Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 13, 2011

Now that we've completed last week's first-ever Nationwide test of the EAS system , designed to alert Americans in the event of an emergency, the FCC is in the process of collecting information about the successes and failures of the test, through the submissions of participants. Forms reporting on the results of the test are due by December 27. At the same time, there has been at least one Congressional call for an expansion of the system in order to provide alerts not only by broadcast, cable

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ABC's of E-Discovery

NOVEMBER 29, 2011

What are disclosures? Texas Rule 194 - Request for Disclosure - 194.1 states a party may obtain disclosure from another party of the information or material listed in Rule 194.2 by serving the other party - no later than 30 days before the end of any applicable discovery period - the following request: "Pursuant to Rule 194, you are requested to disclose, within 30 days of service of this request, the information or material described in Rule [state rule, e.g., 194.2, or 194.2(a), (c), and (f),

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The Paralegal Resource

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

No matter where you work, you report to someone ? maybe even to two or three bosses. And whether you think your boss is brilliant or a bore, the fact is that you have to manage the relationship with your boss if you want to advance your career.

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

The FCC has set the date for comments on the proposal for television stations to maintain an online public inspection file , including an online political file (see Federal Register notice here ). Comments are due on December 22. Replies are due on January 6. Happy Holidays from the FCC! We summarized the FCC's proposals here and here. While the proposed new rules will relieve stations from the burden of hosting the files themselves (as the FCC is proposing to host all of the files on its own se

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

When the FCC last month started a new proceeding to mandate an online public file for television stations , the Commission promised to soon initiate another proceeding to look into the need for a new form to document the public interest programming that TV stations provide. The FCC today fulfilled that promise, and issued a Notice of Inquiry ("NOI") to start the process of adopting a new form for TV stations to complete to report on various categories of "public interest programmi

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

There have been many reports about the attempts by Sirius XM Radio to license music directly from record labels , bypassing any royalty rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board. Direct licensing would have Sirius pay the record labels or copyright holders for the rights to use music, avoiding any dealings with SoundExchange, which normally collects the royalties for the public performance of sound recordings under the statutory license.

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

The FCC adopted rules for the digital operation of FM radio stations (known as HD Radio or the Ibiquity In Band On Channel system - IBOC for short) in 2007 and allowed the Media Bureau to amend those rules as technical developments warranted. In 2010, the Bureau authorized an increase in the power level of the digital portion of the FM signal by 6 db in all cases, and up to 10 db upon a showing that such an increase would not cause significant interference to adjacent channel stations (see our s

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

In recent weeks, there seems to be a competition to make the FCC more responsive, and to mandate that, before it adopts any new regulations, it take into account the costs of the proposed regulations and the burden that they place on those being regulated. The Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee adopted a bill ( The FCC Process Reform Act of 2011 ) that would, if adopted by the full House and the Senate, require that the FCC, before adopting any

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

The FCC has just announced another of its regular EEO audits , though this time its just for cable systems (see the FCC Public Notice and list of affected systems here ). The FCC will audit 5% of all broadcasters and cable companies each year to assess their EEO compliance, so be prepared in case you are next. Broadcasters were last audited in August (radio stations only), so expect another group to be required to submit their information for scrutiny in the not too distant future.

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

If your station engages in children's programming and maintains a website or web page directed to children under the age of 13, this case may be of interest to you. The operator of a website called Skid-e-Kids, a self-described “Facebook and MySpace for kids,” has learned that it is not enough merely to have a privacy policy that requires parental consent prior to obtaining personal information online from children under the age of 13.

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

The Commission today released its further Public Notice establishing the filing dates and adopting the procedures for the upcoming auction of 119 New FM Radio channels , scheduled to start on March 27, 2012. The auction has been designated as FM Auction No. 93 and offers vacant FM allotments in various communities across the country. Although the Commission removed four allotments from the slate of available channels, the remaining 119 channels are up for grabs.

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

All commercial broadcasters (AM/FM/TV and even LPTV) have to file their Biennial Ownership Reports on December 1, beginning a very busy month in the broadcaster's regulatory world. December 1 is also the deadline for noncommercial ownership reports to be filed by noncommercial radio stations in Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont , and noncommercial television stations in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota (see our

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The Paralegal Resource

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

A legal assistant, or paralegal, is a non-lawyer who helps lawyers do legal work both in and out of the courtroom. The main task of a legal assistant is to prepare the documentation needed by the lawyer in case work and trials; they also work in the corporate settings. The legal assistant conducts a case investigation of all information relevant to the case, and then the findings and the analyses are formalized into written reports that are submitted to the attorneys.

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The Paralegal Resource

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Many times.and in many instances, "Point and Click E-Contracts" are the equivalent of pen and paper agreements. The advent of "Cyber Monday" has holiday shoppers running to their PC's with the anticipation of obtaining - oh yeah, it's legal - bargain basement purchase power via the Internet.

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ABC's of E-Discovery

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

Conference of the Parties - Planning for discovery. In a nutshell, the parties must consider the nature and basis of their claims and defenses and the possibliities for promptly settling or resolving the case; make or arrange for the disclosures required by Rule 26(a)(1); disucss any issues about preserving discoverable information; and develop a proposed discovery plan.

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The Paralegal Resource

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Premises liability law involves legal responsibility ("liability") of a land or property owner in injuries or other damages suffered by persons present on the premises. Was the Plaintiff an Invitee, Licensee or Trespasser?

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Tomorrow (November 9) will be the first ever Nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System , and last minute questions and issues continue to come in. One caution relayed to us from a very experienced broadcast technical consultant concerns post-test news coverage. This consultant surmises, probably accurately, that news reports, and perhaps comedy writers, will want to do bits about the test, and may be tempted to use a recording of the test itself in their on-air programs.

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Last week, I did a presentation on the issues facing broadcasters at the Kansas Association of Broadcasters annual convention (a copy of the slides from my presentation is available here ). I spoke about some of the day-to-day issues that can get broadcasters into trouble, as well as some of the big policy issues that broadcasters need to consider. My presentation was preceded by a session conducted by the agent in charge of the Kansas City field office of the FCC, who emphasized the many issues

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The Paralegal Resource

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

The Supreme Court has decided to review Home Concrete & Supply, LLC v. United States, No. 09-2353 (4th Cir. Feb. 7, 2011), involving the statute of limitations on federal income tax deficiencies. Crux of the matter: Can the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) go as far back as six years to audit taxpayers, or is it limited to a three-year period?

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

With less than a week to go before the first ever Nationwide Test of the Emergency Alert System ("EAS"), changes are being made for the November 9 test. In a Public Notice released today , the FCC announced that the EAS message that will be conveyed will be only 30 seconds long, not the two or three minutes that were originally planned. There were some concerns expressed by certain groups, include groups representing cable television operators, that while the test was underway, certain

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals today issued its decision in the case dealing with the FCC's fine for the Janet Jackson "clothing malfunction" Super Bowl incident. The Court once again rejected the FCC decision - essentially upholding a 2008 decision that had found the FCC's indecency fine to be an arbitrary departure from prior precedent.

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ABC's of E-Discovery

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

The Future of E-Discovery Legal Talk Network

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Broadcast Law Blog

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

In an eagerly anticipated case involving TV stations in the Honolulu market , the FCC's Media Bureau determined that a programming swap that permitted one company to hold the licenses of both the NBC and CBS affiliates in a single market, and to also provide technical and office services and news programming to a third station in the market, was permissible under current rules.

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