Lesson 1Anonymous and leaked sources: verifying authenticity, chain-of-custody issues, legal protections and limitsCovers dealing with anonymous and leaked sources across media. Talks about checking authenticity, chain of custody, legal protections, source confidentiality, and limits where courts, regulators, or platforms may force disclosure or block publication.
Assessing credibility and corroborationChain-of-custody and document handlingSource protection laws and shield rulesWhen courts may compel source disclosureRisk of publishing forged or altered leaksLesson 2Image and privacy risks in video: filming in private vs public spaces, blurring, anonymization of third partiesLooks at privacy and image rights in video, comparing public and private spaces. Discusses consent, expectation of privacy, blurring and anonymization, minors, vulnerable persons, and handling crowd scenes or bystanders in sensitive situations.
Public spaces and reasonable expectationsFilming on private property and consentChildren and vulnerable individuals on cameraBlurring faces, plates, and identifiersSensitive locations and safety concernsLesson 3Personal data risks for written articles: health, criminal records, family details — assessing necessity and proportionalityLooks into when publishing health, criminal, or family details in articles is lawful and justified. Focuses on necessity, proportionality, public interest, minimization, and recording editorial decisions under privacy and data protection rules.
Special category data and legal basesCriminal records and rehabilitation concernsFamily and children’s privacy expectationsNecessity, proportionality, and data minimizationDocumenting public interest justificationsLesson 4Third-party rights: family members’ privacy, employer/employee confidentiality, trade secrets and non-public corporate documentsLooks at third-party rights affected by publication, including relatives, employers, and companies. Focuses on privacy, confidentiality, trade secrets, and non-public corporate records, plus ways for redaction, consent, and safe handling of materials.
Incidental versus central third-party dataEmployer and employee confidentiality dutiesTrade secrets and misappropriation risksHandling non-public corporate documentsRedaction, anonymization, and access limitsLesson 5User-generated content and comments: platform liability, moderation obligations, pre-publication screening vs reactive moderationLooks at legal exposure from user-generated content and comments on sites, apps, and channels. Covers platform liability shields, notice-and-takedown, moderation standards, pre-screening versus reactive review, and policy design to reduce systemic risk.
Intermediary liability and safe harbor rulesDefamation and hate speech in commentsNotice, takedown, and staydown systemsAutomated filters versus human moderationCommunity guidelines and enforcementLesson 6Multimedia and embedded content risks: social media screenshots, embedded tweets/posts, attribution and takedown considerationsChecks risks from embedding or reproducing third-party multimedia, like social media posts, screenshots, and widgets. Covers copyright, privacy, terms of service, attribution, and notice-and-takedown procedures across websites and apps.
Screenshots versus native embedsCopyright in posts, images, and videosPlatform terms and API restrictionsAttribution, credit lines, and captionsTakedown notices and repeat infringer rulesLesson 7Video-specific legal risks: copyright for TV extracts, music and clips, right to quote, fair use analogues and licensingDeals with video-specific legal risks, including use of TV clips, music, and third-party footage. Explains quotation rights, fair use or similar exceptions, licensing options, and how editing, overlays, and duration affect infringement and clearance.
Using TV extracts and news footageMusic, soundtracks, and performance rightsUser videos, stock footage, and B-rollQuotation, criticism, and fair use analoguesLicensing workflows and rights trackingLesson 8Identifying defamation risks in long-form written publications: allegations, sourcing, attribution and verifiabilityFocuses on defamation risks in long-form written pieces like features and investigations. Checks identifying allegations, separating fact from opinion, verifying sources, fair attribution, right of reply, and recording editorial checks and balances.
Defamatory meaning and reputational harmFact, opinion, and mixed statementsSourcing, corroboration, and verificationAttribution, quotations, and contextRight of reply and editorial recordsLesson 9Podcast-specific risks: use of recorded interviews, consent for off-camera remarks, defamatory spoken statements and republicationChecks podcast risks from recorded interviews, informal remarks, and edited episodes. Covers consent, off-mic expectations, defamation in spoken form, republication on other platforms, and practical clearance and fact-checking for audio content.
Recording laws and consent requirementsManaging off-record and off-mic remarksDefamation in conversational podcast formatsEditing, context loss, and implied meaningsSyndication, transcripts, and republicationLesson 10Cross-media amplification risks: repetition across formats increasing damage and multiplicative liabilityLooks at how repeating the same content across articles, video, and podcasts can increase harm and liability. Considers republication rules, limitation periods, jurisdictional spread, and ways to align corrections and takedowns across formats.
Single publication versus fresh publicationClips, trailers, and promotional snippetsGlobal reach and multi-jurisdiction exposureCoordinated corrections and updatesArchiving, delisting, and de-indexing
