United States Supreme Court case
Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.
Supreme Court of the United States Full case name Hugo Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Company Citations 433 U.S. 562 (more )97 S. Ct. 2849; 53 L. Ed. 2d 965; 1977 U.S. LEXIS 145; 205 U.S.P.Q. (BNA ) 741; 40 Rad. Reg. 2d (P & F) 1485; 5 Ohio Op. 3d 215; 2 Media L. Rep. 2089
Prior Ohio Supreme Court, 47 Ohio St.2d 224, 351 N.E.2d 454 (1976), reversed; cert. granted 429 U.S. 1037 (1977) The First and Fourteenth Amendments do not immunize the news media from civil liability when they broadcast a performer's entire act without his consent, nor does the Constitution prevent a State from requiring broadcasters to compensate performers.
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Majority White, joined by Burger, Stewart, Blackmun, Rehnquist Dissent Powell, joined by Brennan, Marshall Dissent Stevens U.S. Const. , Amends. I and XIV
Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. , 433 U.S. 562 (1977), was an important U.S. Supreme Court case concerning rights of publicity .[1] The Court held that the First and Fourteenth Amendments do not immunize the news media from civil liability when they broadcast a performer's entire act without his consent, and the Constitution does not prevent a state from requiring broadcasters to compensate performers. It was the first time (and so far the only time) the Supreme Court heard a case on rights of publicity.[2]
Facts and procedural history [ ]
Petitioner Hugo Zacchini had a human cannonball act which he performed at various venues. During August 1972, he was performing his act at the Geauga County Fair in Burton, Ohio . On August 30, Zacchini noticed a freelance reporter from Scripps-Howard Broadcasting (which operated WEWS-TV in Cleveland) who had brought a movie camera into the fair. Zacchini asked the reporter not to film his act. The reporter did not film Zacchini's act that day, but did film him the next day. The footage taken by the reporter was about fifteen seconds long, sufficient to capture Zacchini's entire act.
Zacchini filed suit against Scripps-Howard in Ohio state court, alleging that the local reporter "showed and commercialized the film of his act without his consent," and that such conduct was an "unlawful appropriation of plaintiff's professional property." The trial court granted the defendant summary judgment . The Ohio Court of Appeals reversed, holding that Zacchini's complaint stated a cause of action for conversion and for infringement of a common law copyright , and that the press was not privileged to show Zacchini's entire act on television without compensating him.
The case was then heard by the Ohio Supreme Court , who reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals in favor of Scripps-Howard. The Ohio Supreme Court held that although Scripps-Howard would be liable for appropriating Zacchini's name, likeness, and performance,
A TV station has a privilege to report in its newscasts matters of legitimate public interest which would otherwise be protected by an individual's right of publicity, unless the actual intent of the TV station was to appropriate the benefit of the publicity for some nonprivileged private use, or unless the actual intent was to injure the individual.[3]
The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine whether the First and Fourteenth Amendments immunized respondent from damages for its alleged infringement of Zacchini's right of publicity under Ohio state law.
Decision [ ]
Majority opinion [ ]
Justice White wrote for the majority. He held first that, because the Ohio Supreme Court based its decision on the scope of protection offered to the press by the Federal constitution (rather than the Ohio state constitution ), no adequate and independent state ground existed for the Ohio Supreme Court's decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court therefore had jurisdiction.
Moving on to the substantive constitutional issue of the case, White disagreed with the Ohio Supreme Court that the press should be privileged in showing Zacchini's entire act. He distinguished this case from Time, Inc. v. Hill ,[4] the U.S. Supreme Court case upon which the Ohio Supreme Court relied in their opinion. Time, Inc. v. Hill was a case which dealt with the tort of "false light ", i.e. portraying a person in a misleading or embarrassing manner, rather than the appropriation of a performer's act or likeness, which was at stake there. White analogized Zacchini's interest in protecting his act from being shown without his permission to those interests protected by patent and copyright : Zacchini not only had a commercial interest in being compensated for the time and effort involved in his performance, but also the "economic incentive for him to make the investment required to produce a performance of interest to the public".[5] White concluded by saying that while a state government may pass a law shielding the press from liability for broadcasting performers' acts, the First and Fourteenth amendments do not require the states to do so.
