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Legal Resources Guide Prepared in October 2007 by: IntroductionThe World Wide Web provides vast amounts of information that facilitate research for term papers, projects and theses. The same holds true for legal research projects like the kind that you might need to conduct for an undergraduate course on mass media law. Rather than just randomly surfing through search engines like Yahoo and Google for key terms, there are more direct methods of locating relevant information as it relates to mass media law. In particular, the web provides hundreds of sites replete with legal information. From the web, you can access case law, federal and state codes and statutes, and law journals. For example, the United States Code of federal statutes exists online, free of charge, as part of Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode while United States Supreme Court decisions are found at http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html. The Code of Federal Regulations can be found free of charge via the National Archives and Records Administration at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html In addition, numerous organizations dedicated to preserving free speech and free press have websites that are packed with information relevant to the specific organization's interests. For instance, the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government, a group dedicated to promoting public access to government information and freedom of information, maintains a helpful website at http://www.cjog.net. Similarly, the National Freedom of Information Coalition hosts a site at http://www.nfoic.org that features information about the public's right to an open government. The website for the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press provides a First Amendment Handbook that can be accessed at http://www.rcfp.org/handbook/index.html. This online guide has information on subjects ranging from journalistic access to documents and courts to the topics of libel, privacy, copyright and prior restraint. The best way to find out what is on these sites and others is to explore them on your own. To describe all of their contents and links here would be next to impossible. Take the time, then, to explore the sites at your own pace. The list of more than 90 sites here, however, is far from complete. Rather, it is one professor's efforts to provide communication and journalism students with some of what he considers to be useful web-based resources about the law and, in particular, media and communications law. The sites provide a fast and effective means of gathering legal information from a multitude of sources. In addition to the sites described here, two excellent subscription-based legal databases to which many colleges and universities subscribe are Westlaw Campus Research and LexisNexis Academic. Both of these databases provide quick ways to look up scholarly law review articles on a given topic; judicial opinions rendered by state and federal courts; and state and federal statutes. Be sure to see if your college or university subscribes to either or both of these databases. Finally, ask your professor about the online The 90-plus websites described in this online guide are divided below into 12 categories:
Before describing these categories in greater detail, two caveats must be made. First, one must always be careful of the quality of information that appears online. The ease with which individuals and groups can become instant Internet publishers means that a good deal of unsubstantiated and at times inaccurate information is readily accessible. You, then, ultimately are responsible for evaluating the credibility of the source of the information that you obtain from the web. Be a critical user of the web, much like one would critically analyze accepted legal doctrines for weaknesses and flaws. The second caveat is that this guide is produced with the understanding that the author is not herein engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. In addition, neither the author nor the publisher of this "Legal Resources Guide" makes any representations or guarantees, either express or implied, about the accuracy and/or quality of the information on any and all of the websites identified in this guide. With those caveats mind, on to a description of the categories and the websites. About the CategoriesStarting Points: The websites identified in the Starting Points section are great places to begin your legal research. They contain links and connections to many different legal resources. Use these to get underway for all types of legal research, be it media-related or otherwise. The American Bar Association (ABA) provides a great jump station on the web at http://www.abanet.org/tech/ltrc/lawlink/home.htmlfor accessing all varieties of legal information. The starting point sites listed in this Appendix include a mixture of sites created by or on behalf of law schools such as Villanova and Cornell, legal organizations like the ABA, and commercial enterprises. When looking for state legal resources such as states constitutions, state statutes and pending state legislation and bills, LexisONE provides useful starting point at http://www.lexisone.com/legalresearch/legalguide/states/states_resources_index.htm First Amendment Sites: These sites all address issues surrounding the freedoms of speech and press. Some of the web pages, like the site for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press at http://www.rcfp.org,are designed specifically to help journalists, while others, such as the web page for the organization known as Feminists for Free Expression at http://www.ffeusa.orgfocus on First Amendment issues relating to pornography and sexual harassment. One of the sites, the Student Press Law Center, targets issues of free press involving high schools and colleges and is found online at http://www.splc.org. Another good site directed toward libel and privacy issues facing journalists is that of the Media Law Resource Center located at http://www.medialaw.org. Another organization — this one affiliated with Harvard Law School — devoted to media law is the Citizen Media Law Project at http://www.citmedialaw.org. The Free Speech Coalition, the leading trade association for the adult entertainment industry, has a site at http://www.freespeechcoalition.comthat provides legal information about restrictions on sexual content and sexually oriented businesses. Internet, Cyberspace and Law Sites: These sites are dedicated to issues of free expression on the Internet and in Cyberspace, as well as telecommunications regulations and policy issues for as the twentieth century rapidly comes to a close. For instance, the Center for