SMAD 450 exam 3

Wireless Ship Act of 1910

Mandated wireless telegraphy on vessels with 50+ passengers, also established SOS as official distress signal.

Radio Act of 1912

Established government control under the Secretary of Commerce (Herbert Hoover) to issue licenses to radio committees.

Hoover v. Intercity Radio

a federal court said that the Secretary had to give a broadcast license to anyone who applied

US v. Zenith Radio

Commerce Department lacked authority to regulate frequency, power, or hours the radio stations could operate

Radio Act of 1927

established the Federal Radio Commission as a separate agency that only oversaw the radio.

Communication Act of 1934

Established FCC to regulate which oversees the telephone, radio, TV, cable etc. industries.

Section 326

Prohibits FCC from censoring broadcasters' content.

NBC v. US

USSC held that the FCC can regulate electronic media and the rules it makes must be obeyed

Public Interest Standard

Stations must operate in public interest, convenience, necessity.

FCC Responsibilities

Grants licenses, and adopts broadcasting regulations *illegal to run a broadcast without FCC license in the US

FCC License Renewal is ensured unless the license has...

- Not operated in the "public Interest, Convenience, and Necessity"

- Repeated violated FCC rules

- Shown a pattern of abusing

FCC Composition

- 5 commissioners are appointed by the president with the approval of the Senate

- No more than 3 from the same political party

- No financial interest in company FCC oversees

- Must be US Citizens

Past FCC chairs

Newton Minnow - 'The Vast Wasteland'

Mark Fowler & Patrick Dennis - Deregulation

Enforcement Powers of FCC

1. A simple letter

2. Cease-and-desist order

3. Forfeitures (fines)

4. Short-term renewals (6 months to 2 years)

5. Renewal Denials & Revocation

FCC Appeal Process

Administrative Law Judge (internal appellate)

Review Board (internal appellate)

FCC Commissioners (internal appellate)

US Court of Appeals, DC Cir.

US Supreme Court

Fairness Doctrine (does not exist anymore)

Required coverage of controversial issues from both sides and PAR (personal attack rule)

Personal Attack Rule (PAR)

- Attack on honesty, integrity, and character of a person or group

- Must notify as to time, date, and ID of broadcast within one week

- A script or tape or accurate summary must be supplied

- An offer of a reasonable opportunity to respond

Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC

USSC upheld the FCC's PAR as constitutional - gave Cook free time to reply to the attack

RTNDA v. FCC

the court said the PAR is no longer constitutional because it is vague and entangled the government in the day-to-day operation of the broadcasters and led to the government second guessing the judgement of professional broadcast journalist

Section 315 (of Federal Communications Act)

Mandates equal time for political candidates on broadcasts.

Zapple Doctrine

Extends equal time to candidate supporters, not just candidates.

Rate Card

cost to run a commercial

Mayflower Broadcasting

stations could not use their stations to express opinions or editorialize

United Broadcasting Co

stations could not refuse to sell time for discussion of controversial issues

Report on Editorializing by Broadcast License (FD)

1. Devote a reasonable percentage of time to the coverage of controversial public issues.

2. Provide a reasonable opportunity for the presentation of contrasting viewpoints.

Representative Patsy Mink

FCC ruled that a station had not met its obligation to air controversial programming regarding strip mining techniques

American Security Council Educational Foundation v. CBS

a federal court declared when the complaining party and a broadcaster disagree on the characterization of a controversial issue or its public importance the FCC must trust the broadcasters to cover both sides or deem it not controversial

Cullman Broadcasting Co

A station must not wait for a spokesperson to appear

Banzhaf v. FCC

Applied fairness doctrine to cigarette smoking - later dropped against commercial ads (Banzhaf said the cigarette companies know that cigs are bad and are covering that up with their commercials)

reasonable opportunity

- FCC examines the amount of time devoted to a topic

- How often a topic is aired (frequency)

- Size of the listening audience (reach)

Syracuse Peace Council v. FCC

FCC eliminated the public controversy portion of the fairness doctrine

- a federal court ruled the FCC had the right to eliminate the fairness doctrine because it thwarted the discussion of public interest

