Handbook

This course is concerned with the individual’s ability to control use of their personal information (‘privacy’) and indicia of personal identity (‘publicity’) in a media context. Privacy and publicity are emerging areas of law whose significance has increased with the transition from a media market dominated by newspapers, magazines, radio and television to a decentralised online environment that includes social media, blogs, podcasts, streaming apps, and other forms of digitised communications technologies. Despite the globalised contemporary media environment in which they operate, laws that address privacy and publicity in a media context vary significantly between jurisdictions.

Privacy laws are concerned with the protection and use of individuals’ personal information by governments, corporations and other individuals. In Europe and the UK, privacy laws have been shaped by the European Convention on Human Rights, and US privacy jurisprudence has been influenced by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Publicity rights (also known as ‘personality rights’) allow individuals to exercise control over the use of their name, image, likeness and other indicia of identity, and these laws also differ considerably between jurisdictions. This course considers the manner in which, and the extent to which, Australian law regulates privacy and publicity rights. It also surveys the regulation of privacy and publicity in international jurisdictions (including in the EU and the United States) and the significance of that international regulation for Australian publishers operating in the online media environment. It examines the extent to which overseas jurisprudence has impacted on Australian law, as well as how international influences could affect future law reform in response to the ever-evolving contemporary media environment.