A Virginia judge dismissed the obscenity case against the books A Court of Mist and Fury and Gender Queer, finding that the law was unconstitutional as prior restraint, that it had insufficient knowledge requirement, and there was insufficient notice.
The New York appellate court dismissed the appeal, finding that even though the film was a dramatization that made changes to certain aspects of the story, it still addressed matters of public interest and acknowledged that it was a blend of fact and fiction; therefore, it was exempt from the right of publicity claim.
Some members of Media Coalition and other organizations filed an amicus brief in the Minnesota Supreme Court urging the court to uphold the decision of the Minnesota appellate court striking down the state’s law barring the distribution of certain images without consent.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for certiorari seeking review of the Illinois Supreme Court ruling upholding the state’s law making it a crime to distribute nude images of a person if the publisher knew or should have known that the person in the image did not consent to the publication.
Media Coalition Foundation filed an amicus brief urging Texas’ highest court to strike down a state law that bars the distribution of certain images without the consent of the person in the image.
Plaintiffs Lohan and Gravano argued to rewrite New York Civil Rights Law Section 51 to include protections against the inclusion of “image,” “persona,” or “likeness” in any work for which a creator or publisher seeks compensation.
The 6th Circuit upheld Ohio’s “harmful to minors” Internet statute after the Ohio Supreme Court narrowed it so that it does not apply to websites, listservs or public chatrooms and is limited to “personally directed” communications. In the initial part of the lawsuit, the U.S. District Court struck down a provision in the law that included depictions or descriptions of violence to the definition of “harmful to minors.”
The California Supreme Court dismissed claims of sexual harassment against Warner Brothers. Media Coalition submitted an amicus brief highlighting the potential negative impact of a “creative necessity” test announced by the California Court of Appeals.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that a search warrant seeking information about a book purchased by a Tattered Cover customer violated both the First Amendment and the Colorado Constitution.
The California 4th District Court of Appeals ruled that the state’s privacy laws do not protect against prosecution for the distribution of obscene material.
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that the state’s display provision was constitutional but only for material found to be “borderline obscenity,” and that the “excessive violence” provision of the definition of “harmful to minors” was unconstitutional.
The 4th Circuit upheld Virginia’s “harmful to minors” display law after the Virginia Supreme Court narrowed it to apply only to the display of materials that would be illegal for the oldest minors. Before remanding the case to the 4th Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the plaintiffs’ standing to challenge the law absent the threat of prosecution.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Colorado’s “harmful to minors law” is unconstitutional.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld the state’s minors’ access statute.
The California 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled that an ordinance requiring that “harmful to minors” materials be shrink-wrapped is unconstitutional.
The Alabama Circuit Court struck down a Mobile County tax on magazines that depicted nudity.
The Tennessee Supreme Court rules that the state’s obscenity and display law is unconstitutional.
