Details the implications for libel suits against the press of the law's distinction between public figures and private individuals. (KS)

This paper explores the rights of authors before publication of their works, if those works are to be published at all, and how these rights might yield to fair use of the works by other authors. Firstly, the paper examines the interests at stake of the three main groups involved: authors, the public, and people who wish to quote or closely…

The legal action brought by author J. D. Salinger against Random House Publishers to prevent certain letters--now the property of various university libraries--from being published in a biography illustrates how the long-standing accommodation between the Copyright Act and the First Amendment can occasionally break down. Although the biographer…

Since the "New York Times Co. v. Sullivan" decision in 1964, courts have debated the degrees of protection from defamation that should be offered to individuals and the concomitant degree of freedom that the press should have to report on matters of public concern. Most recently, the Supreme Court has attempted to balance these competing…

Recent court decisions have diminished First Amendment protection by rejecting the appropriateness of the "New York Times" doctrine regarding privacy and private and public citizens. (KS)

Contending that potential conflict between copyright and free speech inevitable if present provisions of the copyright bill providing copyright for television are enacted, the author suggests an alternative approach based on analysis of English and American background, copyright and the law of unfair competition, and policies of the copyright…

Science and technology may affect the balance between First Amendment rights and government interests by changing power relationships between individuals and between individuals and the state. Technology will give rise to new ways of communicating which amplify the ways in which individuals and organizations express themselves. New technologies,…