February, 2010

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$16,000 Fine For Recording Telephone Conversation for Broadcast Without Prior Permission - No Excuse Because Call Made By Independent Contractor, By Subsequent Approval, or By the First Amendment

Broadcast Law Blog

Two FCC cases were released last week fining broadcasters for violations of the FCC rule against broadcasting a telephone call (or recording a call for broadcast purposes) without first obtaining the permission of the person at the other end of the call. In one case, a licensee was fined $16,000 for phoning a woman, pretending to be a hospital calling with news that her husband had been in a motorcycle accident and had died, The FCC refused to reduce or eliminate the fine because the call was ma

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Warner Music Says No More Music for Streaming - What's It Mean for US Webcasters?

Broadcast Law Blog

According to British press reports , Warner Music's CEO Edger Bronfman Jr. stated that it will cease making its music available to advertising supported streaming music sites. This has prompted some questions about how this decision would affect services such as Pandora , Slacker, Accuradio and other Internet radio companies - would it deny them access to substantial amounts of music?

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$8000 FCC Fine for Noncommercial Station Not Making Public Inspection File Available Upon Request

Broadcast Law Blog

In a decision just released, the FCC fined a noncommercial FM station $8000 for failing to make its public inspection file available when it was requested. The FCC made clear that past cases where a noncommercial station was given only an admonition for similar violations were no longer good law, finding that the public file was an important part of the station's obligations to the public and the failure to make it available was a serious violation.

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Closed Captioning Update: New Complaint Rules Now Effective; Contact Information Due by March 22, 2010

Broadcast Law Blog

On Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, two important new closed captioning rules were published in the Federal Register and went into effect. The new rules require immediate attention by video programming distributors -- including broadcast television stations -- to ensure that they respond promptly to viewer complaints regarding closed captioning issues, and to ensure that they timely file contact information with the FCC by March 22, 2010.

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Transforming eDiscovery: Document Summarization, Sentiment Analysis, And Chatbots Take Center Stage

A Synergistic Approach to eDiscovery In the space of eDiscovery, the convergence of document summarization, sentiment analysis, and chatbots represents a significant change in how legal professionals navigate and manage electronic information. These technologies not only expedite the review process but also empower legal teams with deeper insights into the emotional context and key information within electronic documents.

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FCC Proposes National Test of EAS - Emergency Alert System; Comments on Proposed Rules due March 1

Broadcast Law Blog

The FCC has proposed amending its rules governing the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in order to test and improve the effectiveness of the system. In particular, the Commission has proposed that all EAS participants be required to join in a nationwide test -- to be scheduled by the FCC in consultation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) -- to ensure that the system will function properly to inform the public in the event of a national crisis.

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FCC Extends Time For Comments on the Future of the Media - Looking at the Public's Interest in Quality Journalism in All Media

Broadcast Law Blog

The FCC announced an extension of the comment filing deadline in its proceeding looking at the Future of the Media (see our summary here ). At the same time, the Steven Waldman, the Special Assistant to Chairman Genachowski , made a public appearance at the FCC's open meeting last week to explain what is intended by this study - and from his comments and those of the Commissioners, this will be a wide-ranging investigation looking at how FCC and other government regulations can insure diversity

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David Oxenford Conducts Seminar for Utah Broadcasters on Political Broadcasting, FCC EEO Rules and Other Legal Issues Facing Radio and Television Broadcasters

Broadcast Law Blog

On February, 18, 2010, David Oxenford conducted a seminar for the Utah Broadcasters Association on legal issues that affect radio and television broadcasters. First, David summarized the various broadcasting legal and policy issues pending before the FCC and Congress. David's PowerPoint presentation will be available here soon. Broadcasters interested in Washington issues that may affect them this year may also want to read our blog post from early January where we presented our legal prediction

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TV Stations - Remember to Publicize the Location of Children's Television Programming Reports or Face FCC Fine

Broadcast Law Blog

In two just released cases, the FCC fined television stations $8000 each for failing to publicize the location of their Children's Television Programming Reports for an entire license renewal period (the cases can be found here and here ). The FCC found that any remedial steps taken by the licensees after they discovered their failures at renewal time did not excuse the failure to comply during the license term.

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Leaving the Air to Run For Office - What to Do With The Broadcaster Who Becomes a Candidate

Broadcast Law Blog

As we enter the 2010 election season, questions are beginning to arise about broadcast station on-air employees who decide to run for political office , and what a station needs to do about such employees to avoid issues under the FCC political broadcasting rules. For instance, in Arizona, talk show host (and former Congressman) JD Hayworth recently left his radio program and announced that he was planning to contest John McCain's reelection by challenging him in the Republican primary.

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Recipe for a Failed CLM Implementation

Selecting and implementing CLM technology can be daunting, leading to underutilization or abandonment. Factors like provider differentiation, inadequate planning, and lack of user training contribute to these failures. Recognizing these pitfalls is crucial for successful adoption, ensuring organizations harness the full potential of CLM for streamlined contract management.

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When Potential Candidates Like Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Harold Ford Are On Radio, TV and Cable - FCC Issues?

Broadcast Law Blog

The New York Times just ran an article on the number of radio and television commentators who are also potential political candidates , speculating on whether the appearance of these candidates on TV and cable talk shows, and on radio programs, give them an advantage in their future political careers. That perceived TV bump might be most in the news in the potential candidacy of Harold Ford in the Democratic Senate primary in New York, with his appearances on MSNBC (and this past weekend on Meet

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