PAR exemptions

- Attacks on foreign groups or public figures

- Personal attacks made by legally qualified candidates or their associates

- Bona fide (regularly scheduled) newscasts, news interviews, or on-the-spot news

Section 315 requirements

- Equal time does not matter if the commercial is paid

- Applies to state and local candidates (attorney general, governor, mayor, etc)

- Must be legally qualified candidate - rate change 45 days before primary and 60 days prior to general election and must be at the lowest unit cost

- No requirement to notify opposing candidates

- Requires equal opportunity and equal time for candidates

section 326

prohibits the FCC from censoring radio or TV broadcasts and from interfering with broadcasters' free speech rights

section 315

requires broadcasters to provide equal opportunities to all legally qualified political candidates if they allow one candidate to use their station

section 312

requires broadcasters to allow reasonable access to federal candidates for public office and prohibits them from removing a candidate's legally qualified ads

section 312 requirements

- Applis to federal candidates

- Must be legally qualified candidates

- Rates change 45 days before a primary and 60 days prior to a general election and must be at the lowest unit cost

- Must run when submitted

312 & 315 exemptions

- Bona fide newscast

- Bona fide news interviews

- Bona fide documentary

- On-the-spot news coverage

Miami Herald Pub Co v. Tornillo

USSC held that newspapers have different (greater) first amendment rights than electronic media

FCC v. WNCN Listeners Guild

a radio station is free to change its format without considering the impact on the public

FCC v. Pacifica Foundation

USSC ruled that the FCC could regulate indecent programming (Childrens accessibility was an important factor in this ruling)

WGBH Educational Foundation

FCC found a public TV station airing programs that contained nudity and "adult" themes. It was not indecent because it was not repetitive use of questionable material

FCC two part indency test

- the material must describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or activities

- the material must be patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards

Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2006

Increased the fines that the FCC can charge broadcasters - $325,000 for one profane or indecent word or image

ACT v. FCC

ruled that the FCC should regulate a broad range of offensive descriptions or depictiions of sexual or excretory activity

ACT v. FCC

declared the 24-hour ban (on indecent material) unconstitutional. Today, adult themes may be aired from the ‘safe harbor’ of 10pm to 6am

Infinity Broadcasting Corp.

FCC stated it would look at the 'serious merit' of a program as a factor in determining 'indecency' the reasonable risk of children in the audience and a warning should precede the program

Sable Communications v. FCC

A total ban on dial-a-porn is unconstitutional. Indecent phone messages have some constitutional protection

lotteries

chance, consideration, and prize

US v. Edge Broadcasting

USSC held that a state can regulate commercial speech broadcasts such as lottery results. States can regulate beside the FCC

Children's Programming Restrictions

- Broadcast television stations must provide programming intended for children up to 17 years old that meet educational/informational needs

- Establishes 'core programming'

- 30+ minutes long

- Regularly schedule

- Broadcast from 6am to 10pm local time

- FCC may choose not to renew a station's license if it does not meet the requirements

Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs)

- Must carry restrictions

- Anti-leapfrogging

- Syndex rule

Must carry restrictions

cable has to carry local stations

Anti-leapfrogging

cable cannot generate a signal outside of the area

Syndex rule

exclusive rights to a particular program

US v. Southwestern Cable Co

FCC has a right to apply broadcasting rules and regulations to cable televisions

Fortnightly Corp. v. United artists TV inc.

retransmission of a TV signal wasn't a copyright infringement because it was not a performance

Teleprompter Corp. v. CBS

retransmission by microwaves facility (MDS) was not copyright infringement

Copyright Act of 1976

- Created a Copyright Tribunal to redistribute copyright funds

- Local governments were given the power to regulate franchise agreements

2105 FCC Open Internet Order bans

- throttling

- paid prioritization

- blocking

FCC funding comes from

congress

FCC commissioners serve

5 year terms

FCC regulates

broadcast radio and television

Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984

- Allowed "leases access" channels

- Obscene programming not allowed

- Local and state government and the federal government have shared authority over cable

- PEG(public education and government channels) left up to local government

Quincy Cable TV inc. v. FCC

USSC held that "must carry" rules were unconstitutional

City of Los Angles v. Preferred Comm.

