Law Section

The Law Section’s focus is on communication law, policy, and governance. Section members are interested in a broad range of key areas of communication law, policy and governance, including:

  • access to information / freedom of information,
  • journalism law and freedom of the press,
  • the history of the right to communicate,
  • privacy and surveillance,
  • intellectual property,
  • databases and big data,
  • broadcasting and telecommunications, including network neutrality,
  • free speech, hate speech, and censorship,
  • libel and slander,
  • open government and transparency, and
  • computer and internet law.

Section members are also interested in areas of international law, policy, and governance in the field of communication, including:

  • internet governance,
  • human rights and international communication law, including the right to communicate,
  • telecommunications, and
  • international intellectual property.

One of the strengths of the section is its mix of legal and communication scholars, drawing on a range of approaches to the field.  The section is interested in multiple approaches to the study of communication law, policy and governance, including critical, legal, theoretical, interdisciplinary, comparative, and historical approaches.  Our section works to collaborate with other sections of the IAMCR, including the Ethics Working Group, the Communication Policy & Technology Section, and the Emerging Scholars Network, among others.

Our section aims to foster a network of scholars studying communication law, policy and governance that is working to protect the fundamental rights of citizens and journalists in democratic and transitional states. The section welcomes proposals by its members for public statements.  See IAMCR's Clearinghouse for Public Statements. 

Co-Chair: Rodrigo Cetina Presuel (Harvard University) [Contact]
Co-Chair:  Lucas Logan (University of Houston – Downtown) [Contact]
Vice chair: Macdonald Amaran (Bournemouth University, United Kingdom) [Contact]
Vice chair: Fernando Gutiérrez-Atala (Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción) [Contact]

See the list of all current members of the Law Section. 

To join the Law Section, login to your account and select My Sections and Working Groups from the menu. A number of IAMCR sections and working groups send notices and other information exclusively to their members. IAMCR members can join up to three sections or working groups.

 

 

Law Section Pre-conference Book

The International Forum for Communication Law and Ethics (Foro Internacional de Ética y Derecho de la Información - FIEDI) has published an ebook, Cross-border Journalism and Human Dignity, with the proceedings of its 2017 conference, organised in Cartagena, Colombia as an IAMCR pre-conference in cooperation with IAMCR's Law Section.

IAMCR 2014: Law Section - CfP - Deadline 10 February

International Association for Media and Communication Research
Hyderabad, India, July 15-19, 2014

Region as Frame:  Politics, Presence, Practice

Law Section Call for Papers

The conference theme provides an excellent lens for thinking through contemporary transformations in law-state-society relations. Theme-related questions of particular interest from a legal and policy perspective include:

Braga 2010 - Media Law Section Call for Papers

The Media Law Section invites submissions for its open sessions at the IAMCR Conference that will be held in Braga (Portugal) 2010 from July 18-22. The overall conference theme is "Communication and Citizenship. Rethinking Crisis and Change".

The Media Law Section invites papers within the general theme to promote conduct and dissemination of research into all facets of communication research and journalism education.

Mexico 2009 - Law Section Call for Papers

The Law Section invites submissions for its open sessions at the IAMCR Conference (July 21-24 2009) in Mexico City, Mexico, under the general theme of the Conference "Human Rights and Communication." The Conference addresses relationships between media and contemporary understanding of the freedom of expression and right to information. It will explore the pivotal roles of the media with regard to today's global injustices to the human rights.

Stockholm 2008 - Law Section Call for Papers

EXTENDED DEADLINE: 15 FEBRUARY 2008!

The Law Section invites submissions for its open sessions at the IAMCR
Congress (July 20-25, 2008) in Stockholm, Sweden, under the general
theme of the congress "Media and Global Divides". The congress
addresses relationships between media and contemporary global divides,
be they historical or emergent phenomena. It will explore the pivotal
yet under-researched roles of the media with regard to today's global
inequalities.

Paris 2007 - Law Section Call for Papers

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION RESEARCH (IAMCR)
50th Anniversary Conference, Paris, July 23-25, 2007

Theme: ‘Media, Information, and Communication: Celebrating 50 years of Theories and Practice’

On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the IAMCR, the Law Section will devote its programme to the following subjects:

  1. 50 years of IAMCR – 50 years of the Law Section
  2. Look back: International Efforts in Promoting Media Freedoms Worldwide
  3. Look forward: Internet governance and WSIS: Case studies
  4. Professional standards for media and public trust 
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