Media Law Course

Lesson 1 • Structure of the Legal System

Explains how courts, legislatures, and regulators interact to produce media law. Students learn to locate authoritative legal sources relevant to media disputes.

Lesson 2 • Origins of Press Freedom

Traces the historical development of press freedom from early censorship regimes to modern constitutional protections. Provides the ideological baseline for all subsequent legal analysis.

Lesson 3 • Media Industry Overview

Maps the major media sectors—broadcast, print, digital, and social—and the distinct legal regimes each faces. Contextualises why legal rules differ across platforms.

Lesson 1 • Online Defamation and Platform Liability

Applies defamation doctrine to user-generated content and examines intermediary liability protections for platforms. Bridges traditional doctrine to the digital publishing environment.

Lesson 2 • Damages and Litigation Strategy

Covers categories of defamation damages and strategic considerations from pre-suit demand through trial. Prepares students to advise on litigation risk and settlement.

Lesson 3 • Truth, Opinion, and Privilege Defences

Analyses the truth defence, the opinion doctrine, and absolute and qualified privileges available to media defendants. Students learn to build and evaluate defence strategies.

Lesson 4 • Elements of a Defamation Claim

Breaks down each required element—false statement, publication, identification, and harm—with media-specific examples. Grounds students in what plaintiffs must prove.

Lesson 1 • Newsgathering and Intrusion

Analyses legal limits on surveillance, recording, and undercover reporting during the newsgathering process. Directly addresses the most common privacy risks journalists face in the field.

Lesson 2 • Right of Publicity

Distinguishes the right of publicity from privacy torts and analyses its application to commercial and editorial uses of identity. Prepares students to advise on talent and branding agreements.

Lesson 3 • Statutory Privacy Frameworks

Surveys data protection, health privacy, and student record laws that restrict media use of personal information. Connects regulatory compliance to editorial practice.

Lesson 4 • The Four Privacy Torts

Introduces intrusion, false light, appropriation, and public disclosure of private facts as distinct causes of action. Establishes the taxonomy used throughout the chapter.

Lesson 1 • Licensing and Rights Clearance

Covers synchronisation, mechanical, and stock licensing workflows for multimedia production. Prepares students to build compliant rights clearance processes.

Lesson 2 • Copyright Fundamentals

Covers originality, fixation, and the scope of copyright protection for text, images, audio, and video. Establishes the ownership baseline for all subsequent IP analysis.

Lesson 3 • Fair Use Doctrine

Applies the four-factor fair use test to journalism, commentary, parody, and educational uses of copyrighted material. Equips students to make and defend fair use judgments.

Lesson 4 • Ownership, Work for Hire, and Transfer

Analyses authorship rules, work-for-hire doctrine, and assignment and licensing of copyright in media employment and freelance contexts. Directly governs who controls media content.

Lesson 1 • Spectrum Licensing and Public Trustee Doctrine

Explains spectrum scarcity rationale, licensing criteria, and the public trustee obligations that distinguish broadcast from print. Establishes why broadcast faces stricter regulation.

Lesson 2 • Content Regulation in Broadcasting

Covers indecency, obscenity, and profanity standards, including safe harbour hours and enforcement mechanisms. Prepares students to advise broadcast programmers on content compliance.

Lesson 3 • Political Broadcasting Rules

Analyses equal opportunity, reasonable access, and lowest unit charge requirements for political advertising. Equips students to manage political ad compliance during election cycles.

Lesson 4 • Cable, Satellite, and Streaming Regulation

Compares the regulatory treatment of cable, satellite, and streaming services relative to broadcast. Highlights regulatory asymmetries students must navigate in converged media environments.

Lesson 1 • Subpoenas and Compelled Disclosure

Covers the process of responding to subpoenas, moving to quash, and balancing tests courts apply to journalist subpoenas. Prepares students to advise newsrooms facing legal compulsion.

Lesson 2 • Open Meetings and Court Access

Analyses open meeting laws, the constitutional right of access to court proceedings, and closure standards. Equips students to challenge unlawful closures of public proceedings.

Lesson 3 • Reporter's Privilege and Shield Laws

Examines the constitutional and statutory bases for protecting confidential sources and unpublished newsgathering materials. Central to understanding how journalists resist compelled disclosure.

Lesson 4 • National Security and Classified Information

Analyses prior restraint doctrine, leak prosecution risks, and the tension between press freedom and national security. Addresses the most legally complex access scenarios journalists face.

Lesson 1 • Commercial Speech Doctrine

Traces the constitutional protection afforded to commercial speech and the intermediate scrutiny test applied to advertising restrictions. Establishes the doctrinal baseline for the chapter.

Lesson 2 • Broadcast Advertising Compliance

Examines sponsorship identification, payola prohibitions, and political advertising disclosure rules specific to broadcast. Connects advertising law to the broadcast regulatory framework covered earlier.

Lesson 3 • Digital Advertising and Data Privacy

Covers behavioural targeting rules, cookie consent requirements, and data-driven advertising restrictions. Addresses the intersection of advertising law and consumer data protection.

Lesson 4 • Advertising Standards and Substantiation

Covers truthfulness requirements, claim substantiation standards, and comparative advertising rules enforced by regulators. Prepares students to review ad copy for legal compliance.

Lesson 1 • Drafting Editorial Policies

Guides students through drafting enforceable editorial policies on sourcing, corrections, social media use, and conflicts of interest. Policies serve as the organisation's primary legal shield.

Lesson 2 • Building a Compliance Culture

Addresses staff training, compliance monitoring, and leadership accountability as drivers of sustainable legal risk reduction. Closes the course by embedding legal awareness into organisational culture.

Lesson 3 • Pre-Publication Legal Review

Establishes a systematic pre-publication review process covering defamation, privacy, copyright, and advertising compliance. Translates legal doctrine into actionable editorial checkpoints.

Lesson 4 • Insurance and Indemnification

Covers media liability insurance, indemnification clauses in freelance and vendor contracts, and self-insurance strategies. Equips students to structure financial protection against legal claims.