Dissenting opinions [ ]
Justice Powell , joined by justices Brennan and Marshall , disagreed with the standard set forth by the majority. Powell felt that the majority concentrated too heavily on the fact that the footage which was broadcast constituted Zacchini's "entire act" (which, Powell noted, was a rather uncertain standard in itself), rather than examining the purpose for which the footage was used. Since the footage was used for the purpose of reporting news, rather than for commercial exploitation, Powell asserted that the television station's use of the footage should be considered privileged from liability. He worried that the majority's holding may have a chilling effect on freedom of the press :
The Court's holding that the station's ordinary news report may give rise to substantial liability has disturbing implications, for the decision could lead to a degree of media self-censorship. Hereafter, whenever a television news editor is unsure whether certain film footage received from a camera crew might be held to portray an "entire act," he may decline coverage – even of clearly newsworthy events – or confine the broadcast to watered-down verbal reporting, perhaps with an occasional still picture. The public is then the loser. This is hardly the kind of news reportage that the First Amendment is meant to foster.[6]
Justice Stevens wrote a separate dissent. He felt that a better resolution of the case would have been to remand it back to the Ohio Supreme Court for clarification of the state law issue before attempting to resolve the constitutional issue. Stevens felt that it was not clear whether the Ohio Supreme Court was basing its holding purely on the boundaries of common law torts or the First Amendment.
References [ ]
^ Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. , 433 U.S. 562 (1977).
^ Faber, Jonathan. "RightOfPublicity.com" . Retrieved 2009-06-07 .
^ 433 U.S. at 565 (internal quotation marks omitted)
^ 385 U.S. 374 (1967)
^ 433 U.S. at 576
^ 433 U.S. at 580–581 (Powell, J., dissenting) (internal citations omitted)
External links [ ]
E. W. Scripps Company
sorted by primary channel network affiliations
ABC CBS The CW
KASW 2
KATC 3
KNXV-TV 2
KPAX-TV / KAJJ-CD 3
KRIS-TV 3
KRTV / KXLH-LD 3
KSBY 3
KTNV-TV 3 4
KTVH-DT / KTGF-LD 3
KTVQ 3
KXLF-TV / KBZK 3
KWBA-TV
WGNT
WSFL-TV
WTVF 3 5
Fox MyNetworkTV NBC Ion (O&O )Other
Bounce TV
Court TV
Court TV Mystery
Independent
Telemundo
TV networks
Broadcast
Bounce TV
Court TV
Court TV Mystery
Defy TV
Grit
Ion Television
Laff
Newsy
TrueReal TV
OTT
Ion Plus
Programming
The List
Right This Minute
Acquisitions
Cordillera Communications
Ion Media
Journal Communications
McGraw-Hill
Katz Broadcasting
Digital People Related
National Journalism Awards
Newspaper Enterprise Association
National Spelling Bee
Scripps Howard Foundation
Scripps Networks Interactive
United Feature Syndicate
United Media
Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.
NOTES:
1 Scripps operates KZTV under a Shared Services Agreement with SagamoreHill Broadcasting .
2 KNXV-TV provides an ATSC 1.0 simulcast of sister CW station KASW for non-ATSC 3.0 tuners and receivers.
3 These stations broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels.
4 KTNV-TV provides an ATSC 1.0 simulcast of Sinclair Broadcast Group -owned CW station KVCW for non-ATSC 3.0 tuners and receivers.
5 WTVF provides an ATSC 1.0 simulcast of locally-owned and Sinclair Broadcast Group -operated CW station WNAB for non-ATSC 3.0 tuners and receivers.
6 Scripps operates these stations under a Shared Services Agreement with Gray Television .
7 WXYZ-TV provides an ATSC 1.0 simulcast of sister Independent station WMYD for non-ATSC 3.0 tuners and receivers.
8 KJRH-TV provides a standard definition simulcast of sister station, Ion Television O&O KTPX-TV .
9 WFTS-TV provides an ATSC 1.0 simulcast of Hearst Television -owned independent station WMOR-TV for non-ATSC 3.0 tuners and receivers.
