MPAA Fights Illinois Ban On Criminal Writings

[JamesG]

MPAA Fights Illinois Ban On Criminal Writings
9 March 2009 2:35 AM, PDT

The Motion Picture Association of America is at the forefront of First Amendment groups opposing a proposed Illinois law that would bar elected officials convicted of violating their oath of office from receiving payment for "any media depiction or detailing of the crime for which the person was convicted."

The bill, which came in the wake of a report that former Illinois Governor Blagojevich had received a six-figure contract for a book, was denounced by the MPAA as a "chilling" abridgement of constitutionally protected speech. It could, it said, "interfere with the routine business contracting process between writers, producers, directors and individuals who happen to be criminal defendants by affecting the means of directly compensating those individuals for their knowledge to tell a story involving a criminal case."

And David Horowitz of the Media Coalition told Publishers Weekly that the bill "would potentially inhibit books, movies, magazines and all manner of media in trying to tell a story that has real news or public interest value."

-IMDB News