Please check back in the coming days. The most recent questions an answers will be posted at the [...]]]> You are welcome to email us any questions you might have regarding the final exam. In the interest of fairness, the questions will be posted here anonymously and the replies will be available for all to see.

Please check back in the coming days. The most recent questions an answers will be posted at the top.

2. It was mentioned in our final class that we had two weeks and a day to complete the assignment.  Yet the deadline on the website and question paper is next Wednesday.  Also, whenever the deadline is, next week or the week after, might it be possible to deposit the hardcopy by 6.30, otherwise the deadline for working students will effectively be the previous evening, since getting to HKU by 5pm will be impossible for those with jobs?  (Or perhaps we could email you the assignment by 5pm sharp, and deposit the hardcopy later that evening, after finishing work?)

The deadline for the final exam is Wednesday, 2 May. This is the only date that has been given on the syllabus and on the exam itself.

To accommodate working students, the deadline for submission will be extended to 6.30pm.

1. I have a question regarding the final exam paper. In Part A, Question 2, the question is how the court in the US and/or China would handle the action if the article was published in those countries. So is it Wong, the subject in the article, still a police officer in HK? Or Wong would be a police officer in those countries in question 2?

You have some flexibility on the optional Question 2.A. You may treat Wong as either a Hong Kong police officer or as an officer in the jurisdiction  in question as long as you clearly state your assumption at the start of your answer.

You should read this judgment, which is available here on the Supreme Court Web site.

Hint: You might find it easier to start by reading the Supreme [...]]]> The UK Supreme Court last month delivered an important judgment on the Reynolds (or public interest) defence to defamation actions in the case of Flood v Times Newspapers [2011] UKSC 11.

You should read this judgment, which is available here on the Supreme Court Web site.

Hint: You might find it easier to start by reading the Supreme Court’s press summary of this judgment, which is available here.

There has already been a great deal of important commentary on this judgment, which is worth reading. See, in particular:

Siobhain Butterworth, Flood v The Times: Reynolds privilege defence is back (Guardian, 21 March 2012);

Hugh Tomlinson QC, Case Law: Flood v Times Newspapers, Supreme Court allows “Reynolds” appeal (22 March 2012)

In the age of the Internet, copyright issues have become increasingly more important for  both traditional and online media. What major copyright issues arise for both media  companies and individual journalists? How has the increase in online publications complicated the conflict between copyright violations versus fair dealing/fair use? What [...]]]> Copyright/Internet Issues
Lecturer: Sky Canaves

In the age of the Internet, copyright issues have become increasingly more important for  both traditional and online media. What major copyright issues arise for both media  companies and individual journalists? How has the increase in online publications complicated the conflict between copyright violations versus fair dealing/fair use? What do journalists need to know about “hyperlinking”? What are the alternatives to traditional
copyright (e.g., Creative Commons)?

Readings:
Primary:
• Copyright (Chapter 10), and excerpts, Copyright Ordinance (Cap 528), pp 264-271,  Hong Kong Media Law
• Yu, “Copyright Protection in the Digital Environment: Creating a Better Digital Future for Hong Kong,” Sept 2008, and “Copy Rights,” 8 Sept. 2008, South China Morning Post
• “Copyright Protection in Hong Kong,” and “Copyright for Journalists,” Intellectual Property Department, Hong Kong SAR http://www.ipd.gov.hk/eng/copyright.htm
• Lee, “Legal Sharing in the Digital Era (Creative Commons),” Media Digest, Nov. 2008
• Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China, adopted by the 7th National People’s Congress in 1990 and amended by the 9th NPC in 2001.
• Copyright (Chapter 10), First Amendment Handbook (U.S.)
• “British Online Copyright Laws Draw Debates,” The New York Times, March 4, 2010
Case Studies:
–Oriental Press Group v. Apple Daily 1998 (use of photograph)
–Lam Tai-hing v. Linda Koo, 1994 (substantial similarity)
–Chan Nai Ming v. HKSAR (Bit Torrent piracy case) 2007
–Creative Commons

Guest Speaker: Professor Fu Hualing of the Faculty of Law

Lecturer: Sky Canaves

Professor Fu will introduce the authoritarian structure of the Chinese media and look at the challenges it is facing through commercialization and the growth of social media such as Weibo.

