Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
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Media Libel and the First Amendment

Sonnenschein's media law practice covers all aspects of media counseling and litigation, including pre-publication review and libel clearance, libel and first amendment litigation, reporters' rights, advertising and intellectual property matters, subpoena defense, access to information and evidence, Freedom of Information Act appeals and litigation, and counseling and seminars on newsroom procedures and topical media law issues.

Our lawyers have represented many media concerns, including all three of the country's leading television networks, the Chicago Tribune Company and several of the Tribune Company's subsidiaries, Time magazine, Money magazine, St. Martin's Press, Random House, John Wiley & Sons, the American Booksellers Association, The Media Coalition, Inc., The Journal of the American Medical Association, and investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, in a wide variety of media and First Amendment matters.

Libel and Related Torts Experience
Sonnenschein lawyers have extensive experience in the area of libel and related privacy torts. Our attorneys regularly provide libel pre-publication clearance and counseling for clients such as the NBC-owned television station in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune and The Hammond Times, as well as handle all aspects of libel and libel-related litigation. Further, Sonnenschein attorneys (several of whom were personally involved in establishing a number of major Illinois precedents) annually prepare the Illinois and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals sections of the Libel Defense Resource Center's nationwide survey of libel law and related torts.

First Amendment Experience
Sonnenschein attorneys have handled a wide variety of matters involving First Amendment issues, from constitutional challenges of ordinances regulating door-to-door commercial solicitation and the placement of newspaper racks and newsboxes, to constitutional challenges of overbroad pornography statutes. Sonnenschein's First Amendment experience includes regular representation of American Booksellers Association, Association of American Publishers, Motion Picture Association of America, Magazine Publishers of America, Recording Industry Association of America and The Freedom to Read Foundation of the American Library Association, through their trade association, The Media Coalition, Inc.

Reporters' Rights and Access Experience
Sonnenschein's work on behalf of the media includes counseling and representation of broadcasters, publishers and reporters in all news-gathering and publication matters, including the protection of source and document confidentiality. For example, our attorneys regularly defend reporters against subpoenas issued in violation of state shield laws and comparable common law principles. Sonnenschein attorneys have defended and successfully quashed subpoenas issued to reporters in a number of celebrated criminal and civil trials on behalf of various clients, including NBC, the Chicago Tribune, Time magazine and People weekly magazine. In addition, our attorneys represent the media in obtaining access to the courts, trial evidence, and other judicial records.

Entertainment and Related Litigation
Sonnenschein lawyers have advised clients in the areas of motion picture, theatrical and television production and distribution, music, newspaper, magazine and book publishing and syndication and talent agreements and advertising compliance and promotion law. They have also represented MGM, Warner Bros., Steven Spielberg and others in successful litigations concerning rights and copyrights.

Noteworthy Matters

  • Successful representation of the Chicago Tribune Co. against a libel action brought by a record company and two record company representatives in connection with an episode of the comic strip "Dick Tracy." The Tribune's motion to dismiss was granted and affirmed by the appellate court, holding that the comic strip episode, featuring organized crime, payola and murder, could not be reasonably understood as describing actual facts about the plaintiff.
     
  • Representation of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Seymour Hersh against libel claims brought by the former Prime Minister of India, Morarji Desai, based on allegations that portions of Hersh's book The Price of Power: Kissinger in The Nixon White House linked Desai with the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The case was tried before a jury in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, resulting in a verdict for Mr. Hersh on all counts, which was affirmed on appeal by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
     
  • Successful representation of an author, publisher and television producers in libel and privacy claims against the award-winning book (and subsequent television documentary series) The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America.
     
  • Successful constitutional challenges of New York and New Mexico Internet content regulations on the basis of the Commerce Clause and the First Amendment, representing a coalition led by the American Library Association.
     
  • Representation of the Chicago Tribune Co. in a matter in which the company was recently granted summary judgment in a defamation suit based on the Tribune's publication of the plaintiff's past convictions for forgery and theft.
     
  • Successful representation of Playboy challenging the attempt of a Cincinnati, OH, prosecutor to remove periodicals from Barnes & Noble.
     
