmes case
March 29, 2013
A Fox News reporter is scheduled to appear before a Colorado judge on Monday to testify about who leaked her information regarding the notebook of movie theater shooting suspect James Holmes.
U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Texas Open Meetings Act, sealed records challenge
March 26, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear arguments about the constitutionality of the criminal sanction provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act, ending the long-running legal battle over a statute that prohibits government officials from talking about public business in private. The Court also declined to hear a case involving a First Amendment defense to a penalty for disclosing sealed records.
New York judge says I.D. law used to arrest photographers is unconstitutional
March 25, 2013
A federal judge ruled that a New York City police officer was wrong when he demanded identification from two men photographing a vintage train because the relevant law regarding identification was unconstitutionally vague.
Judge rules news clipping service infringed Associated Press' copyright
March 22, 2013
Online news aggregation websites that compile and resell news stories without the publisher's permission are committing copyright infringement and are not protected under the fair use doctrine, a New York judge ruled.
Steven Tyler Act stalls in Hawaii legislature
March 21, 2013
AP Photo Steven Tyler, left, and Mick Fleetwood, right, testify about an anti-paparazzi bill. Tyler's lawyer, Dina LaPolt, center, drafted the bill.   The Hawaii anti-paparazzi bill pushed by rocker Steven Tyler has lost momentum in the state House of Representatives after flying through the Senate earlier this month.
Filmmaker cannot obtain trial recording, Mass. high court rules
March 20, 2013
Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Monday that a documentary filmmaker cannot access an audio recording of a controversial rape trial because it is not an official judicial record of the trial.
CIA must acknowledge records of drone strike program, appellate court rules
March 19, 2013
The CIA cannot refuse to search for records about U.S. drone strikes on the grounds that acknowledging the existence of the records would harm national security, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. ruled.
Photographers associations admonish Biden's office for ordering deletion of journalist's photos
March 15, 2013
Despite the prompt apology issued by the Vice President's press office to the University of Maryland journalism school for deleting the photographs of a journalism student covering an event with Joe Biden earlier this week, the White House News Photographers Association fired off an admonishing letter Thursday to the press office and sought a meeting to ensure that it does “not ever happen again.”