King v Lewis & Others

                                                         King v Lewis & Others

Facts
Don King was involved in litigation in the USA with Lennox Lewis and the second Defendant, a Nevada-based promotion company. The case concerned Don King's libel claim for publications on the internet by the third Defendant, the lawyer representing Lewis in the American litigation. All of the parties were in the USA. King brought proceedings in the UK and was granted permission to serve outside the realms of the U.S jurisdiction. The Defendants applied to set-aside the permission to serve out. Eady J refused the application and the Defendants appealed.

Issue
(1) Whether Eady J had made an error of law in the exercise in his decision; (2) Whether the international set up of publications on the Internet required any adjustment to the already set out principles.

Held
Appeal dismissed. (1) The Defendants could show no error in the approach by Eady J. (2) Four principles could be taken from the relevant case law (a) there is an initial presumption that the appropriate place for the trial is that where the tort is committed; in defamation that would be where the libel was published; (b) the more tenuous the Claimant’s connection  the weaker this consideration becomes; (c) in Internet cases the court’s discretion will be more “open-textured” in order to give effect to the publisher’s choice of a global stage; and (d) the judge must consider what is the appropriate place without thought to whether there is a “juridical advantage”. The Defendant’s intention (and possible “targeting” of the publication) were irrelevant. Internet publications attract a global audience.

An Introduction to Media Law

Lecture one

In our introductory lecture on media law, we discussed the basic principles that journalists must follow and the consequences that face them if they fail to adhere to the law that restricts them.

A key principle for journalists to work by is that in order to avoid themselves and their organisation being sued for defamation they must recognise this risk and always bear it in mind, when producing material.

In addition to this, there are four other main principles that journalists should be aware of;

1. the rule against prior restraint - a remedy can only be sought once the speech or writing has occurred.
2. journalist's right to freedom of expression
3. the importance of informing the public of what is in the public's interest to know
4. the impact of a trial by jury.

Defamation, which encompasses slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words), is defined as the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. It is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).
Ultimately, it concerns the reputation of someone or something and the damage that a particularly defamatory statement has upon this reputation. This often includes the impact upon the individual or organisation's bank balance.

In order to appreciate the risk, journalists must be aware of the hierarchy of the court system, so they know where and if they can appeal a decision made, if found liable for defamation.

Law is divided into two branches; criminal law, which refers to an offence by an individual or group of individuals against the state and civil law, which deals with disputes between individuals and/or organisations.
At the top of the hierarchy is the Monarch, hence why criminal cases refer to Regina in the case name i.e. R v Smith. Next, are the appellate courts. The first is the newly established Supreme Court, which replaced the House of Lords in October 2009 and the second is the Court of Appeal. The High Court, which is divided into the Queen's bench division, the Family division and the Chancery division, is below this. The courts are then divided into those that deal with criminal cases and those concerning civil matters.The Crown court is next in the hierarchy concerning criminal matters and then at the bottom is the magistrates court. Civil matters are then dealt in the county court or at a tribunal.

Although there are overlaps, such as the process for dealing with civil matters, Scottish and Irish law are  independent from that of law that governs England and Wales.
predominantly
Defamation laws are considered to be the most flexible in the world, as demonstrated in the case of King v Lewis & Others (see below).

In support of Journalists, Lord Bingham was quoted as saying that 'the proper functioning of a modern participatory democracy requires that the media be free, active, professional and enquiring.'

In further reading, I intend to investigate whether the law in fact allows this to happen or whether the wise words of Lord Bingham are a far and distant call for reform.

 
  

Part 2 - Transferring your recording from the Marantz to the computer.

• Note that when using a standard PC, the software used is Adobe Audition. On a Mac it is Soundbooth.
• Make sure the USB cable (found in the bag with the Marantz is attached to both the Martanz and the computer.
• For a successful recording upload, on a 660 Marantz, once the USB is plugged in, the power must be then turnt off and the copy button held down, whilst turning the power back on. On a 661 Marantz there is no need for this, the copying is done as soon as the USB is attached at both ends.
• In order to edit material, firstly you must save the recording onto an external hardrive such as a memory stick.
• Find the Adobe audition package under programs.
• Make sure the USB icon is visible on the screen and look for your recording. In ours, it appeared as a music file.
• Open the file, which needs to be a wave file. If it is a PK file, then the recording will show up as blank.
• Put either the speakers on or headphones into the computer socket.
• Tip: If no sound is playing, hold down number 1 at the left hand side of the monitor until it beeps. This should enable you to hear the recording. (Press 1 to use the PCs and 2 to switch back to using Macs).
• Once into Adobe audition, the two most common icons used are the Edit and the Multitrack icon. The multitrack icon is used to mix different tracks together.
• The green bar at the top of the page shows the whole recording. If you shrink the bar, this will represent the proportion of recording you are analysing and where exactly it is. The zoom icon allows you to be precise. You are also able to move the green bar to see how editing has effected the recording as a whole.
• Click left and drag the cursor to delete parts of the recording or cut them and move them elsewhere.
• Check out effects such as amplifying, pitch bender, pop functions and hiss reduction, to change the overall effect and impression of the recording.
• Lastly, you can undo anything you have done, until the point of saving the work to the computer. Note, after saving to the external hardrive, you can still undo any changes.

What you need to know about Radio Production Equipment!

What will I need? A Martinez recorder (either the 660 older version or the updated 661), a standard microphone and a set of headphones.

PART 1 - Setting up the equipment.

• Always check the equipment is functioning for the purpose it is required for.
• On the Marantz make sure that the preset is set to 1. Edit this if needed.
• The input must be set to mic or line on the 661 Martinez and mic on the 660s. Make sure it is not on internal mic.
• Make sure the recording format is set to 192 for speech.
• Make sure the recordng format is set to Mono.
• Make sure the sample is set to 44.1
• To set the recording level, manually set it by adjusting the circular button on the top. (This is located on the 660s at the top of the device and at the front of the device on the 661s).
• The level needs to be set to the green area. If in the yellow area, the sound will be too quiet and will need to be artificially raised, causing a possible hissing noise. If in the red area consistently, te sound will become distorted and unusual.
• If a mistake is made, if possible do not press pause, let it run. Otherwise you run the risk of losing your train of thought or forget to take the pause button off.
• At the beginning and end of the recording, leave a second or two of ambience. This avoids the recording sounding rushed.
• When recording, hold the Marantz on one shoulder. Be careful of the wires - too tight and they make break, too lose and the sound may become distorted. To avoid this, wind the wire around you hand.
• When using the microphone, do not make sudden movements with it. If the recording of someone's voice is too loud, move the microphone towards the other person. Likewise, do this if one person is quieter.
• Avoid loud noise or interference in locations, such as in traffic. Unless, this meets the context of the report.