This fully revised third edition brings a fresh approach to the fundamentals of mass media and communication law in a presentation that undergraduate students find engaging and accessible. Communication Law serves as a core textbook for undergraduate courses in communication and mass media law.

This clearly written and well-focused volume combines concise decisions of the primary areas of communication law with the foundational case decisions in those domains. Thus, in one volume, students of communication law, constitutional law, political science, and related fields find both the key rulings that define each area of law and a detailed summary of the legal concepts, doctrines, and policies so vital to understanding the rulings within their legal context. The text forgoes the tendency to provide encyclopedic treatment of all the relevant cases and focuses instead on the two or three cases most vital to an accurate and informed understanding of the current state of each field of communication law. The chapters provide readers with the most salient concepts and the necessary depth to understand the law while permitting most reading time to be directed to the law itself. Full-text rulings allow readers to immerse themselves in the law itself--to develop a feel for its complexity, its flexibility, and its language. Useful as a quick reference to the landmark rulings and the jurisprudence of communication law, this book also serves well as the primary text in related undergraduate courses or as a supplemental text in graduate classes in the field.

Siegel's student-friendly approach, lively writing style, and extensive illustrations including case-specific photos and one-of-a-kind cartoons present communication law in a highly accessible way. He gives a clear overview of the American judiciary system and covers the key areas, including First Amendment principles, common laws, constitutional considerations, libel laws, privacy factors, copyright and trademark, advertising, protecting news sources, obscenity laws, broadcast regulations, the Internet, and more. This is an engaging text for courses in communication law and media law.

Debuting in its first edition, Communication Law is an engaging and accessible text that brings a fresh approach to the fundamentals of mass media law. Unique in its approach and its visually attractive design, this text differentiates itself from other current texts on the market while presenting students with key principles and landmark cases that establish and define communication law and regulation, providing a hands-on learning experience.

Exploring Communication Law, Second Edition, provides an overview of the law as it pertains to print, broadcast, and online journalism, as well as non-journalistic forms of expression. It begins by introducing students to the First Amendment in a general sense, then explores how the principles of free speech are applied in various circumstances, such as political speech, sexual expression, and K-12 and college campuses. The text also explains the fundamentals of media law in areas such as defamation, privacy, the media and the courts, confidentiality and privilege, access to information, broadcasting, and cyberspace.

Introduction -- First amendment principles -- Libel: common-law elements -- Libel: constitutional considerations -- Invasions of privacy -- Copyright and trademark -- Access to information -- Reporting on the judiciary -- Protecting news sources -- Regulation of advertising -- Sexually oriented speech -- Broadcast and cable TV regulation -- The Internet.

This primer presents the legal framework of the extremely complex regulation of legacy and digital media in Europe by the European Union and the Council of Europe. The volume is divided in five chapters which take into account the European Convention of Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU; the regulation of broadcasting; digital communication platforms; data protection in the context of information and communication; and a plurality of other hot topics such as copyright protection, women’s dignity, hate speech and fake news. All the chapters are linked to over 70 decisions of the Strasbourg and Luxembourg courts which are collected in a 300-page Appendix.