About the Book

The third edition of Media Law and Ethics features a complete updating of all major U.S. Supreme Court cases and lower court decisions through 1998; more discussion throughout the book on media ethics and the role of ethics in media law; and an updated appendix that now features a copy of the U.S. Constitution, new sample copyright and trademark registration forms, and the current versions of major media codes of ethics, including the new code of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Extensively updated and expanded chapters provide:
*more detailed explanations of the legal system, the judicial process, and the relationship between media ethics and media law;
*new cases in this developing area of the law that has attracted renewed attention from the U.S. Supreme Court;
*the new Telecommunications Act and the Communications Decency Act;
*a discussion of telecommunications and the Internet;
*new developments in access to courts, records, and meetings such as recent court decisions and statutory changes; and
*more information about trademark and trade secret laws and recent changes in copyright laws, as well as major court decisions on intellectual property.

The book has also been updated to include new developments in obscenity and indecency laws, such as the Communications Decency Act, and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reno vs. ACLU. In addition, the instructor's manual includes a listing of electronic sources of information about media law, sample exams, and a sample syllabus.