An unsigned opinion of the court is called a
per curiam opinion
Courts of appeal
establish precedent
Laws are well tailored when they
are not vague or overbroad
Statutes may be enacted by legislatures
at the federal, state, or local level
Common law
is judge-made law
Stare decisis means
let the decision stand
Laws that indirectly limit the freedom of speech while achieving other substantial government objectives are called
Both b and c
Courts that find content-based restrictions of speech constitutional if they
pass strict scrutiny
The First Amendment prohibits abridgments of the freedom of speech and the press by
all levels and branches of government
Prior restraints on speech are
B and C
Under strict scrutiny, a law is constitutional only if it is
narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest
In Near vs. Minnesota, the Supreme Court ruled that
both A, B, and D
In New York Times vs United States, the Supreme Court said that
both A and C
Fighting words
threaten to immediately disturb the peace
Categorical balancing
both A and B
Laws that protect national security by punishing speakers who incite violent actions are
constitutional if they pass the Brandenburg test
The clear and present danger test
was adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court after it found the bad tendency test allowed government to punish too much harmless speech
Chilling effect is the name used to describe
the tendency for unclear government regulations to discourage the exercise of constitutionally protected rights
The explicit text of the U.S. Constitution
says nothing about different First Amendment rights for children and adults
Public schools may regulate student expression when it
all of the above
The First Amendment
protects the rights of citizens to assemble in non-violent gatherings
The U.S. Supreme Court has said the First Amendment requires particularly sensitive of vulnerable individuals
to avert their eyes and ignore most offensive expression
Laws that make viewpoint-based discriminations
all of the above
The notion that the mere threat of any kind of lawsuit decreases the aggressiveness of the news media and their willingness to pursue and publish/broadcast hard-hitting stories is most commonly referred to as
chilling effect
Which phrase below is most closely synonymous with celebrity?
all-purpose public figure
Which term is defined as an attempt by a libel defendant to enhance its defense by claiming that the statement over which it is being sued made the defendant a public figure?
Bootstrapping
Joan is intent on getting the City of Westview to build more bike lanes.
Actual malice, because Joan is a limited-purpose public figure as the voluntarily thrust herself into a public controversey.
A student at GSU sends an email to all members says Many GSU faculty sell heroin to the students. A GSU English professor could likely
could not successfully sue for libel because the professor could not prove identification
A newspaper story says that most of the 250 members of the Associated Waterworks Union are corrupt. Same Jones, one of the union members
may not sue for libel because he cannot prove identification
George and his wife, Louise, watch a nightly newscast on Channel 8.
Louise cannot win her case.
The Daily Press prints a story quoting a public university administrator saying that nearly all students are binge drinkers and come to class drunk.
Smith could not successfully sue for libel because she cannot prove identification
In determining if a libel defendant acted with actual malice, courts will consider which of the following?
A, B, and C above
Jerome tells Chris that Ron robbed a local bank. The Gazette prints the story. Ron
can successfully sue the Gazette because it republished a libel
Which of the following is not one of the requirements of the fair report/qualified privilege?
the news report must be concerning a matter of public controversy
Which libel defense is specifically meant to protect reviews of products and services that are presented for public consumption?
fair comment and criticism
The Milkovich v. Lorain Journal decision teaches that
in spite of being forums for opinions, newspaper columns and columnists may be targets of successful libel claims
In defending a lawsuit based on statements of opinion, a defendant may win the case by arguing that the statements are
all of the above
The idea that material cannot be libelous when it is unbelievable relates to which libel defense
rhetorical hyperbole
Which of the following is not among the criteria for the successful application of the neutral reportage libel defense?
The charges are true
Which of the following is not among the criteria for the successful application of the wire service defense?
The information was republished without any change
According to the single-publication rule,
Subsequent sales or reissues of publications are not considered to be new publications, and therefore are not susceptible to libel claims
The single-mistake rule states that
It is not defamatory to falsely report that a professional person or a business has made one mistake
How long from the initial date of publication of an alleged libely does a potential plaintiff have to file a libel suit?
it depends on the state
The purpose of retraction statutes is to
Both A and B
The way courts accept and apply the four privacy torts
varies from state to state
A false light plaintiff must prove the story
made him or her appear to be someone he or she is not
False light differs from libel because
in false light, a plaintiff must show the statement would highly offend a reasonable person; in libel, a plaintiff must show injury to reputation
If courts in a state rule that the right of publicity is a property right, that means
the right of publicity survives a person's death
In an advertisement, Creamy Ice Cream shows a woman eating one of the company's ice cream bars.
Johnson will win because she did not give the company permission to use someone who looks like her in an advertisement
A radio commercial uses the voice of a singer sounding remarkably like Lilly Jones singing part of her hit record but the singer is not Jones. To avoid an appropriation lawsuit,
the ad must include a disclaimer saying, for example, the singer is not Jones
The magazine Macintosh Computing runs an ad for itself in another magazine, PC Quarterly. The ad includes a picture of John Fence, head of Macrosell. John Fence
likely will not win an appropriation suit if the picture had been used in a Macintosh Computing article
When a judge talks about a transformative use in a right to publicity case, the judge is referring to
a use that is not a literal reproduction of the plaintiff's likeness, but a use in which the defendant has added a creative element to the likeness such as making it a parody of the likeness
Which of the following could lead to a successful intrusion lawsuit?