10 KSPX-TV provides a standard definition simulcast of Telemundo -owned and operated KCSO-LD , due to the latter's low-power status.
11 WPXA-TV provides a simulcast of locally owned and operated WKTB-CD , due to the latter's low-power status.
U.S. Supreme Court Article I case law
Enumeration Clause of Section II
Utah v. Evans (2002)
Department of Commerce v. New York (2019)
Trump v. New York (2020)
Qualifications Clauses of Sections II and III
Powell v. McCormack (1969)
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995)
Elections Clause of Section IV
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995)
Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (2015)
Origination Clause of Section VII
Flint v. Stone Tracy Co. (1911)
United States v. Munoz-Flores (1990)
Presentment Clause of Section VII
Pocket Veto Case (1929)
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983)
Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
Hylton v. United States (1796)
Collector v. Day (1871)
Springer v. United States (1881)
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895)
Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. (1916)
Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co. (1922)
United States v. Butler (1936)
Helvering v. Davis (1937)
South Dakota v. Dole (1987)
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)
Commerce Clause of Section VIII
Dormant Commerce Clause
Brown v. Maryland (1827)
Willson v. Black-Bird Creek Marsh Co. (1829)
Cooley v. Board of Wardens (1852)
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois (1886)
Swift & Co. v. United States (1905)
George W. Bush & Sons Co. v. Malloy (1925)
Edwards v. California (1941)
Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona (1945)
Dean Milk Co. v. City of Madison (1951)
Miller Bros. Co. v. Maryland (1954)
Bibb v. Navajo Freight Lines, Inc. (1959)
National Bellas Hess v. Illinois (1967)
Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc. (1970)
Hughes v. Alexandria Scrap Corp. (1976)
Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady (1977)
Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Commission (1977)
City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey (1978)
Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Maryland (1978)
Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp. (1981)
Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas (1982)
South-Central Timber Development, Inc. v. Wunnicke (1984)
Maine v. Taylor (1986)
Quill Corp. v. North Dakota (1992)
C&A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown (1994)
Oregon Waste Systems, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Quality of Oregon (1994)
West Lynn Creamery, Inc. v. Healy (1994)
Granholm v. Heald (2005)
United Haulers Ass'n v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority (2007)
Department of Revenue of Kentucky v. Davis (2008)
Comptroller of the Treasury of Maryland v. Wynne (2015)
South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. (2018)
Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Assn. v. Thomas (2019)
Others
Coinage Clause of Section VIII
Legal Tender Cases
Knox v. Lee (1871)
Juilliard v. Greenman (1884)
Copyright Clause of Section VIII
Copyright Act of 1790 Patent Act of 1793
Tyler v. Tuel (1810)
Evans v. Eaton (1818)
Evans v. Eaton (1822)
Evans v. Hettich (1822)
Patent infringement case lawPatentability case lawCopyright Act of 1831 Copyright Act of 1870 Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 International Copyright Act of 1891 Copyright Act of 1909 Patent misuse case law
Motion Picture Patents Co. v. Universal Film Manufacturing Co. (1917)
Morton Salt Co. v. G.S. Suppiger Co. (1942)
Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 Lanham Act
Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc. (1982)
San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee (1987)
Two Pesos, Inc. v. Taco Cabana, Inc. (1992)
Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co. (1995)
College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board (1999)
Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. (2001)
TrafFix Devices, Inc. v. Marketing Displays, Inc. (2001)
Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. (2003)
Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. (2003)
Lexmark International, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. (2014)
POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co. (2014)
Matal v. Tam (2017)
Iancu v. Brunetti (2019)
Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc. (2020)
Copyright Act of 1976
Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. (1977)
Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. (1984)
Mills Music, Inc. v. Snyder (1985)
Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises (1985)
Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid (1989)
Stewart v. Abend (1990)
Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co. (1991)
Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. (1994)
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. (1994)
Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland Int'l, Inc. (1996)
