Welcome to the website for JMSC6022 Media Law class.

Lecturer: Doreen Weisenhaus

Director, Media Law Project

Journalism and Media Studies Centre, HKU

Chapter updates available here:   http://hongkongmedialaw.net

As I mentioned, the last class led by Sky will focus on the case study of Wikileaks and how it brings together such issues as prior restraint, national security, criminal liability, shield laws, new media v. traditional media, etc.  The key reading is the Benkler article distributed in class. Please see here for other readings useful in the discussion.

I will also distribute the final exam and go over the questions.

This class will look at transparency trends, including Freedom of Information (FOI) laws and recent government attempts to restrict information, as well as provide a preview for the final class on protecting sources and journalistic materials. Please make sure to read Chapter 5 (Access to Information) and Chapter 8 (Other Restrictions on Newsgathering and Reporting).  Sky already covered a bit of discussion on Official Secrets/Article 23 in her session on PRC media law, but I’ll review Official Secrets more broadly.   For readings, see here.

For class this week (April 12), we will cover copyright issues for journalists. See readings here, especially Chapter 10 of Hong Kong Media Law and excerpts from the Copyright Ordinance (pp264-271).  We will also have a speaker, Henry Oh, an expert on digital privacy and copyright issues, who will talk about his experiences as an online content producer and distributor and issues involving intellectual property and online security (use of encryption and other security measures) in the journalistic context. See more on his biography here.

We will finish up on obscenity/privacy and then Sky will talk about media law developments in China.  Please refer to “Readings” page on Reporting in China. Remember, no class next on April 5 (Ching Ming festival)

For this week’s class, we’ll wrap up on the U.K. Draft Defamation Bill and finish discussing Singapore’s defamation climate re: foreign media before delving into Privacy/Obscenity.

As noted in the syllabus and course website, please make sure to read Chapter 6 of Hong Kong Media Law, along with a bit on Chapter 7 dealing with an overview on Obscenity (pp 207-220).  Please also refer to International Libel & Privacy. You might also be interested in “When American and European Ideas of Privacy Collide,” New York Times, 26 Feb 2010, when Google was found to have violated Italy’s privacy laws.

We’ll be finishing up with Defamation, including a case study of Singapore and foreign journalists who report there. And it’s a return to “clickers” in our review session.

On research projects, we still need a team leader for Singapore. Members of that team, please elect your leader!

And don’t forget that next week, March 15, is our visit to the High Court!

Reminder: Monday, Feb. 21, legal research tutorial. Please go to the section you signed up for: 9:30-11:30 am or 6:30-8:30 pm, Main Library, e-learning lab, G/F. See you there!

We will finish up with Defamation elements and then start on defenses.  Please make sure to read the rest of Chapter 3 (pp. 41-59), Hong Kong Media Law, and Chapter 6, International Libel & Privacy, as well as the NYT v. Sullivan excerpts, Reynolds v. Times Newspapers, Jameel v WSJ Europe, Yaqoob v. Asia Times Online and Cheng v. Tse.  Please refer to the “Study Questions” in the defamation reading handout and on the course website here (scroll to bottom) to help guide you in your reading of those cases.

For the first class, we will do an overview on defamation and focus on the elements of a defamation case, with a special look at Berkoff v. Burchill (what constitutes a defamatory statement.) Make sure to read Chapter 3 (esp. pp 21-41) and Cottrell, “What does defamation means?”