USSC held that lower courts should determine if cable companies should be allowed to compete

Turner Broadcasting Systems v. FCC

- USSC ruled that the first amendment test it will use for cable will be the print model

- The court upheld the constitutionality of the must-carry rule. It ruled it was a "content neutral" regulatio

ABC v. Aereo inc.

- Because there were different rulings between circuits, the USSC granted cert

- Holding: USSC ruled against Aereo

- Rationale: Aereo was in violation of the Copyright Act because the material was rebroadcast was determined to be a public performance.

- Reversed the fortnightly and teleprompter decisions as supported in the 1976 copyright

Cable TV Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992

- Regulated rates cable systems charged subscribers

- Required cable systems to carry local broadcast television stations and deliver other programming to direct broadcast satellite companies

- Barred local

National Association for Better Broadcasting v. FCC

A federal court determined that DBS(dish) is a non-broadcast service

Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988

allowed satellite TV providers to offer network channels to rural and remote households that couldn't receive them over the air while ensuring broadcasters were compensated.

Other Satellite Legislation

- In 1999, it was declared that local situations can be offered in a satellite package

- In 2002, the FCC implemented the “carry one, carry all” rule governing satellite packages. If you carry one local station, you must carry them all.

low power TV

- often used in rural areas or cities where full-power stations don't reach or don't provide localized content

- local news, religious programming, educational content, or niche entertainment

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Purpose: Aimed to lower consumer costs for phone, cable, and internet services.

(TC 1996) Broadcasting & HDTV

Stations received two 6MHz channels without extra fees.

(TC 1996) Radio ownership

Relaxed AM/FM limits—one company could own up to 8 stations per market and offer diverse programming.

(TC 1996) TV ownership

Initially limited to 35% of the national audience, later increased to 39% in 2017.

(TC 1996) cross-ownership

Revamped rules; owning both TV & cable in the same market was prohibited.

(TC 1996) License renewal

Issued for 8 years with unlimited renewals, but licenses cannot be transferred and must be held by U.S. citizens.

(TC 1996) FCC Licensing

If multiple applicants compete for an unused frequency, it is awarded via auction.

(TC 1996) Rate Regulation

FCC no longer controls prices on upper tier cable channels

(TC 1996) Communication Decency Act

Declared unconstitutional in Reno v. ACLU

(TC 1996) TV Standards

Required the industry to develop a ratings system (similar to MPAA) and the V-chip for parental controls.

Section 230

- ISPs are not publishers and cannot be held liable for user-generated content.

- ISPs are protected when they block/filter content in good faith.

Section 230 exceptions to immunity

- Federal criminal law

- Intellectual property law

- Sex trafficking laws

Net Neutrality

- ISPs cannot charge content providers for faster delivery of their content.

- 2018: FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order repealed net neutrality rules on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization.

- 2021: President Biden issued an executive order urging the FCC to reinstate Obama-era net neutrality rules.

Statute of Anne 1710

14 year term with a second 14 year term possible

1909 copyright act

28 year term with second 28 year term possible

1976 copyright act

life plus 50 years

1988

US finally recognizes Berne Convention of 1866 (respects international copyrights)

1998

life plus 70 years (Sonny Bono Amendment - did not do it for Bono did it for Disney)

Copyright Act of 1976

- Copyright applies to all tangible works upon creation (ideas are not protected).

- Changes exclusive rights and their limitations

- Fair use codeified - a defense for using someone's copyrighted work

Copyright eligibility

- Work must be original - originality

- Work must possess minimal degree of creativity

- Work must be fixed and have a tangible medium - fixation

- Facts can not be copy protected, but the way the facts are presented, the style, can be copy protected

Donald v. Beckett

The court ruled that the copyright ownership is legal.

White Smith Music Pub. v. Apollo

The Court ruled that piano rolls were not copies because they couldn’t be read like sheet music. This meant that companies making player piano rolls didn’t have to pay copyright fees to music publishers.

Apple v. Franklin

USSC ruled in favor of Apple stating that computer programs can be protected by copyright

Mazer v. Stein

encourages everyone to develop creative endures and be financially awarded

Scene a faire

expected components of a story that can not be copy protected

Baker v. Selden

The expression of an idea can be protected by copyright (the book itself), The idea itself (the bookkeeping system) cannot be protected by copyright.