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Midterm #2 - J385 - Winter 2006
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Seven questions,
each worth 10 points (total of 70 points)
- Due in class, Thursday,
February 23rd.
- Answers must be typed.
- If you have any questions about collaborative work, please refer
to the Student Academic Integrity Page .If you still have questions, please consult with Professor
Gleason.
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1. Photographer Fred Flash
has been hired by an advertising agency to take photographs for an advertising
campaign for SlickBoards, a new snowboard company. The company is a start
up and has no money, so rather than hiring snowboarders for a photo shoot,
Fred spends every Saturday over a two month period at Mt. Bachelor taking
photos of snowboarders to use in the ad campaign. As snowboarders arrive at
the mountain, Fred asks them to use a SlickBoard and to let him take pictures.
He has each of the snowboarders sign a model release giving Fred the right
to "multiple use" the photos for "any purpose whatsoever."
The model release states that the person giving consent is "at least
21 years old." In exchange, he promises to give the snowboarders a copy
of one of the pictures.
You are the advertising director
for SlickBoards. Are you going to use Fred's photos in the ad campaign? YES
or NO? Explain your answer.
2. Molly Maven is
a
ninety-seven-year-old woman from Anytown, Ore, a small ranching community on
Eastern Oregon. Molly, the operator of a coffee shop in Anytown for more than
50 years, has become a well-recognized figure in her community and something
of a local legend. In 1985, she was featured in The Oregonian and appeared on
The Today Show after being elected mayor of Anytown at age 77. In the same year,
the National World, a supermarket tabloid, published a story about Maven with
several photos purchased from local newspapers.
One of the photos used in the National World's 1985 feature on Maven appeared
again on the cover page of the October 2, 2005, edition of the National World
with the headline "Granny's Wild Parties the Talk of the Town." Customers
at supermarket checkout lines in Anytown who scanned the cover page of the National
World saw only a picture of Molly Maven next to a headline about a "granny" who
throws wild parties. Purchasers of the tabloid who turned to the story on page
eleven also would have seen a second photograph of Maven next to a fictitious
story about a woman named "Andrea Speaks," living in New Mexico, who
is well known for hosting large, loud parties that frequently result in the police
being called by neighbors. The National World made no effort to contact Maven
prior to the publication of the photographs.
Molly Maven files a false light invasion of privacy suit against the National
World. Will her suit be successful? YES or NO? Explain your answer.
3. New York Times v.
Sullivan (1964) is a good example of the Supreme Court's "original
intent" or "natural rights" jurisprudence.
True or False. Explain your answer.
4. The First Amendment protects
the publication of legally obtained truthful information unless prohibiting
publication will futher a very significant goverment interest; therefore the
states may prohibit the publication of the names or identies of sexual assault
victims. True or False? EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER.
5/6. Author Bill Book has
written more than 20 mystery novels set in Portland, Ore. His books are known
for placing his fictional characters in real events and locations in Portland.
In his most recent book he developed a character named Fiona Bridget Kelly.
Fiona is a criminal attorney, age 40, who defends drug dealers, is accused of
unethical professional practice, and loses her license to practice law. In the
book, Kelly had been adopted at birth and as a minor had been convicted of shoplifting.
Shortly after the book was published,
Fiona Samantha Kelly (her friends call her Sam), a 39 year-old corporate attorney
in Portland who dated Book for several years in the mid-90s, filed a suit against
Book. She claims that Book published private facts about her in order to embarrass
her, appropriated her identity in order to sell books, and libeled her by stating
that she had engaged in unethical practice and lost her license to practice
law. Kelly is adopted and admits that she was charged with stealing a car when
she was 16 years old. The charges were later dropped.
Book denies that the character in
his book is the plantiff. He is a fiction writer and all writers draw on their
own experiences. Any resemblance between the characters in his books and real
people is incidental.
5. Will Kelly's appropriation
and private facts claims be successful? Yes or No? Explain your answer.
6. Will Kelly's libel claim
be successful? Yes or No? Explain your answer.
7. BigStory PR wrote and
distributed a press release for FineFoods, a major restaurant client. The client
is opening a new restaurant that will be in direct competition with Good Eats,
a long established restaurant. The press release quotes the owners saying:
"The time is right for a new
high concept restaurant in Anytown. For many years, patrons of Good Eats have
complained about bad food, mediocre drinks, sub-standard service and the lack
of atmosphere. The evidence is in the crowds. For the last two years the tables
at Good Eats have been empty. It is time for competent restauranteurs to do
business in Anytown. FineFoods will bring high quality dining back to Anytown...
All of our meats are of the highest
quality which clearly distinquishes our food from the competitors. We will be
the best restaurant in town!
The owners of Good Eats file a libel
suit against the owners of FineFoods and BigStory PR. The defendants claim the
constitutional defense of opinion.
7. Will the opinion defense
be successful? Yes or No? Explain
your answer.
