Marianne DeMarco. COMM 650. Communication Law Final FINAL EXAM. 1. Any obscenity case based on the Miller decision.

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1 Marianne DeMarco COMM 650 Communication Law Final FINAL EXAM 1. Any obscenity case based on the Miller decision. Definition: The Miller Decision obscene material is not covered by First Amendment Rights. The decision helped established the Miller Test which classifies what constitutes obscene material. The Miller Test consists of 3 parts: Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, Whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law, Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. Case: New York v. Ferber In this case, people are prohibited to promote under age (under 16 years old) people s sexual performances. Paul Ferber, the owner of a pornographic book store, sold two pornographic video tapes, which depicted underage boys in a sexual manner, to an undercover cop and was charged with a Class D Felony. In this case, any material with underage people in sexual situations is illegal regardless of with or not it is considered obscene. The article says that the States are entitled to greater leeway in the regulation of pornographic depictions of children because we are compelled to look out for the well being of minors, the distribution of pornographic materials of underage children promotes sexual abuse, advertising and economic motive of this type of pornography is illegal, and Recognizing and classifying child pornography as a category of material outside the protection of the First Amendment is not incompatible with our earlier decisions

2 Source: A case where a gag order was issued on the media. Definition: A gag order is sometimes called a suppression order. It can be imposed by a court or by a privately owned company. The purpose of a gag order is to restrict information or comment from being made public. Case: A gag order was issued in the murder case of Washington Redskins player Sean Taylor. In January 2008, a Miami judge s order prohibits lawyers, law enforcement and Taylor's family from making comments about evidence in the case, defendants' statements and appropriate sentences. Allegedly, the lawyer of the four men accused in this case had been using the media to manipulate and influence the results of the trial. Source: Deceptive advertising Definition: Advertising can persuade customer into making a purchase. False advertising is the use of non true statement in advertising which could influence the buyer to make a choice that would not normally choose. Case: FTC vs. Miss Cleo In this 2002 court case, the infamous psychic Miss Cleo is being charged with deceptive advertising practices. The advertisements misrepresent the cost of services, stating that services or readings will be provided at no cost. This is just one aspect of the case that Miss Cleo is being sued for. The agents also misrepresent the billing charges and the customer is also bombarded with follow up solicitation calls which cannot be stopped. Another way that Miss Cleo imposed deceptive advertising was by violating the 900 Number Rule in which they did not disclose their cost in their advertising.

3 Source: Section 315 (equal time) Definition: This rule applies to radio and television stations that are discussing political candidates. The rule in Section 315 states that the station must provide equal time for the opposing candidate if they request it. Case: Daly v Daley In this case, Lar Daly demanded free air time from a Chicago television station while he was running for mayor. This was in response to the news coverage given to the current mayor Richard Daley. The FCC ruled in favor of Daly in reference to Section 315 and now all candidates are given equal time. Source: Describe the current composition (number of commissioners and name of chairman) of the FTC and its jurisdiction. What are its functions? Why is it called an independent regulatory agency? FTC Federal Trade Commission Current Chairman: William E. Kovacic was appointed in 2008 by President Bush. Was formerly a Commissioner. Prior to serving on the FTC, he was a teacher at George Washington University Law School. He also served as an advisor on many international antitrust cases in the 1990 s. Current Composition: headed by five Commissioners. Each Commissioner must be nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. Each commission serves a seven year term. Also, no more than three Commissioners can be of the same political party. The Current Commissioners are as follows: Pamela Jones Harbour, Jon Leibowitz. J. Thomas Rosch,

4 Jurisdiction: According to its site, the FTC has jurisdiction and is empowered to reside over the following: (a) prevent unfair methods of competition, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce; (b) seek monetary redress and other relief for conduct injurious to consumers; (c) prescribe trade regulation rules defining with specificity acts or practices that are unfair or deceptive, and establishing requirements designed to prevent such acts or practices; (d) conduct investigations relating to the organization, business, practices, and management of entities engaged in commerce; and (e) make reports and legislative recommendations to Congress. Functions: Covers three majors bureaus: Bureau of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Economics The Bureau of Consumer Protection s mandate is to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive or fraudulent practices This division enforces consumer protection laws as well as trade regulation rules in the areas of: Advertising Practices Consumer and Business Education Enforcement Financial Practices Marketing Practices Planning and Information Privacy and Identity Protection The Bureau of Competition seeks to prevent anticompetitive mergers and other anticompetitive business practices in the marketplace. The division covers: Merger Enforcement Non Merger Enforcement Research & Policy Studies

5 The Bureau of Economics evaluate the economic impact of its actions by: Providing economic advice for Enforcement Studying the effects of legislative options and regulations Analyzing market processes Independent Regulatory Agency: The FTC is an independent regulatory agency because it work independently from other branches of the government. It is Regulatory because it is responsible for creating rules over specific areas in our government. Source: Is Mickey Mouse in the public domain? Explain why the answer is yes and no. Why is it said that the Disney company influenced the term of copyright? Mickey Mouse is 80 years old and has a 97% recognition rate amongst people in the United States. Mickey is the creation of Disney Company s founder Walt Disney. The Walt Disney Co., a $3 billion business, undeniably owned the rights to Mickey. That was until a former employee set out to question this fact. These copyright questions apply only to the original version of Mickey Mouse, who appeared in the 1920 s movie Steamboat Willie. Former employee, Gregory S. Brown had some experience with copyright law while he was working for Harvey Productions. After which, he created his own versions of Mickey Mouse s The Mad Doctor. For this film, Disney failed to renew their copyright claims, however Brown was sued and lost to the large company. Brown, a former archivist, went searching for other flaws in Disney s copyright claims and found one in the Steamboat Willie film. The copyright was listed as the following: Disney Cartoons Present

6 A Mickey Mouse Sound Cartoon Steamboat Willie A Walt Disney Comic By Ub Iwerks Recorded by Cinephone Powers System Copyright MCMXXIX. The flaw in this statement was that two other names were listed in between Disney and the word Copyright. And according to the Copyright Act of 1909, this voids copyright because any of the three names could claim ownership. Brown tried to use this information in his court case appeal but failed. The question still remains Is Mickey Mouse a member of Public Domain? Maybe legally, however, is there any question of the author/owner/creator of Mickey Mouse? It has been said that The Walt Disney Co. has influenced the terms of copyright law. Mickey Mouse isn t the only copyright issue that has faced this company. Many of the Disney characters faced their own copyright battles: Peter Pan, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, Cinderella, Pinocchio and Bambi. The story of Bambi was originally published in Germany in 1923 by an Austrian named Felix Sultan. In the 1930, the rights were transferred to Disney and the movie Bambi was released in Source: mickey22