Chapter 14: Mass Media Law
Chapter 14: Mass Media Law
Multiple Choice Single Select
1) What type of law protects ownership rights to intellectual property?
a) First Amendment
b) public domain
c) copyright law
d) libel law
2) Which protects the ownership rights of creative works such as books, articles, and lyrics?
a) a trademark
b) a patent
c) a copyright
d) free expression rights
3) Which term is used to define creative works?
a) creativity
b) intellectual property
c) property of the mind
d) mindworks
4) When a copyright holder grants rights to another party to use the holder’s intellectual
property, it’s legally considered to be
a) a transfer of rights.
b) permission.
c) first-use rights.
d) a consensual grant.
Answer: b
5) A person can transfer ownership interests in intellectual property rights, which is called
a) permission.
b) an infringement waiver.
c) an assignment.
d) a consensual agreement.
Answer: c
6) Which term is used to describe the theft of copyright-protected material?
a) download license
b) piracy
c) assignment
d) intellectual objective
7) What company went out of business after losing a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled
that promoting illegal copying of intellectual property, in this case music, is an infringement
on copyright?
a) Knap-Star
b) Grokster
c) Betamax
d) Music Downloader
8) What is the Google Books Library Project?
a) It catalogues every book that’s ever been written.
b) It indexes history’s most notable books.
c) It digitizes 15 million English-language books for online access.
d) It indexes all the books, essays, and articles that influenced the U.S. Constitution.
Answer: c
9) The First Amendment protects all of the following EXCEPT the
a) right to bear arms.
b) freedom of the press.
c) freedom of religion.
d) right to assemble peaceably.
10) The free expression provision of the U.S. Constitution is contained in the ________
Amendment.
a) Fourth
b) Third
c) Second
d) First
11) What is the implied function of the media that is contained in the First Amendment?
a) to operate without government subsidies
b) to report on the American way of life
c) to be a watchdog of government
d) to offer advice and consent to government
12) Who was the white racist involved in a 1950s U.S. Supreme Court case that provided
explicit requirements to justify limiting free expression?
a) Charles Schenck
b) Elizabeth Baer
c) Clarence Brandenburg
d) Benjamin Gitlow
13) The Incitement Standard originated in an Ohio case involving
a) racist Clarence Brandenburg’s comments at a KKK rally.
b) the publication of a secret national policy study called the Pentagon Papers.
c) a civil advertisement placed in the New York Times.
d) anti-war pamphlets distributed by socialists.
14) Which of the following is NOT a test of the Incitement Standard?
a) The statement advocates a lawless action.
b) The statement aims at producing lawless action.
c) The statement must be directed at harming a specific figure, group, or object.
d) Lawless action must be imminent.
15) How did the government justify stopping the Pentagon Papers?
a) The Pentagon Papers dug into the private life of President Kennedy.
b) The Pentagon Papers could hurt national security.
c) The Pentagon Papers were stolen by a Soviet agent.
d) The Pentagon Papers were the work of a traitor.
16) Yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater is a test that came from the pen of
a) Charles Schenck.
b) Charles Evans Hughes.
c) Oliver Wendell Holmes.
d) Daniel Ellsberg.
17) Government agents opposed Ulysses being distributed in the United States because
a) copyright royalties were delinquent.
b) they thought James Joyce was a communist.
c) the stream of consciousness style of writing was too hard to follow.
d) they disapproved of four-letter words and explicit sex portrayed in the book.
18) What was the major distinction between the Ulysses and Lady Chatterley’s Lover cases?
a) The court upheld sexual references in Ulysses as having literary merit but not in
Chatterley.
b) One ruling was against the customs service, the other against the postmaster general.
c) Chatterley had literary merit and the explicit love scenes were essential to the heart of the
story.
d) One was in Gaelic, the other in English.
19) The New York Times v. Sullivan case clarified the concept of reckless disregard of the truth
in terms of
a) advertising.
b) newspaper editorials.
c) movies.
d) television.
20) The term commercial speech is the legal term that includes
a) speeches given on public property.
b) speeches given on private property.
c) advertising.
d) content in any print publication offered for sale.
21) Offensive expressions, especially those aimed at individuals or groups because of their race,
ethnic characteristics, sexual orientation, or minority status, are known as
a) libel.
b) emotive speech.
c) slander.
d) hate speech.
