Case in point* - siding with a giant corporation which is suing a documentary filmmaker for the rights to all of his footage - all 600 hours - including private, confidential interviews with employees.
Basically, this judge is ruling that a documentary filmmaker is lower than a journalist, so he is not protected like one.
The ramifications from this case alone are huge. The director was making a documentary about Chevron and all its evils and now Chevron will have all the ammo in the world to fire however many employees spoke against it or file lawsuits against anyone who they think defamed them. Worst of all, it will get them a way to fight the lawsuit against them that the whole documentary covered.
In the future, the ramifications are even worse. With this case as precedent, all documentary filmmakers will be subject to similar lawsuits from similar corporations they try to expose. It defeats the whole point of this type of documentary filmmaking.
There is hope for an appeal, but this all looks very troublesome to me.
Cast NOT in point - whoever Obama picks to fill Justice Stevens' Supreme Court Justice seat. At least, I hope not!
*Thanks to Brendon at "My Five Year Plan" for pointing this out!
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