Using the Media Law Reporter

The Media Law Reporter is located on the counter at the back of the library. The first fifteen volumes of the Media Law Reporter are covered in a Cumulative Indexes volume (shelved between volumes fifteen and sixteen of the reporter.) Each volume also contains an index for all the cases in that particular volume.Be certain to consult the Table of Contents to locate the Table of Cases, Index Digest and the Topical Index.

I. Searching by Case Name

If you know the name of a case you wish to search, look through the Table of Cases in the Cumulative Indexes. If your case isn't in the Cumulative Indexes, then check in each of the subsequent volumes starting with number 16.
The Table of Cases is organized alphabetically by case name. When you find the name of the case you need, it will refer you to the volume and page number of the Media Law Reporter in which you may locate the case. For example, if you want to find New York Times v. Sullivan, do the following:

A. Go to the Cumulative Indexes volume and turn to the Table of Cases.
B. Turn to the entry for New York Times. There are many other names listed as subentries below New York Times. These are the names of the parties from different cases which the Times has litigated.
C. Look through the list of subentries until you find "v. Sullivan." At the end of the "v. Sullivan" entry you will find the following abbreviation:

The "Med.L.Rptr." is simply a truncated form of "Media Law Reporter." The "1" at the beginning of the entry refers you to volume one. The "1527" at the end refers you to page 1527. Thus, "1 Med.L.Rptr. 1527" tells you to go to Volume 1 of the Media Law Reporter and turn to page 1527.

II. Searching by Subject

1) Finding more cases on the same subject as a case you already have:

For example, the first headnote in Times v. Sullivan says Defamation--Defamatory Content (§11.05). This tells you that New York Times v. Sullivan addresses defamatory content, and that the Media Law Reporter Classification Guide number for defamatory content is 11.05. You can turn to the Index Digest section in any volume of Media Law Reporter, look under 11.05, and get more cases about defamatory content. The Index Digest entries consist of a very brief summary and a reference to which volume of the Media Law Reporter contains your case. The meaning of a Classification Guide number never changes, so you can find similar cases from many years apart using the Index Digest. There is an Index Digest in the Cumulative Indexes volume that gathers cases from the first fifteen volumes by subject.

2) If you don't yet have a particular case, and you want to research by subject matter:

LIBEL
Actual Damages > 11.602
Actual Malice > 11.301
Choice of Law > 11.15
Damages >11.601 et seq. [et seq. is the Latin abbreviation for "and following"]

The number following each of these entries is the Classification Guide number that you will use to search for cases about the subject in the Index Digest.

III. Photocopying Cases