Attorney and legal scholar Daxton Stewart examines the intersection of media law and science fiction, exploring the past, present, and future of communication technology and policy debates. Science fiction offers a vast array of possibilities anticipating future communication technologies and their implications on human affairs. In this book, Stewart looks at potential legal challenges presented by plausible communication technologies that may arise 20 or 50 or 100 years from today. Performing what he calls "speculative legal research," Stewart identifies the kinds of topics we should be talking about relating to speech, privacy, surveillance, and more, and considers the debates that would be likely to arise if such technologies become a reality. Featuring interviews with prominent science fiction authors and legal scholars, and a foreword by Malka Older, this book considers the speculative solutions of science fiction and their implications in law and policy scholarship. Chapters feature specific literary examples to examine how cultural awareness and policy creation are informed by fictional technology, future societies, and legal disputes. Looking forward, beyond traditional legal research and scholarship to the possible and even very likely future of communication technology, this fascinating work of speculative legal research will give students and scholars of media law, science fiction, and technology much to discuss and debate.

This book presents and engages the world-building capacity of legal theory through cultural legal studies of science and speculative fictions. In these studies, the contributors take seriously the legal world building of science and speculative fiction to reveal, animate and critique legal wisdom: juris-prudence. Following a common approach in cultural legal studies, the contributors engage directly, and in detail, with specific cultural ‘texts’, novels, television, films and video games in order to explore a range of possible legal futures. The book is organized in three parts: first, the contextualisation of science and speculative fiction as jurisprudence; second, the temporality of law and legal theory and third, the analysis of specific science and speculative fictions. Throughout, the contributors reveal the way in which law as nomos builds normative universes through the narration of a future. This book will appeal to scholars and students with interests in legal theory, cultural legal studies, law and the humanities and law and literature.

The material in this book forms the basis of an interdisciplinary, college-level course, which uses science fiction film as a vehicle for exploring science concepts. Unlike traditional introductory-level courses, the science content is arranged according to major themes in science fiction, with a deliberate progression from the highly objective and discipline-specific (e.g. Reference Frames; Physics of Space Travel and Time Travel) to the very multi-disciplinary and thought-provoking (e.g. Human Teleportation; Science and Society). Over 100 references to science fiction films and television episodes are included, spanning more than 100 years of cinematic history. Some of these are conducive to calculations (solutions included).

This fully updated third edition of Social Media and the Law offers an essential guide to navigating the complex legal terrain of social media. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok have become vital tools for professionals in the news and strategic communication fields. As these services have rapidly grown in popularity, their legal ramifications have continued to develop, resulting in students and professional communicators needing to be aware of laws relating to defamation, privacy, intellectual property, and government regulation. Editor Daxton Stewart brings together eleven media law scholars to address key questions, such as the following: To what extent do communicators put themselves at risk for lawsuits when they use these tools? What rights do communicators have when other users talk about them on social networks? How can people and companies manage intellectual property issues consistent with the developing law in this area? This book is essential for students of media, mass communication, strategic communication, journalism, advertising, and public relations, as well as professional communicators that use social media in their role.

Investigates the impact of emerging technologies in journalism and how audiences engage with these technologies and news content in innovative ways. Identity and community are analysed historically and culturally within the larger body of cultural and media studies.

As audiences are provided opportunities to experience the news through new technological advancements in the field, the very nature of journalism and its conventions will likely be challenged. This book offers multiple perspectives on the future of journalism by analyzing trends in technology and demographic shifts in audience composition through the next century. The book draws upon recent research and speculations by top technological firms as well as leading science fiction writers to provide a compelling portrait of how journalism may operate in next 20 to 40 years and beyond. The editors offer a groundbreaking view into the future of news consumption and how it will impact newsgathering and reception across the world. The very nature of journalism will likely be received and interpreted within unique communities through innovative and inclusive ways. This book explores the challenges ahead for journalists and media producers in the near and distant futures. Moreover, as in-world journalists have sought to inform and engage unique communities within the context of their worlds, real and virtual, issues relevant to the mainstream have been played out in virtual culture. This book offers a first glance into a mediated future from a journalistic lens. Redefining Journalism in an Age of Technological Advancements, Changing Demographics, and Social Issues investigates the impact of emerging technologies in journalism and how audiences engage with these technologies and news content in innovative ways. Identity and community are analyzed historically and culturally within the larger body of cultural and media studies. Covering topics such as audience demographics, robotics, and immersive journalism, this book is a dynamic resource for journalists, sociologists, politicians, students and educators of higher education, computer scientists, communications professionals, researchers, and academicians.