Democracy and Technology at http://www.cdt.orgworks to promote democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. With expertise in law, technology, and policy, CDT seeks practical solutions to enhance free expression and privacy in global communications technologies." The Benton Foundation, located on the web at http://www.benton.org, declares on its site that its mission "is to articulate a public interest vision for the digital age and to demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems. Current priorities include: promoting a vision and policy alternatives for the digital age in which the benefit to the public is paramount; raising awareness among funders and nonprofits on their stake in critical policy issues; enabling communities and nonprofits to produce diverse and locally responsive media content." Selected Government Sites: The federal government provides a number of sites that feature legal information relevant to both media and non-media law. For instance, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a home page at http://www.fcc.gov that describes the commissioners, activities and decisions of this administrative agency and its bureaus, while the House Judiciary Committee has a home page at http://judiciary.house.gov. Advertising and public relations majors will want to visit the website of the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov to learn about laws that affect unlawful trade practices and advertisement. Law Journals and Reviews: For scholarly term papers and research projects on legal issues, law journal articles written by law professors, legal practitioners, and law students often are great background sources. Law journal articles usually are packed with helpful footnotes for reference material and they often contain creative substantive arguments on legal theory and policy. For instance, the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal is found online at http://www.cardozoaelj.netand it features PDF versions of its articles from current and past issues. Similarly, the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal has a website at http://law.fordham.edu/publications/index.ihtml?pubid=200that features PDF versions of past and present articles that it has published Legal News:A growing number of sites have current news about legal issues that may be relevant for journalism and communication students. For instance, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press publishes an online newsletter – The News Media Update – every two weeks that features a summary of very recent cases that affect journalists. The newsletter can be accessed, free for classroom use, at http://www.rcfp.org/getnews.html. The Freedom Forum provides current information on free expression cases and controversies on its home page at http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org. Legal news on all issues from the across the United States can be found from the Jurist Web site at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/uslatest. Advertising Law and Regulation Sites: Regulation of advertising, be it tobacco advertising in magazines and on billboards or lottery advertisements on television and radio, is a controversial topic today. The quartet of sites here includes the home page for the Federal Trade Commission, located at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC is the government agency charged with enforcing federal consumer protection laws against unfair and deceptive trade practices and acts, including false and misleading advertising. Perhaps the best online starting point for legal issues affecting advertising is the Web site of ADLAW® located at http://www.adlaw.com/home.cfm. Freedom of Information Sites: Chapter Nine in the Pember textbook describes the federal government's Freedom of Information Act, a law designed to provide the public with access to government documents. The five Web sites in this category may prove to be useful — if not essential — resources for journalists seeking information from both federal and local government agencies and offices. The Society of Professional Journalists, for instance, hosts a Freedom of Information Resource Center at http://www.spj.org/foi.aspthat makes an excellent starting point. As the page states, it is designed "as a tool to help journalists and non-journalists in their quest for information from federal and local governments." The University of Missouri's School of Journalism maintains its own Freedom of Information Center on the Web at http://web.missouri.edu/~umcjourfoiwww. Visit the other pages as well and try to determine which one or ones best fit your needs. Privacy Sites: Concerns about privacy abound today. From "cookies" placed on computers to the intrusive image gathering methods of reality television news magazines and the paparazzi, a central issue is finding a balance between the free flow of information and the public's right to know, on the one hand, and an individual's ability to control the dissemination of information about herself, on the other. The three sites in this new section all deal with issue of privacy. At the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) web page at http://www.epic.orga major focus is privacy in cyberspace but you'll find other information as well. EPIC, as its Web page states, is a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. that was established in 1994 "to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values." Another privacy site linked here is the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse at http://www.privacyrights.orgthat describes itself as "a nonprofit consumer information and advocacy program. It offers consumers a unique opportunity to learn how to protect their personal privacy. The PRC is a project of the Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN), a San Diego-based nonprofit membership organization which advocates for consumers' interests vis-à-vis telecommunications, energy, insurance, and the Internet." Intellectual Property Sites: Chapter 14 in the textbook is devoted to copyright law, one aspect of the general category of intellectual property issues. You will find in the 2000 Update five sites devoted to intellectual property issues including copyright. You'll discover the government's official Copyright Office site at http://www.copyright.govthat has sections on the basics of copyright law and copyright registration procedures. Another great site is maintained by the Franklin Pierce Law Center called the Intellectual Property Mall and located at http://www.ipmall.fplc.edu. You'll even find links there that are useful for conducting patent searches. Stanford University Libraries also hosts a Copyright and Fair Use site at http://fairuse.stanford.eduwhere