This second edition includes comprehensive and up-to-date overviews of major court cases and legislation, including such recent legislation as the Telecommunications Act. The Communications Decency Act, and amendments to the Copyright Act of 1976. Detailed discussions of the U.S. legal system and judicial process are provided.

Written in easy-to-understand prose. Comprehensive chapters on intellectual property, prior restraint. And commercial and corporate speech examine these issues at a level of depth previously unavailable in a textbook. A complete copy of the U.S. Constitution and the latest codes of ethics for media professionals are provided for easy reference.

I The American Legal System and the Judicial Process
1. Codes of Ethics and Sources and Types of U.S. Law
2. The U.S. Legal System
3. The Judicial Process

II Governmental Restraints
4. Prior Restraint
5. Corporate and Commercial Speech
6. Electronic Mass Media and Telecommunications
7. Libel
8. Right of Privacy
9. Press and Pubic Access to the Judicial Process, Records, Places, and Meetings
10. Intellectual Property
11. Indecency, Obscenity, and Pornography