The Seven Deadly Sins- The legality in using Media
Kevin M. Goldberg
Gluttony
-“if I only use 30 second it’s a fair use, right?” wrong
-Fair use Defense part of the US copyright act.
-if you’re using content you didn’t create, try to get a license, or contact the person.
-4 factors the courts look at
-original work commercial or noncommerical
-amount and substantiality: very short vs very long and not integral vs. key element of story
-using a clip from a movie that came out in 1997 in 2013 is okay. but if it was 1997 thats bad because no one would go see the movie
-parody gets almost full protection while satire does not
Greed
-“Its ok, i can definitely protect your identity; i live in a state with a really good law shield.”
-Reporters privilege:
-almost every state in the US 49 states plus DC (except Wyoming)
-if a reporter is called to testify in court, there is little to no protection
-reporter often has no idea where a story might end up and that could be in court. saying i’ll protect your identity as a reporter to get the info you need from a source. once your source gives you information related to a federal court case, you are out of luck.
-Checklist if in this postition
-What law applies? State or Federal.
-determine whether the law protects you
-is the law “absolute” or “qualified”?
-who is protected as a “journalist”?
-What media does it cover?
-Does it protect unpublished materials? notes? just sources?
-Does it require a promise of confidentiality?
-Are there other exceptions? (anonymous posters or commenters)
Sloth
“But i used the word “allegedly”.
-TO hell with getting it first, get it right!
-defamation- someone using you shows you made a false statement or fact about the person, and it caused some kind of damage
-showed that you did absolutely nothing to confirm details
-know what the terms in the legal system mean in order to create a more accurate story
-don’t mess around with quotes. if someone says something to you write it as they said it.
Lust
-CDA section 230- always take advantage of this as an online journalist!
-No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
-do not take naked pictures of yourself, or don’t let people take naked pictures of you
-DMCA Section 512
-gets you out of trouble when someone posts an entire article to support their side of the story in the comment section
Pride
“Hell no, i’m not issuing a correction that just shows weakness or that i’m wrong.”
-damages
-compensatory damages
-special damages
-punitive damages
-sometimes it makes good financial sense to swallow your pride and make the correction
Envy
“It was on the internet so it was free for anyone to use”
-because a copyright is a piece of property it can be bought sold or leased/rented/licensed
-creative commons gives copyright license to pictures posted
Wrath
“Anything i see in public is fair game for photographing, recording, or other news gathering.”
Public: generally acceptable to photograph or tape people in public places
Private: You generally have an expectation of privacy in your home, on your telephone, in a doctor’s office or secured place etc.
-public places do not always mean public
This lecture was extremely helpful especially as many of us are leaving the college world and about the head into the real world and experience what repercussions certain things would have outside of a world where there isn’t a professor to tell us something wrong. This was a very simple way to teach us the things that are bad and to remember them through something everyone is familiar with.