you can locate relevant statutes, judicial opinions, regulations, and treaties and conventions. Telecommunications Law and Policy Sites: The future of telecommunications is being shaped today by policy debates that will impact your ability to receive information in the future. One organization concerned with telecommunications policy is the Benton Foundation, and its Communications Policy & Practice page can be found at http://www.benton.org. One of the more interesting aspects of this page is that it gives you access to communications-related news, free-of-charge, on a daily basis with its "Headlines" service. Another link is to the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis page of the FCC, found at http://www.fcc.gov/osp. The OPP "assists, advises, and makes recommendations to the Commission with respect to the development and implementation of communications policies in all areas of Commission authority and responsibility, particularly those that cross traditional industry and institutional boundaries." This page also has a great collection of links to other telecommunications policy sites on the World Wide Web. Supreme Court Sites: The United States Supreme Court features its own official site at http://www.supremecourtus.govfrom which one can access docket, calendar and schedule information as well as recent opinions issued by the Court. One site for locating Supreme Court opinions is the Supreme Court Collection of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University at http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html. The Legal Information Institute also provides a free current awareness service via e-mail, distributing the syllabi of Supreme Court decisions in bulletin format within hours after their release. You can register at http://www.law.cornell.edu/focus/bulletins.htmlto receive this service. In terms of starting points for research on the United States Supreme Court, including information about the justices and news about the Court, a good source is provided by FindLaw at http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/resources.html. Another very good site dealing with the Court that is worth checking out includes Northwestern University's Oyez Project at http://www.oyez.org. The Web SitesThe Starting Points (in alphabetical order): American Bar Association's (ABA) Legal Technology Resource Center Emory Law School Federal Courts Finder FindLaw—;Federal and State Cases and Codes Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School LexisONE State Resource Center World Wide Web Virtual Law Library, Indiana University School of Law Advertising Law and Regulation Sites (in alphabetical order): ADLAW By Request Advertising Law Resource Center Better Business Bureau Children's Advertising Review Unit Federal Trade Commission Hieros Gamos Guide to Advertising Law The First Amendment Sites (in alphabetical order): American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression American Civil Liberties Union California Anti-SLAPP Project California First Amendment Coalition Citizen Media Law Project Feminists for Free Expression First Amendment Project Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Free Expression Network Clearinghouse Free Press Free Speech Coalition [trade association for the adult entertainment industry] Freedom Forum Online Freedom to Read Foundation Future of the First Amendment Media Coalition Media Law Resource Center National Coalition Against Censorship Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Society of Professional Journalists: The First Amendment Student Press Law Center Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression Internet, Cyberspace and Law Sites (in alphabetical order): Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School Center for Democracy and Technology Center for Internet and Society Chilling Effects Clearinghouse Electronic Frontier Foundation Open Internet Coalition Selected Government Sites (in alphabetical order): Federal Communications Commission Federal Trade Commission Federal Judicial Center House Judiciary Committee Library of Congress Online Catalog National Archives and Records Administration National Endowment for the Arts National Telecommunications and Information Administration THOMAS—Legislative Information on the Internet USA.gov — The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal United States Department of Justice FOIA Center United States Federal Judiciary Law Journals and Reviews (in alphabetical order): Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal Federal Communications Law Journal FindLaw Academic Law Reviews and Journals Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal JURIST—Law Review Index Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review Texas Review of Entertainment & Sports Law University Law Review Project Virginia Journal of Law and Technology Legal News (in alphabetical order): First Amendment Center The National Law Journal Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Roll Call Freedom of Information Sites (in alphabetical order): Citizen Access Project Coalition of Journalists for Open Government Department of Justice: Basic FOIA Training Manual IRE's Freedom of Information Center Freedom of Information Clearinghouse National Freedom of Information Coalition National Security Archive: The Freedom of Information Act Open The Government.org Society of Professional Journalist's Freedom of Information Resource Center University of Missouri School of Journalism's Freedom of Information Center Privacy Sites (in alphabetical order): Electronic Privacy Information Center Federal Privacy Law: The Office of the Federal Privacy Commission Privacy.Org: Site for Daily News, Information, and Initiatives on Privacy Privacy and Information Security, Fenwick & West LLP Privacy Rights Clearinghouse Intellectual Property Sites (in alphabetical order): Franklin Pierce Law Center's Intellectual Property (IP) Mall Intellectual Property Law Server Stanford University Libraries' Copyright & Fair Use Site United States Copyright Office University of California-Berkeley's Copyright, Intellectual Property Rights, and Licensing Issues Site Telecommunications Law and Policy Sites (in alphabetical order): Benton Foundation: Communications Policy and Practice Center for Digital Democracy Federal Communication Commission's Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis Media Center at New York Law School Public Knowledge Supreme Court Sites:United States Supreme Court Official Web Site FindLaw's Supreme Court Resources JURIST's Guide to the United States Supreme Court Oyez Project, Northwestern University Supreme Court Bulletin Service Information, Legal Information Institute Supreme Court of the United States Blog |