Citizen Media Law Project Publishes Newsgathering Section of Legal Guide

From the Citizen Media Law Project...

Back in January, we announced the launch of the first two major sections of the Citizen Media Law Project's Legal Guide covering Forming a Business and Getting Online and Dealing with Online Legal Risks. This past month we began rolling out the section on Newsgathering and Privacy, which addresses the legal and practical issues you may encounter as you gather documents, take photographs or video, and collect other information. Here is a quick rundown of the sections we've just published:

* Entering the Property of Others discusses your rights to access public and private property and provides some guidance on how to avoid legal liability for trespass.

* Gathering Private Information outlines the various privacy laws that may limit your ability to gather private information or otherwise intrude into another person's private space.

* Recording Phone Calls, Conversations, Meetings and Hearings discusses federal and state laws relating to the use of recording devices in specific private and quasi-public settings.

* Acquiring Documents and Other Property addresses the laws affecting your ability to gather documents and other tangible property that belongs to others, including the government.

* Protecting Sources and Source Material examines the legal challenges you may face in maintaining the confidentiality of your sources and source material and discusses the federal and state laws that may protect you from forced disclosure of your newsgathering materials...

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