LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To learn about the four privacy torts, to understand the First Amendment limitations on the privacy torts, to learn about other torts that regulate the collection and dissemination of personal data.
Length: Approximately 1 hour
Written by: Professors Daniel J. Solove and Paul M. Schwartz
Instructor: Professor Daniel J. Solove
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is about the legal remedies when media entities gather and disseminate personal information. It discusses the landmark 1890 article on “The Right to Privacy,” by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis and Dean William Prosser’s pathbreaking development of the four privacy torts. The course covers how the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution applies to each of the privacy torts. The course also discusses other torts beyond the privacy torts that address privacy issues such as confidentiality and control of personal data. Additionally, the main defenses to tort lawsuits (CDA § 230 and Anti-SLAPP laws) are covered as well as how courts handle cases where litigants seek to identify anonymous speakers.
CERTIFICATE
To obtain a broad overview of privacy law, to understand the key issues involved, to learn how privacy law works, and to understand the differences and similarities between various privacy laws.
COURSE OUTLINE
About this Course
Introduction
The Privacy Torts and the Warren and Brandeis Article
Appropriation of Name or Likeness
Background
The Right to Publicity
Free Speech Protection: The Real Relationship Test
Intrusion Upon Seclusion
Background
What Is Private?
Public Disclosure of Private Facts
Elements
When Is Something Private?
The Widespread Disclosure Requirement
The Newsworthiness Test
Public Figures: The Sidis Case
Connection to Current Events: The Sipple Case
Connection to Informative Chronicles: The Shulman Case
Making Sense of the Newsworthiness Test
False Light
First Amendment Limits on Liability for Privacy Violations
Levels of First Amendment Scrutiny
The First Amendment and the Privacy Torts
Intrusion Upon Seclusion
False Light
Appropriation of Name or Likeness
Public Disclosure of Private Facts
The First Amendment and Confidentiality Agreements
.
Other Torts Beyond the Privacy Torts
Breach of Confidentiality
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Defamation
Background and Types of Defamation
Elements of Defamation
Secondary Liability
First Amendment Limitations on Defamation
Defenses to Tort Lawsuits
The CDA § 230
Anti-SLAPP
Non-Consensual Pornography Statutes
Anonymity
Conclusion
COURSE READINGS
Required Readings
Handout: Privacy Torts
Handout: Defamation Law: First Amendment Limitations
.
Recommended Readings
Book: Daniel J. Solove & Paul M. Schwartz, Privacy and the Media
(Aspen 3rd edition 2018)