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Reasons Right to Privacy has been diminishing.
- Growth of Government
- Growth of Mass Media
- Technological Inovations
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Reasons Privacy Laws Rising
- Yellow Journalism
- Movement to Urban Society
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Appropriation
Using a persons name or likeness for commercial purposed without consent
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Right to Privacy vs. Right of Publicity
- Privacy - personal right, protects from emotional harm, ends with death
- Publicity - property right, protects economic value of name, passes to relatives upon death
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Types of Likenesses
- Photo, Painting, Sketch, Cartoon
- Fictional Character
- Look Alike
- Sound Alike
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News and Information Exception
News stories (any non-advertisement) cannot be considered appropriation
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Booth Rule
Use of name or likeness is not appropriation if has been or will be part of product content
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When consent doesn't apply
- After a long time
- From minors, or wards of the state
- if image is materially altered
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Intrusion vs. Trespass
- intrusion - eavesdropping, gathering private records, telephoto pictures
- trespass - intentional entry onto land owned by someone else
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Reasonable Expectation of Privacy
- argument against press
- not in public
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Illegally Obtained Information
Press not responsible for info obtained illegally by a second party
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Assumption of Risk Analysis
No expectation of privacy when information is voluntarily made accessible to another person
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Electronic Communications Privacy Act
- Illegal to intentionally intercept a cell phone conversation
- Illegal to forbid manufacturers of radio scanners from making scanners that can intercept cell phones
- Illegal to outlaws intentional interception of online communications
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Drivers License Protection Act
Barred state DMVs from disclosing personal information that is contained in driver’s license records
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Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
Allows the FTC to regulate Internet sites that collect personal information from users under age 13
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Publicity vs. Publication in Libel Law
- Publicity - to a large number of people
- Publication - to a single third party
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Illegal reasons to publish private matter
- has publicity
- highly offensive to the reasonable man
- not of legitimate public concern
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Reasons information not considered private
- happens in public
- large segment of public already aware of info
- contained in documents of public record
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Name rape victims
- legal if obtained through public record
- usually restricted by most news outlets
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False Light
- Illegal if found offensive and publisher of material is at fault (must prove fault)
- Unlike libel, Doesn't have to harm reputation, just must be false and cause embarrassment
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Most false light cases are caused by
- editing or writing errors
- misuse of photographs
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Three primary sources of law journalists look to for a legal right to information
- Common law
- Constitutional law
- Statutory law
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Secret Recording Equipment
Laws vary according to state
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FOIA - Freedom of Information Act
provides statutory right of access to records possessed by federal government agencies (within 20 business days)
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FOIA Exemptions
- National security matters
- Housekeeping materials
- Material exempted by statute (used by CIA)
- Trade secrets
- Working papers and lawyer-client privileged documents
- Personal privacy files
- Law enforcement records
- Financial institution materials
- Geological data
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Government in Sunshine Act, 1976
- Applies to 50 federal bodies
- Courts interpret to apply only to bodies appointed by the President
- 10 exemptions allow for closed meetings; the 9 FOIA plus an arbitration exemption
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State Open-Meetings Laws
- Provide for closed meetings, or executive sessions, in certain cases
- Require advance public notice of regular and special meetings
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Exemptions to state open-records laws
- Information classified as confidential
- Law enforcement and investigatory information
- Trade secrets and commercial information
- Preliminary departmental memorandums (working papers)
- Personal privacy information
- Information relating to litigation against a public body
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Buckley Amendment
- Permits parents to review their kid's school records
- Prohibits the dissemination of personally identifiable information to unauthorized persons without consent of parents
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Health and Medical Records: HIPAA
- Limits ability of journalists to obtain information about patients in hospitals and healthcare settings
- Journalists can obtain information about crime victims from law enforcement sources
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The Federal Privacy Law
- Checks the misuse of personal data obtained by the federal government
- Provides access for individuals to records about themselves that are held by federal agencies
- Federal agencies must limit collection of information to relevance and necessity
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Criminal History Privacy Laws
- Press not given access to criminal history records kept by police
- Press given access to pertinent info to a case for that is currently being processed and conviction records
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State Statutes that Limit Access to Information
All states have statutes that limit access to information otherwise be available under FOIA
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