Media & Communications Law

Dan Rather Sues CBS for $70 Million

Claiming that CBS News made him a “scapegoat” for the network’s flawed reporting concerning President George W. Bush’s service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War era, former 60 Minutes reporter Dan Rather sued today for $70 million. His lawsuit, which names as defendants the network, its corporate parent…

Sep 19, 2007 9:29 PM CDT

Rutgers Player Drops Imus Slander Suit

A Rutgers University basketball player who was targeted, along with teammates, in racist on-air comments by Don Imus has dropped her defamation suit against the shock jock and CBS Radio. As detailed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, Kia Vaughn claimed libel per se, which eliminates requirements that would otherwise apply…

Sep 12, 2007 11:34 PM CDT

Cost of TV-Phone-Net Deals: No Privacy

Big Brother may not be watching you. But, chances are, Corporate America is—especially if you have a package cable television or telephone deal. If you read the fine print on your contract for phone, cable television and Internet service with certain providers, it’s clear that “not only does the company…

Sep 12, 2007 3:44 PM CDT

Rehearing in Freelancer Copyright Case

A federal appeals court has agreed to rehear a case that considers whether freelance writers have rights to stories published in a magazine’s exact reproduction in digital CD-ROM format. The decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the case en banc could reinstitute a conflict with…

Sep 4, 2007 11:04 AM CDT

Panel Allots Blame for Va. Tech Massacre

A lack of communication, misunderstood medical privacy laws and inadequate mental health treatment options share the blame along with gunman Seung Hui Cho for a shooting spree in which he killed 32 fellow students and faculty at Virginia Tech earlier this year before killing himself Those were the conclusions of…

Aug 31, 2007 3:04 PM CDT

Jewell’s Libel Suit May Survive

Libel plaintiff Richard Jewell and a defendant who identified him as a suspect in the bombing of Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park have both died, but the lawsuit may continue. Jewell’s 10-year-old libel and defamation suit against the Atlanta Journal-Constitution alleges the newspaper had a duty to investigate whether the information…

Aug 30, 2007 12:16 PM CDT

A&P v. Workers in $1 M Veggie Video Suit

Two New Jersey brothers apparently meant to be funny when they filmed a gangsta rap parody, “Produce Paradise,” at the A&P supermarket at which they then worked. But management isn’t getting the joke. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., which owns A&P, has not only fired the two shelf-stockers…

Aug 28, 2007 10:41 PM CDT

Prosecutors Seek Reporter Testimony

Prosecutors are trying to force reporters for two New York City newspapers to testify about their interviews with the parents of a 7-year-old girl who was found dead in her family’s home last year. She had been beaten and starved to death. The parents, Cesar Rodriguez and Nixzaliz Santiago, spoke…

Aug 28, 2007 4:13 PM CDT

Did ‘Kid Nation’ Abuse Children?

It almost sounds like a law school exam question. Forty children, ages 8 to 15, are reportedly transported, without their parents, to a ranch in the New Mexico desert near Santa Fe. There they live and work together for 40 days, building a town and a society, supervised only by…

Aug 27, 2007 5:31 PM CDT

Law Blogs: Nixon Loses in ‘Winner’ Song Spat

Law blawggers are agog over Nixon Peabody’s claimed response to an unexpected Internet hit—the law firm’s unofficial theme song “Everyone’s a Winner at Nixon Peabody!” Apparently created by law-firm marketers for an internal event celebrating the firm’s inclusion in a Fortune magazine list of the 100 best places to work,…

Aug 24, 2007 10:53 PM CDT

Insurer Fights Judge’s Claim

An insurance company is seeking a declaratory judgment that it owes no more than $3.4 million already paid to a Massachusetts judge who won a successful defamation judgment against the Boston Herald. Judge Ernest B. Murphy wrote Mutual Insurance Co. Ltd. on July 17, claiming he should be paid an…

Aug 23, 2007 11:55 AM CDT

Bonds Swings at Steroid Statements

Slugger Barry Bonds has hired new lawyers to review public statements made about him, with an eye toward possible defamation lawsuits. Bonds recently hired Oakland, Calif., lawyer John Burris, who often represents people in suits against police, and San Francisco lawyer Todd Schneider, whose firm represents plaintiffs in discrimination and…

Aug 22, 2007 11:02 AM CDT

Public Access ‘Robin Hood’ Wants Case Law Free

Public information crusader Carl Malamud is the latest of a growing number of individuals who are looking for a way to make court decisions more accessible to the general public. At his site, public.resource.org, Malamud plans to post case law previously only available in law libraries or through subscription services…

Aug 20, 2007 2:36 PM CDT

Court Criticizes, Lawyer Has No Remedy

An attorney whose conduct is criticized in a court ruling may have no right to intervene or sue to clear his name, at least in the Federal Circuit. That’s the gist of a recent appellate decision, which resulted from an attorney’s complaint that a federal judge had criticized him in…

Aug 18, 2007 12:27 AM CDT

FBI Director’s Notes Enhance Testimony

Notes turned over to the House Judiciary Committee by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III reportedly describe former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft as “barely articulate,” “feeble” and “clearly stressed” during a now-infamous March 2004 encounter with top White House aides. Nonetheless, the aides, including then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales…

Aug 16, 2007 11:49 PM CDT