Content Regulation

A battle over Web site links has landed two media companies in court.

GateHouse Media, which owns several hundred newspapers and Web sites, filed a lawsuit last month in federal court in Massachusetts against The New York Times Co. alleging copyright infringement.

A New York City man has pleaded guilty to helping terrorists by enabling satellite access to Hezbollah-run television, The New York Times reports.

A judge in 2007 turned down Javed Iqbal's claim of First Amendment protection for providing access to the station, saying the federal charges passed muster because they targeted the action and not the content of speech, according to The Times. 

In the midst of the Supreme Court’s deliberation of whether the FCC permissibly fined broadcasters for “fleeting expletives” in FCC v. Fox,  the Commission this week requested that the Supreme Court grant review of another appellate court’s decision to revoke its fine for “fleeting images” relating to the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.

With all the chuckles, celebrity comments and linguistic explorations into the meaning of the word “fuck,” the oral arguments Tuesday in FCC v. Fox at the Supreme Court at times had the air of a comedy show.

But interwoven among the lighter moments was a weighty discussion about broadcast regulation and the legal and policy implications of the FCC’s move toward fining television stations for one-time use of fleeting expletives.

If anyone is anxiously awaiting to hear “fuck” echo through the Supreme Court chambers during oral arguments in Tuesday’s fleeting expletive case, they’re going to have to attend the session or sit tight for a few months.

YouTube has refused requests by Sen. John McCain to review campaign-related videos taken off the Web site because of copyright protests, suggesting that if McCain is unhappy with the current copyright protections he can work on changing the law, according to The American Lawyer.

The McCain campaign, in a letter to YouTube this week, objected to the frequent removal of campaign-related material from the site.

In what may be the final step in a long-running case over electronic republication of freelancers' works, a former National Geographic freelance photographer is asking the Supreme Court to settle a copyright dispute over republication of his photos on a CD archive of the magazine.

Responding to a complaint from Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Rosa DeLaura (D-Conn.), the Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether certain television analysts did not properly disclose their military connections when they discussed the Iraq war on air, according to U.S. News and World Report.

With election day bearing down, and third-party political groups gobbling up advertising time on the airwaves, The Wall Street Journal reports today that candidates' lawyers are increasingly responding with take-down notices -- all leaving broadcasters in the crossfire.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling yesterday prevailed in a federal copyright infringement lawsuit against a Web site operator who attempted to publish a reference guide for the children’s fantasy franchise.