Quality King Distributors Inc., v. L'anza Research International Inc. (1998)
Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (1998)
New York Times Co. v. Tasini (2001)
Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)
MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. (2005)
Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick (2010)
Golan v. Holder (2012)
Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2013)
Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. (2014)
American Broadcasting Cos., Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. (2014)
Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc. (2017)
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com (2019)
Rimini Street Inc. v. Oracle USA Inc. (2019)
Allen v. Cooper (2020)
Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. (2020)
Other copyright cases Other patent cases
Continental Paper Bag Co. v. Eastern Paper Bag Co. (1908)
Minerals Separation, Ltd. v. Hyde (1916)
United States v. General Electric Co. (1926)
United States v. Univis Lens Co. (1942)
Altvater v. Freeman (1943)
Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp. (1945)
Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kalo Inoculant Co. (1948)
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Supermarket Equipment Corp. (1950)
Graver Tank & Manufacturing Co. v. Linde Air Products Co. (1950)
Aro Manufacturing Co. v. Convertible Top Replacement Co. (1961)
Compco Corp. v. Day-Brite Lighting, Inc. (1964)
Wilbur-Ellis Co. v. Kuther (1964)
Brulotte v. Thys Co. (1964)
Walker Process Equipment, Inc. v. Food Machinery & Chemical Corp. (1965)
Graham v. John Deere Co. (1966)
United States v. Adams (1966)
Brenner v. Manson (1966)
Lear, Inc. v. Adkins (1969)
Anderson's-Black Rock, Inc. v. Pavement Salvage Co. (1969)
Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc. (1971)
Gottschalk v. Benson (1972)
United States v. Glaxo Group Ltd. (1973)
Dann v. Johnston (1976)
Sakraida v. Ag Pro Inc. (1976)
Parker v. Flook (1978)
Diamond v. Chakrabarty (1980)
Diamond v. Diehr (1981)
Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. (1989)
Eli Lilly & Co. v. Medtronic, Inc. (1990)
Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc. (1996)
Warner-Jenkinson Co. v. Hilton Davis Chemical Co. (1997)
Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc. (1998)
Dickinson v. Zurko (1999)
Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank (1999)
J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. (2001)
Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co. (2002)
Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd. (2005)
eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. (2006)
Illinois Tool Works Inc. v. Independent Ink, Inc. (2006)
LabCorp v. Metabolite, Inc. (2006)
MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. (2007)
KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc. (2007)
Microsoft Corp. v. AT&T Corp. (2007)
Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc. (2008)
Bilski v. Kappos (2010)
Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A. (2011)
Stanford University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. (2011)
Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership (2011)
Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. (2012)
Kappos v. Hyatt (2012)
Bowman v. Monsanto Co. (2013)
Gunn v. Minton (2013)
Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. (2013)
FTC v. Actavis, Inc. (2013)
Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International (2014)
Akamai Techs., Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc. (2014)
Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc. (2015)
Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC (2015)
Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. (2016)
TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC (2017)
Peter v. NantKwest, Inc. (2019)
Other trademark cases
Necessary and Proper Clause of Section VIII
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Lambert v. Yellowley (1926)
Gonzales v. Raich (2005)
United States v. Comstock (2010)
United States v. Kebodeaux (2013)
Habeas corpus Suspension Clause of Section IX
Ex parte Bollman (1807)
Ex parte Merryman (1861)
Ex parte Endo (1944)
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr (2001)
Boumediene v. Bush (2008)
Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam (2020)
No Bills of Attainder or Ex post facto Laws Clause of Section IX
Calder v. Bull (1798)
Sturges v. Crowninshield (1819)
Garner v. Board of Public Works (1851)
De Veau v. Braisted (1860)
Ex parte Garland (1866)
Hawker v. New York (1898)
Samuels v. McCurdy (1925)
Barr v. City of Columbia (1964)
Teague v. Lane (1989)
Kansas v. Hendricks (1997)
Smith v. Doe (2003)
Contract Clause of Section X
Legal Tender Cases
Hepburn v. Griswold (1870)
Others
Import-Export Clause of Section X
Brown v. Maryland (1827)
Canton Railroad Co. v. Rogan (1951)
Compact Clause of Section X
Florida v. Georgia (1855)
Virginia v. West Virginia (1871)
Virginia v. Tennessee (1893)
Wharton v. Wise (1894)
Northeast Bancorp v. Federal Reserve Board of Governors (1985)
New Jersey v. New York (1998)