22) The political correctness movement suffered a setback in what hate speech case?
a) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
b) Roe v. Wade
c) R.A.V. v. St. Paul
d) Schenck v. U.S.
23) Although licensing of the mass media seems contrary to the First Amendment, courts have
permitted licensing of broadcasters for all of the following reasons EXCEPT
a) the airwaves that broadcasters use belong to the public, not any private owner.
b) broadcasting is so expensive it was necessary to protect the station operators’
investments.
c) the radio industry asked the government to step in and bring order to the chaos in 1927.
d) scarcity of frequencies requires limits on who and how many people transmit signals.
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24) A written defamation is called
a) libel.
b) slander.
c) hate speech.
d) detraction.
25) The largest jury award for libel up to this point was against
a) Ladies’ Home Journal.
b) the New York Times.
c) Time.
d) the Wall Street Journal.
26) Which of the following would be most hard-pressed to win a libel suit?
a) a public school teacher
b) a shopkeeper
c) a mayor
d) a janitor
27) What was the legal significance of the Sullivan case?
a) Free debate is more important than factual errors that hurt public officials.
b) Public officials deserve protection from libel.
c) Exorbitant libel damages are acceptable.
d) Advertorials are exempt from libel suits.
28) In the Sullivan decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
a) to be found guilty of libel, one must display reckless disregard of the truth.
b) public officials need shielding.
c) the advertorial deserved constitutional protection.
d) the New York Times had recklessly disregarded the truth.
29) Who of the following would NOT have to prove reckless disregard for the truth in a libel
lawsuit?
a) government officials
b) political candidates
c) business executives
d) publicity hounds
30) Sexually explicit depictions that are protected from government bans are known as
a) legislative privilege.
b) intellectual property.
c) indecency.
d) pornography.
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31) Which term encompasses a range of words and depictions deemed to be improper on public
airwaves?
a) rumors
b) pornography
c) indecency
d) smut
32) What was the government’s failed attempt to limit content available on the Internet?
a) the Indecency Standard
b) the Comstock Law
c) the Freedom of Information Act
d) the Communications Decency Act
33) What flaw did the U.S. Supreme Court find in the 1996 Communications Decency Act?
a) It is impossible to deny questionable material to children without restricting freedom of
speech for adults.
b) The law failed to win joint support of both Republicans and Democrats.
c) It was unbalanced because it didn’t apply the same standards to printed media.
d) Cable channels were not included.
34) According to the Supreme Court, _______are responsible for protecting children from
violent video games.
a) state laws
b) FCC regulations
c) parents
d) media oversights
35) Are T-shirts that display profanity legal?
a) Yes, they are considered emotive speech.
b) Yes, they are considered expressive speech.
b) Yes, they are considered obscene speech.
d) No, they are considered hate speech.
36) Flag burning is protected as a form of _______ speech.
a) expressive
b) emotive
c) open
d) entertainment
37) Which of the following best explains the initial purpose for the Federal Radio Commission?
a) A person turning on the radio could experience multiple stations competing for the same
frequency.
b) Some radio stations were playing large amounts of obscene material.
c) Advertisers were taking over the programming.
d) There were too many airwaves available for people operating stations.
38) Which of the following was the first purpose for the Federal Trade Commission?
a) protecting advertisers from dishonest competition
b) protecting consumers from unscrupulous advertisers
c) protecting companies from dishonest consumers
d) protecting consumers from dishonest politicians
39) Which is a situation that can be regulated by the Federal Trade Commission?
a) A toothpaste advertisement promises its use attracts members of the opposite sex.
b) A political candidate promises to lower taxes.
c) A letter to the editor discusses the problems with the current school board.
d) A news story accidentally lists the wrong name as a defendant in a civil suit.
40) In addition to seeing material as sexually arousing and devoid of societal value, what else
needs to be demonstrated in order for the material to be seen as obscene and not
pornographic?
a) It violates a state law on offensiveness.
b) It breaks a federal law on obscenity.
c) It is marketed toward children.
d) It consists of live action.
41) As a result of New York Times v. Sullivan, what has to be proven in order to successfully sue
a news reporter for libel?
a) The publisher must know the information was false at the time of publication.
b) The reporter must know the plaintiff prior to writing the story.
c) The agency must refuse to print a retraction.
d) The plaintiff must be running for public office.