Sky, a former reporter for the Wall Street [...]]]> Media Law in China

Guest Speaker: Professor Fu Hualing of the Faculty of Law

Lecturer: Sky Canaves

Professor Fu will introduce the authoritarian structure of the Chinese media and look at the challenges it is facing through commercialization and the growth of social media such as Weibo.

Sky, a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal in China, will look at some of the key challenges faced by journalists in China, including regulations on reporting, obstacles to the coverage of sensitive topics, and the laws on the state secrets.

Readings:                                                                                                                                 

Primary

•           Reporting on the Mainland (Chapter 9), Hong Kong Media Law

•           Foreign Correspondents Club of China Reporters’ Guide, available at http://www.fccchina.org/reporters-guide/

•           Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on News Coverage by Permanent Offices of Foreign Media Organizations and Foreign Journalists (Decree of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China No. 537), available at http://ipc.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wgjzzhznx/fj/t541164.htm

•           Introduction, “The Journalism Tradition” and Chapter One, “The Danger of Libel: Wu Fang’s Search for Justice,” in Investigative Journalism in China: Eight Cases of Watchdog Journalism, edited by Bandurski and Hala (HKU Press 2010), pp. 1-33.

Supplementary:

Li and Weisenhaus, “China,” Encyclopedia of Journalism (Sage 2009)

Case Studies:

–Shi Tao (PRC journalist imprisoned for 10 years for “revealing state secrets to foreigners” after Yahoo revealed his online identity)

–Ching Cheong (HK-based journalist convicted in 2006 on spying charges)

–Liu Xiaobo (PRC writer sentenced to 11 years in prison for subversion, winner of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize)

In this class, we will complete our review of the law of libel and test our knowledge in this area with a clicker exercise.

Please note the important recent case of Flood v Times Newspapers [2012] UKSC 11 on the Reynolds defence decided by the UK Supreme Court last week

For [...]]]> Libel/Defamation 3: Review and Clicker Exercise

In this class, we will complete our review of the law of libel and test our knowledge in this area with a clicker exercise.

Please note the important recent case of Flood v Times Newspapers [2012] UKSC 11 on the Reynolds defence decided by the UK Supreme Court last week

For more on the case, please see the following articles:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/mar/21/times-libel-reynolds-defence

http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/03/22/flood-v-times-newspapers-supreme-court-allows-reynolds-appeal-hugh-tomlinson-qc/

Date: Monday, April 2, 2012
Time: 1-2 pm
Venue: Shum Wai Yau Reading Room, Eliot Hall, The University of Hong Kong (see map)
Speaker: Peggy Valcke (Research professor and Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law & ICT, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium)

TV is becoming smart, social, hybrid, connected to the internet [...]]]>

What roles do malice, motive and mistake play in libel cases? What are the defenses of justification, fair comment and privilege? How are damages assessed? Under what circumstances can a journalist face criminal libel?
Case Studies:
Public officials/figures
–New York Times v. Sullivan 1964 (US) (actual malice standard, [...]]]> Libel/Defamation 2

What roles do malice, motive and mistake play in libel cases? What are the defenses of justification, fair comment and privilege? How are damages assessed? Under what circumstances can a journalist face criminal libel?
Case Studies:
Public officials/figures
–New York Times v. Sullivan 1964 (US) (actual malice standard, public officials)
–Fan Zhiyi v. Oriental Sports Daily 2002 (Shanghai Jing’an District Court) (public person) and Yu Qiuyu v. Xiao Xialin (Beijing Dongcheng District Court)
Qualified privilege:
–Reynolds v. Times Newspapers 1999 (U.K) (responsible reporting and public interest)
–Jameel v. Wall Street Journal Europe 2006 (UK) (clarification of Reynolds defense);
–Abdul Razzak Yaqoob v. Asia Times Online 2008 (HK application of Reynolds defense)
–Grant v. Torstar Corp 2009 (Canada) (qualified privilege for “responsible communication”)
Fair Comment:
–Eastweek v. Claudia Mo 1999 (HK)(fair comment and malice)
–Albert Cheng v. Tse Wai Chun 2000 (HK)(fair comment, revised definition of malice)
–Next Magazine v. Ma Ching Fat 2003 (HK)(application of Cheng)
–Spiller v Joseph, 2010 (UK, adoption of “honest comment” standard); British Chiropractic Association v. Singh, 2010
–Lingens v Austria 1986 (ECHR, restrictions on opinion/value judgments violated Article 10 of European Convention on Human Rights)

Please note that the discussion will be off-the-record and photography is not allowed in the courtroom.