Virginia v. Maryland (2003)
Polar Tankers, Inc. v. City of Valdez (2009)
Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado (2018)
United States First Amendment case law
Public displays and ceremonies
Marsh v. Chambers (1983)
Lynch v. Donnelly (1984)
Board of Trustees of Scarsdale v. McCreary (1985)
County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union (1989)
Van Orden v. Perry (2005)
McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union (2005)
Pleasant Grove City v. Summum (2009)
Salazar v. Buono (2010)
Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014)
American Legion v. American Humanist Association (2019)
Shurtleff v. City of Boston (2022)
Statutory religious exemptions
Walz v. Tax Comm'n of the City of New York (1970)
(1982)
Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc. (1985)
Corp. of Presiding Bishop v. Amos (1987)
Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock (1989)
City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
Cutter v. Wilkinson (2005)
Public funding
(1930)
Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
Flast v. Cohen (1968)
(1968)
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
(1971)
(1973)
(1973)
(1973)
(1973)
(1973)
(1974)
(1974)
(1975)
(1976)
(1977)
(1977)
(1980)
Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church & State (1982)
Mueller v. Allen (1983)
(1985)
Aguilar v. Felton (1985)
Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind (1986)
Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District (1993)
Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet (1994)
Agostini v. Felton (1997)
Mitchell v. Helms (2000)
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)
Locke v. Davey (2004)
Arizona Christian Sch. Tuition Org. v. Winn (2011)
Religion in public schools
McCollum v. Board of Education (1948)
Zorach v. Clauson (1952)
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)
Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)
Stone v. Graham (1980)
Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)
Westside Community Board of Ed. v. Mergens (1990)
Lee v. Weisman (1992)
Santa Fe Ind. School Dist. v. Doe (2000)
Elk Grove Unif. School Dist. v. Newdow (2004)
Private religious speech Internal church affairs
United States v. Ballard (1944)
Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church (1969)
(1979)
Taxpayer standing Other
McGowan v. Maryland (1961)
(1961)
Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
Harris v. McRae (1980)
Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. (1982)
Bowen v. Kendrick (1988)
Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet (1994)
Trump v. Hawaii (2018)
Free Exercise Clause
Reynolds v. United States (1879)
Davis v. Beason (1890)
Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
Jamison v. Texas (1943)
Murdock v. Pennsylvania (1943)
Tucker v. Texas (1946)
Kunz v. New York (1951)
Braunfeld v. Brown (1961)
Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Massachusetts, Inc. (1961)
Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
Thomas v. Review Board (1981)
United States v. Lee (1982)
Bob Jones University v. United States (1983)
Bowen v. Roy (1986)
Goldman v. Weinberger (1986)
O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz (1987)
(1989)
Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993)
Watchtower Society v. Village of Stratton (2002)
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo (2020)
Tandon v. Newsom (2021)
Fulton v. City of Philadelphia (2021)
Exclusion of religion from public benefits
Locke v. Davey (2004)
Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer (2017)
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020)
Carson v. Makin (2022)
Ministerial exception Statutory religious exemptions
Freedom of speech (portal )
Unprotected speech
Incitement and sedition
Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
Masses Publishing Co. v. Patten (S.D.N.Y. 1917)
Schenck v. United States (1919)
Debs v. United States (1919)
Abrams v. United States (1919)
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
Whitney v. California (1927)
Fiske v. Kansas (1927)
Dennis v. United States (1951)
Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Bd. (1955; 1961)
Yates v. United States (1957, clear and present danger )
Bond v. Floyd (1966)
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969, imminent lawless action )
Hess v. Indiana (1973)
United States v. Williams (2008)
Libel and false speech
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)
United States v. Alvarez (2012)
Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus (2014)
Fighting words and the heckler's veto
Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
Terminiello v. City of Chicago (1949)
Feiner v. New York (1951)
Gregory v. City of Chicago (1969)
Cohen v. California (1971)
Nat'l Socialist Party v. Village of Skokie (1977)
R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)
Snyder v. Phelps (2011)
Threats
Watts v. United States (1969)
NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co. (1982)
Virginia v. Black (2003)
Elonis v. United States (2015)
Obscenity
Rosen v. United States (1896)
