Major Principles of Media Law, 2016

Wayne Overbeck is Professor of Communications, Emeritus, at California State University, Fullerton. Professor Overbeck earned his Ph.D. at UCLA and his J.D. at Loyola Law School. He passed the California bar exam in 1975. In addition to practicing law in California and Washington, D.C., he is a longtime professor and prolific writer. With more than 35 years of teaching experience and expertise as a practicing attorney, he continues to be an authority in the field of media law. Dr. Overbeck has also written several other books and taught on other campuses. Wayne Overbeck is Professor of Communications, Emeritus, at California State University, Fullerton. Professor Overbeck earned his Ph.D. at UCLA and his J.D. at Loyola Law School. He passed the California bar exam in 1975. In addition to practicing law in California and Washington, D.C., he is a longtime professor and prolific writer. With more than 35 years of teaching experience and expertise as a practicing attorney, he continues to be an authority in the field of media law. Dr. Overbeck has also written several other books and taught on other campuses. Genelle Belmas is Associate Professor at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. In 2002 she received her Ph.D. in mass communications with an emphasis in media law from the University of Minnesota, where her dissertation examined then-emerging issues in the areas of libel, hate speech, and pornography law as applied to the Internet. She has taught media law for more than 10 years to thousands of students. Her research interests include flag display and desecration law, indecency regulation, intellectual property, scholastic journalism issues, and the connection between media ethics and law. Her research has appeared in such journals as COMMUNICATIONS LAW AND POLICY, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS LAW JOURNAL, and the SOUTH CAROLINA LAW REVIEW. She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Bar Association, where she participates in the communications law and intellectual property sections. In 2010, Dr. Belmas assumed primary authorship of MAJOR PRINCIPLES OF MEDIA LAW. Jason M. Shepard, Ph.D., is chair of the Department of Communications and an associate professor at California State University, Fullerton. His primary research expertise is in media law, and he teaches courses in journalism and media law, history and ethics. Shepard’s first book, Privileging the Press: Confidential Sources, Journalism Ethics and the First Amendment, explored the relationship between journalism ethics and law in journalist-source protections. In Ethical Issues in Communication Professions: New Agendas in Communications, Shepard proposed a new agenda for scholars of press freedom and responsibility in the digital era. Shepard has also published research in the Yale Journal of Law and Technology, Communication Law and Policy, Journal of Media Law & Ethics, Nexus Journal of Law and Policy, and Drake Law Review. Recently, Shepard served as an expert witness in federal court cases involving the First Amendment and campaign finance laws in Maine and Colorado. Shepard earned his Ph.D. in mass communications with a Ph.D. minor in law from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For 10 years, he worked as a journalist at The Capital Times and Isthmus newspapers. He is also a former corps member for Teach For America in the South Bronx of New York City.

1. The American Legal System.
2. The Legacy of Freedom.
3. Modern Prior Restraints.
4. Libel and Slander.
5. The Right of Privacy.
6. Copyrights and Trademarks.
7. Fair Trial-Free Press Conflicts.
8. Newsgatherer's Privilege.
9. Freedom of Information.
10. Obscenity and the Law.
11. Regulation of Electronic Media.
12. Media Ownership Issues.