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Legal Encyclopedia - Communications

Table of contents

1 communications law: an overview

2 menu of sources

2.1 Federal Material

2.1.1 Federal Statutes
2.1.2 Federal Agency Regulations
2.1.3 Federal Judicial Decisions

2.2 State Material

2.2.1 State Statutes
2.2.2 State Judicial Decisions

2.3 International Material

2.3.1 Conventions and Treaties

2.4 Other References

2.4.1 Key Internet Sources
2.4.2 Useful Offnet (or Subscription- $) Sources

3 other topics

communications law: an overview

Communications law is concerned with the regulation of radio and TV broadcasting to insure satisfactory service and to prevent chaos. Because broadcasting by its nature transcends state boundaries, the Federal government has largely occupied the field.

Congress created and delegated its authority in communications to the Federal Communications Commission (http://www.fcc.gov/) (FCC). The FCC has the power (under 47 U.S.C. § 303), among other things, to set forth standards for transmitting color television. Under the Communications Act of 1934 (http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/1934new.pdf), the FCC was given power to regulate and control "radio communications." Such communications were held to include the transmission by radio of writing, signs, signals, pictures,and sounds of all kinds.

What role is left for the states after such heavy federal regulation? States cannot regulate the content of the programs broadcast (even if the television station is situated within the state) and cannot require that motion pictures broadcast over the station be submitted to a state board of censors for their approval.

menu of sources

Federal Material

Federal Statutes

47 U.S.C.

Federal Agency Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations: 47 C.F.R. (http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/47cfr.htm) - Telecommunication

Federal Judicial Decisions

U.S. Supreme Court: Recent Decisions on Communications (http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/search/index.html?query=communication+and+(FCC+or+broadcast))
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals: Recent Decisions on Communications (http://www.law.cornell.edu/usca/search/index.html?query=communication+regulation)

State Material

State Statutes

State Statutes Dealing with Utilities and Transportation (http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/state_statutes3.html#utilities_and_transportation)

State Judicial Decisions

N.Y. Court of Appeals:

Recent Decisions on Communications (http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/search/index.html?query=communication+and+(FCC+or+broadcast)+not+liibulletin)
Commentary from liibulletin-ny (http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/search/index.html?query=liibulletin+and+communication+and+(FCC+or+broadcast))

Appellate Decisions from Other States (http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/)

International Material

Conventions and Treaties

International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/texts/BH423.txt) (1961)
Performances & Phonograms Treaty (http://www.fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/texts/performance.txt) (World Intellectual Property Organization 1996)

Other References

Key Internet Sources

Federal Agency:
- Federal Communications Commission (http://www.fcc.gov/)
  - FCC Forms (http://www.fcc.gov/formpage.html)
- Dep't of Commerce - Nat'l Telecomms. & Info. Admin. (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/)
ABA
- ABA Section of Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Law (http://www.abanet.org/pubutil/home.html)
- ABA Forum on Communications Law (http://www.abanet.org/forums/communication/home.html)
Journals
- Federal Communications Law Journal (http://www.law.indiana.edu/fclj/index.shtml)
- Journal of Online Law (http://www.wm.edu/law/publications/jol/index.shtml)
- Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review (http://www.mttlr.org/)
Congressional Committees
- Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/)
- House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet (http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/subcommittees/Telecommunications_and_the_Internet.htm)
Organizations
- AmericanCommunication Association (http://www.uark.edu/%7Eaca/)
- Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://www.eff.org/)
- UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy (http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/hp.html)
- International Telecommunication Union (http://www.itu.ch/)

Useful Offnet (or Subscription- $) Sources

Good Starting Point in Print: Ginsburg, Botein, and Director's Regulation of the Electronic Mass Media: Law and Policy for Radio, Television, Cable and the New Video Technologies, 3d (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0314211225/102-3983806-0091349?v=glance), West Group (1998)

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