Broadcast Law Blog

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

The FCC yesterday released its first decision approving 100% foreign ownership of a group of US broadcast stations. This comes after significant relaxation of the FCC’s interpretation of the foreign ownership limits which, less than 4 years ago, had been interpreted to effectively prohibit foreign ownership of more than 25% of a company controlling broadcast licensees (see our article here about the 2013 decision to relax the restrictive policy).

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ClimateChange-ClimateLaw

FEBRUARY 10, 2017

by Justin Gundlach. (Updated on June 29, 2017). Plans for a third runway at the Vienna-Schwechat airport (pictured at right) were first submitted for review by the government of Lower Austria (one of Austria’s 9 regions) in March 2007. This week, the Lower Austrian government’s approval of those plans was struck down by Austria’s Federal Administrative Court ( Bundesverwaltungsgericht ) on the grounds that authorizing the runway would do more harm to the public interest than good, primarily beca

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LawActually

FEBRUARY 19, 2017

Yes - really. I’ve posted quite a few birthday blog posts over the last – well – decade and, looking back, I always seem to start them by saying that I can’t believe Law Actually has been going so long. (See here, here , here , here , here , here , here and here.) Well, now this blog has reached double figures, I really can believe it. It feels like ten years.

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LegalSecretariesRock

FEBRUARY 1, 2017

Every year, I pledge to get organized. And every year - well, I won't say that I fail, but I often fall short. This year, I had my head all wrapped around the Planner idea. Like, back to paper, going to keep planners in several places and never miss another deadline or appointment. Needless to say, it's February 1st, and I've only written one thing in one of my planners.

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LegalTalkNetwork

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

It was very apropos that Miami became the backdrop for this year’s ABA Midyear meeting. The word of the week was immigration and it was used with zealous amplitude. Unless you were buried under your desk at work and separated from your mobile, it was impossible to escape the nonstop media coverage of sanctuary cities, executive orders, travel bans, and, of course, political tension.

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Immigration Entertainment Lawyer Lawyers 40

Broadcast Law Blog

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced yesterday that he plans to test a new FCC procedure – releasing drafts of FCC orders to be considered at future FCC meetings at the same time as the proposed agenda for the meeting is released, weeks in advance of the meeting. On the draft agenda for the February 23 rd meeting are two items of interest for broadcasters, and draft orders for both of these items were released yesterday – one for radio and one for TV.

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Broadcast Law Blog

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

At its meeting yesterday, the FCC took two big actions affecting broadcasters. First, it approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking looking to adopt a transition plan for television broadcasters to move to the new ATSC 3.0 standard. The Commission apparently took the general actions previewed in its draft order released earlier this month, though additional questions were said to have been teed up for public comment in the final version of the NPRM.

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Drafting 40

Broadcast Law Blog

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

This week, the US Court of Appeals essentially ended Flo and Eddie’s New York case against Sirius XM where it tried to establish a public performance royalty in pre-1972 sound recordings. The Court of Appeals sent the case back to the US District Court with instructions that it be dismissed, finding that a December decision by New York’s state Court of Appeals resolved all issues in the case.

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LawActually

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

(By which I mean, the driver decided to drive on the left but on the wrong side of a dual carriageway.) It’s easily done. Ahem. From Cornwall Live 14/02/17 : Shocking footage has captured the moment a Nissan Micra driver was caught on camera driving the wrong way down the busy A30 at rush hour. [Bus Driver Jimmers] Thomas told Cornwall Live: "This little car bumbled past obliviously.

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Legal

LawActually

FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Like any self-respecting web user, I’ve used ad-blocking extensions for years now - since at least 2006. There are some sites so peppered with ads that browsing them without an ad-blocker just isn’t viable (I’m thinking in particular of some F1 sites I like to check frequently). Some sites are so bad that if it came to a choice between visiting them without an ad-blocker, or not visiting at all, I’d pick the latter, frankly.

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Broadcast Law Blog

FEBRUARY 9, 2017

In the swirl of news about the deregulatory efforts of the new FCC, one could almost forget that there are still many regulations in place that require significant amounts of paperwork retention by broadcasters. That point was hammered home yesterday, when the FCC released its first EEO audit letter of 2017 for radio and TV broadcasters. The FCC’s public notice announcing the commencement of the audit includes the audit letter that was sent to all of the targeted stations.

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LawActually

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Yep - it’s here again. I see I was cautiously positive when I mentioned SID in post back in 2008 , but I think there was a distinct undertone of scepticism if I’m frank. But, nine years on, far from slipping into oblivion, it seems safer internet day is well and truly ‘a thing’. I guess that’s good news. It’s not going to work miracles, but it’s a start.

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ClimateChange-ClimateLaw

FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Forced Migration After Paris COP21: Evaluating the “Climate Change Displacement Coordination Facility” By Phillip Dane Warren, Columbia Law Student and Former Sabin Center Intern. Climate change represents, perhaps, the greatest challenge of the twenty-first century. As temperatures and sea levels rise, governments around the world will face massive and unprecedented human displacement that international law currently has no mechanism to address.

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Speaker: Joe Stephens, J.D., Attorney and Law Professor

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ClimateChange-ClimateLaw

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

by Romany Webb and Justin Gundlach. There has been much talk in recent weeks about pricing carbon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Earlier this month, a group of former Republican cabinet members proposed adoption of a nationwide carbon price, starting at $40 per ton. That seems unlikely, however. Even the proposal’s main architect, former Secretary of State James Baker, acknowledged that he faces an “uphill slog” in convincing the federal government to act.

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Broadcast Law Blog

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

A new President and a new Chair of the FCC have already demonstrated that change is in the air in Washington. Already we’ve seen Chairman Pai lead the FCC to abolish the requirement that broadcasters maintain letters from the public about station operations in their public file (which will take effect once the Paperwork Reduction Act analysis is finalized), revoke the Media Bureau guidance that had limited Shared Services Agreements in connection with the sales of television stations, and rescin

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Broadcast Law Blog

FEBRUARY 5, 2017

With the change in administration at the FCC, there are opportunities for certain actions to be taken very quickly, without going through the full process of a rulemaking requiring public notice of the proposed rule change and time for public comment. At the end of this last week, we saw the FCC’s Media Bureau take actions in three different proceedings directly applicable to broadcasters to undo what had been done during the prior administration – r escinding actions with respect to noncommerc

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