  • Successful representation of The Hammond Times and a reporter in defense of defamation claims brought against them for a series of investigative articles regarding toxic waste. Our lawyers obtained a jury verdict in favor of our client.
     
  • Representation of General Media Communications, Inc., the publisher of Penthouse Magazine and various media trade associations, in challenging the Defense Department's Military Honor and Decency Act of 1996. The new law, which attempted to prohibit government operated stores from selling sexually explicit materials, was challenged to be censorship and found unconstitutional by the federal district court in New York. The Court of Appeals reversed. Sonnenschein then challenged the application of the Act in federal court in California on behalf of magazine wholesalers.
     
  • Representation of Steven Spielberg, Michael Crichton, Anne-Marie Martin, Universal City Studios, Inc., Warner Bros., and Amblin' Entertainment, Inc. as co-counsel in a copyright infringement suit. A screenwriter claimed the 1996 blockbuster film "Twister" was based on his screenplay "Catch the Wind" and sought damages in excess of $150 million. After a three-week trial and only two hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict which fully exonerated each of our clients.
     
  • Representation of MGM against The Walt Disney Co. in a dispute involving a 1985 licensing agreement relating to the MGM name and logo and the rights to the films from the MGM/United Artists library for use in European theme parks. The three-week trial resulted in a unanimous jury verdict for MGM, requiring Disney to reconvey the licensed rights and pay $1.5 million in damages.
     
  • Sonnenschein obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of the Chicago Tribune Co., enjoining the city and the airline from seizing or relocating coin-operated newsboxes in the passenger concourse at O'Hare International Airport.
     
  • Representation of the Chicago Tribune Co. in a civil rights action successfully challenging the City of Chicago's ordinance regulating the placement of newsracks.
     
  • Representation of Greenpeace International, Inc. in defamation suit brought by an Indian-based corporation that was the subject of a Greenpeace pamphlet entitled "Norway to India: A Case Study on Hazardous Technology Transfer."
     
  • Representation of the Chicago Tribune Co. in a declaratory judgment action in which the village's door-to-door commercial solicitation ordinance was held to violate the Tribune's First Amendment rights and equal protection guarantees.
     
  • Representation of Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. in a suit by FMC Corporation for conversion and misappropriation of business information in connection with lost copies of FMC documents which were displayed by ABC in its newscasts concerning FMC's work on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
     
  • Representation of NBC in pursuing an appeal and subsequent litigation under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, enabling NBC to obtain information regarding the former sheriff's "special deputies."
     
  • Successful representation of an NBC Network News reporter in a civil rights action brought by Lyndon LaRouche against the NBC reporter and the State's Attorney of Ogle County, Illinois, among others, alleging civil rights violations and interference with potential political contributions.
     
  • Sonnenschein helped a small, local newspaper successfully challenge the constitutionality of the village's anti-solicitation ordinance as applied to potential advertisers in newspapers.
     
  • Representation of the Chicago Tribune Co. in connection with privacy and emotional distress claims brought for publication of statements in the Chicago Tribune's "Killing Our Children" series.
     
  • Successful representation of the Chicago Tribune Co. in a defamation suit brought by a former savings and loan executive in a story about an RTC takeover.
     
  • Representation of the general counsel and a senior vice president of New York Life in a defamation action brought by a former office manager.
     
  • Representation of a writer, pursuing an appeal under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, seeking information on how the Illinois Lottery is advertised and promoted to members of minority groups.
     
  • Successful representation of NBC and Multimedia Entertainment (now known as "Studios USA"), broadcaster and producer, respectively, of a network miniseries, "Deadly Matrimony," against an attempt by a former police chief, allegedly depicted in the miniseries, to enjoin the telecast of the miniseries.
     
  • Representation of Multimedia Entertainment, Inc. (now known as "Studios USA"), as well as talk-show host Jerry Springer, and other staff members of the popular Jerry Springer Show, against claims arising out of an incident involving an unanticipated physical attack by one guest of another during a taping.

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