A and B above only
A reporter meets a fire truck at a huge blaze engulfing a large house. The homeowner
likely will be able to successfully sue the reporter for intrusion if the homeowner did not give the reporter permission to be in the house
A reporter falsely tells a homeowner she is from the county's assessor's office, a government agency. The homeowner will likely
Lose the intrusion suit, but the reporter may face criminal charges
The best defense against an intrusion lawsuit
the defendant had the plaintiff's consent
Sally, a reporter for the Daily Sun, is at a detective's desk in the police station. Sally and the Daily Sun will
win because Sally lawfully obtained, and the Daily Sun published, truthful information from a public record
Jane Johnson was a famous rock star, but retired 20 years ago and withdrew from the public eye. Johnson sued Spy Magazine for private facts
Johnson will lose because passage of time does not change the story's newsworthiness.
A professor is crossing the University lawn on his way to the library. The professor would have a good case for
None of the above
In a newspaper gossip column Sally wrote that she didn't like Sam's hair. Sam will
lose the lawsuit because insults are not outrageous
Colin rush to an auto scene accident. It is likely a court will find that
Channel 3's reporter acted in an extreme and outrageous way
Remarks aired on a radio or television station are likely to be found extreme and outrageous if
the person saying the words knew the plaintiff was particularly susceptible to emotional distress
To win an intentional infliction of emotional distress suit, a plaintiff
may show that the defendant acted in a reckless way that could cause emotional distress
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that public officials and public figures bringing suits for intentional infliction of emotional distress must prove
actual malice
A plaintiff suing a tv station for negligent infliction of emotional distress must prove the station
had a duty to the plaintiff to use due care
Channel 3 aired a program about gardening, including a "How to use a weed cruncher". The root flew back and severely cut Smith's leg. Smith sued Channel 3 and likely will
Lose because Channel 3 could not have foreseen an injury to Smith
A magazine published a classified ad that said, "Have gun, will kill. Contact me to get rid of your problems." A court likely will find
The magazine should have realized the ad had a substantial likelihood of causing harm
A biology professor wrote a book about spiders, including saying what spiders are poisonous or not. There was a mistake in the book. Amanda sued the book's publisher for causing her injuries. She will likely
lose the lawsuit because book publishers are not obligated to confirm all information in the books they publish
Proximate cause means
a direct relationship between the plaintiff's action and the defendant's injury
Joe claims Cheryl injured him after she watched the movie Vengeance. Joe must prove the movie producer
Intentionally meant harm to result
In the United States,
obscenity is not protected under the First Amendment
Under the Hicklin vs Regina definition, material was obscene if it
tended to corrupt those whose minds were open to immoral influences
The Supreme Court has said that the "patently offensive" part of the obscenity test
must at least meet standards the Supreme Court has set
The current test used in the United States to determine if material is obscene
requires that all three prongs of the test be met
In applying the first part of the current obscenity test, jurors are supposed to determine if material appeals to the prurient interest based on
the juror's assessment of the community's standards
Variable obscenity is a term applied to
material that is obscene if distributed to children but not obscene if distributed to adults
The current obscenity test requires that to be found obscene material must be
none of the above
In ruling on the Communications Decency Act, part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court held
the First Amendment protects indecent material on the Internet
The United States has a copyright law because
the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to adopt a copyright law
A work is copyrighted when
it is created
On its newscasts and without permission, a radio station reads stories from the local daily's newspapers front page. The paper will likely be successful suing for
unfair competition
Sandy, a reporter for KSOX-TV, videotapes a fire in a downtown store and includes a portion of the tape in a story aired on the 10pm news. KSOX
owns the tapes copyright
The videotape made by the KSOX crew in the previous question is called
work made for hire
Kim is a freelance journalist who writes a story about river pollution. Kim's copyright on the story will last for
Kim's lifetime plus 70 more years
To sue for copyright infringement under the U.S. copyright law, a copyright holder must
register the copyright before suing
In copyright law, the term "fair use" means
the most commonly used defense against charges of copyright infringement
Usually the most important consideration when a court determines whether using copyrighted material without permission constitutes fair use is
the impact on the copyrighted work's market value
Cindy wants to have background music on the videotape she is shooting for a television commercial. She plans to use a popular recording of a recently written composition. She must
A, B, and C above
The most distinctive category of trademarks is
fanciful marks
In Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, about advertising prescription drug prices, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
while some regulation of advertising is permissible, it was not in this case because of the valuable information contained within the ads in questions
In the development of commercial speech law, which statement below best describes how SUNY v. Fox impacted Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp?
Fox modified only one element of the Central Hudson test, creating a slightly new and different test
The Lanham Act targets
unfair competition by an advertiser
Which of the following is not an FTC measure that may be used to control false advertising?
reciprocal order
Which word or phrase applies to the agreement between the FTC and an advertiser in which specific terms of future conduct are stipulated?
consent order
The FTC's case against Warner-Lambert for claims made in its advertising about Listerine mouthwash has the first time the FTC had used one of the powers at its disposal. Which power was used?
Corrective advertising
Which of the following is not true about the CAN-SPAM Act?
It requires all internet advertisers to register with the FCC