United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (S.D.N.Y. 1933)
Roth v. United States (1957)
One, Inc. v. Olesen (1958)
Smith v. California (1959)
Marcus v. Search Warrant (1961)
MANual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day (1962)
Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)
Quantity of Books v. Kansas (1964)
Ginzburg v. United States (1966)
Memoirs v. Massachusetts (1966)
Redrup v. New York (1967)
Ginsberg v. New York (1968)
Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
United States v. Thirty-seven Photographs (1971)
Kois v. Wisconsin (1972)
Miller v. California (1973)
Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton (1973)
United States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of Film (1973)
Jenkins v. Georgia (1974)
Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville (1975)
Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. (1976)
American Booksellers Ass'n, Inc. v. Hudnut (7th Cir. 1985)
People v. Freeman (Cal. 1988)
United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. (1994)
Reno v. ACLU (1997)
United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. (2000)
Ashcroft v. ACLU (2002)
Nitke v. Gonzales (S.D.N.Y., 2005)
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Strickland (6th Cir. 2009)
United States v. Kilbride (9th Cir. 2009)
United States v. Stevens (2010)
Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n (2011)
FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. (2012)
Speech integral to criminal conduct
New York v. Ferber (1982)
Osborne v. Ohio (1990)
Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)
Strict scrutiny
Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (2010)
Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar (2015)
Vagueness
Smith v. Goguen (1974)
Board of Airport Commissioners v. Jews for Jesus (1987)
Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky (2018)
Symbolic speech versus conductContent-based restrictions Content-neutral restrictions
Schneider v. New Jersey (1939)
Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. (1986)
City of Ladue v. Gilleo (1994)
Packingham v. North Carolina (2017)
In thepublic forum Designated public forum
Widmar v. Vincent (1981)
Rosenberger v. Univ. of Virginia (1995)
Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski (2021)
Nonpublic forum
Compelled speech Compelled subsidy of others' speech
(1956)
Machinists v. Street (1961)
Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977)
(1984)
(1986)
Communications Workers of America v. Beck (1988)
Keller v. State Bar of California (1990)
Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Ass'n (1991)
(1997)
Board of Regents of the Univ. of Wisconsin System v. Southworth (2000)
(2001)
Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Ass'n (2005)
Davenport v. Washington Education Ass'n (2007)
Locke v. Karass (2008)
(2009)
Knox v. SEIU, Local 1000 (2012)
Harris v. Quinn (2014)
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (2016)
Janus v. AFSCME (2018)
Government grants and subsidies
Regan v. Taxation with Representation of Washington (1983)
Rust v. Sullivan (1991)
National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley (1998)
Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez (2001)
USAID v. Alliance for Open Society I (2013)
USAID v. Alliance for Open Society II (2020)
Government as speaker Loyalty oaths
American Communications Ass'n v. Douds (1950)
Garner v. Board of Public Works (1951)
Speiser v. Randall (1958)
Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967)
Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb (1974)
School speech Public employees
Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)
Elrod v. Burns (1976)
Mt. Healthy City School Dist. Board of Ed. v. Doyle (1977)
Givhan v. Western Line Consol. School Dist. (1979)
(1979)
Connick v. Myers (1983)
Rankin v. McPherson (1987)
Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois (1990)
Waters v. Churchill (1994)
Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006)
Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011)
Lane v. Franks (2014)
Heffernan v. City of Paterson (2016)
Hatch Act and similar lawsLicensing and restriction of speech
Mutual Film Corp. v. Industrial Comm'n of Ohio (1915)
Cox v. New Hampshire (1941)
Murdock v. Pennsylvania (1943)
Kunz v. New York (1951)
Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson (1952)
Kingsley Books, Inc. v. Brown (1957)
NAACP v. Button (1963)
(1964)
Freedman v. Maryland (1965)
(1967)
Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. (1982)
(1988)
Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement (1992)
Commercial speech
Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942)
Rowan v. U.S. Post Office Dept. (1970)
Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Comm'n on Human Relations (1973)
Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar (1975)
Bigelow v. Virginia (1975)
Virginia State Pharmacy Bd. v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976)
Linmark Assoc., Inc. v. Township of Willingboro (1977)
Carey v. Population Services International (1977)
Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977)
In re Primus (1978)
(1978)
(1979)
Consol. Edison Co. v. Public Serv. Comm'n (1980)
Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission (1980)
(1982)
Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. (1982)
Zauderer v. Off. of Disciplinary Counsel of Supreme Court of Ohio (1985)
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Comm'n of California (1986)
Posadas de Puerto Rico Assoc. v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico (1986)
San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. U.S. Olympic Committee (1987)
(1988)
(1988)
(1989)
(1990)
(1993)
(1993)
(1993)
(1994)
Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. (1995)
(1995)
Florida Bar v. Went For It, Inc. (1995)
44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996)
(1997)
(1999)
(2001)
Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly (2001)
(2002)
Nike, Inc. v. Kasky (2003)
Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Ass'n (2005)
(2010)
Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc. (2011)
Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman (2017)
Matal v. Tam (2017)
Iancu v. Brunetti (2019)
Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants (2020)
Campaign finance and political speech
Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978)
(1981)
Citizens Against Rent Control v. City of Berkeley (1981)
(1982)
FEC v. National Conservative PAC (1985)
FEC v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life (1986)
Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990)
Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. FEC (1996)
Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC (2000)
FEC v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee (2001)
Republican Party of Minnesota v. White (2002)
(2003)
McConnell v. FEC (2003)
Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. FEC (2006)
Randall v. Sorrell (2006)
FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007)
Davis v. FEC (2008)
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett (2011)
American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock (2012)
McCutcheon v. FEC (2014)
Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar (2015)
Thompson v. Hebdon (2019)
FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate (2022)
Anonymous speech State action
Marsh v. Alabama (1946)
Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner (1972)
Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck (2019)
Official retaliation
Freedom of the press
Prior restraints and censorship
Patterson v. Colorado (1907)
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Lovell v. City of Griffin (1938)
Tucker v. Texas (1946)
Hannegan v. Esquire, Inc. (1946)
Lamont v. Postmaster General (1965)
New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)
Nebraska Press Ass'n v. Stuart (1976)
Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia (1978)
Tory v. Cochran (2005)
Privacy
Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967)
Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn (1975)
Florida Star v. B. J. F. (1989)
Taxation and privileges
Grosjean v. American Press Co. (1936)
Branzburg v. Hayes (1972)
Houchins v. KQED, Inc. (1978)
Minneapolis Star Tribune Co. v. Commissioner (1983)
(1987)
Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. (1991)
Defamation Broadcast media
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1969)
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC I (1994)
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC II (1997)
Bartnicki v. Vopper (2001)
Copyrighted materials
Freedom of assembly
Incorporation
United States v. Cruikshank (1876)
Presser v. Illinois (1886)
Protection from prosecution and state restrictions
De Jonge v. Oregon (1937)
(1945)
Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021)
Freedom of association
Organizations
Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath (1951)
Watkins v. United States (1957)
NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
NAACP v. Button (1963)
Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021)
Future Conduct
Baggett v. Bullitt (1964)
Solicitation Membership restriction
(1984)
Roberts v. United States Jaycees (1984)
Dallas v. Stanglin (1989)
Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston (1995)
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000)
Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (2010)
Primaries and elections
California Democratic Party v. Jones (2000)
New York State Board of Elections v. Lopez Torres (2008)
(2008)
Freedom to petition
United States v. Cruikshank (1876)
(1945)
Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc. (1961)
NAACP v. Button (1963)
Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)
United Mine Workers v. Pennington (1965)
Cox v. Louisiana (1965)
California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited (1972)
(1979)
McDonald v. Smith (1985)
Meyer v. Grant (1988)
Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation (1999)
(2002)
Doe v. Reed (2010)
Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011)