Book Description

Communication Law in America is a comprehensive, easy-to-follow overview of the complicated ways in which U.S. law determines who may say what to (and about) whom. It covers the usual content– libel, invasion of privacy, copyright and trademark, access to government information, advertising, electronic media– all the while giving readers a sense of how and why this country has come to weigh freedom of speech above competing freedoms far more often than in other Western democracies. This fourth edition of the well-received text boasts over 300 new citations, including discussion of a dozen U. S. Supreme Court decisions handed down since the previous edition. The nearly 200 still photos and over 80 videos on the author-maintained website – generally not images of litigants but of the actual artifacts (TV and movie scenes, advertisements, news reports) that led to the law suits– have always represented dramatic added value to students and professors alike. The new edition includes 35 new visual elements, including 20 videos. The text also offers a new section on how the First Amendment applies to special populations, including students, government employees in general, and the military in particular.