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Subject Guides > Media Arts & Design

Mass Communication Law

The purpose of this guide, created for SMAD 370, is to help you research mass communication law cases and topics. If you have difficulty finding enough information on your topic, be sure to ask a reference librarian for help.

All online resources in this guide are also found in the Research Databases pages unless otherwise indicated. 

Dictionaries

A few legal dictionaries that may help you decipher and use legal jargon.

Black's Law Dictionary  (KF156 .B53)

The best general legal dictionary in publication. Current editions are in Carrier Reference and East Campus Library Reference. Older editions are available to check out and found in Carrier stacks.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law

Good, online dictionary for non-lawyers.  Part of FindLaw (see Internet Resources, below).  

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Encyclopedias

When a simple definition is not enough.  Excellent sources for explanations of laws and cases, biographies and history. Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law (Carrier REF KF387 .G27 2003) An excellent resource for non-attorneys with short articles on common legal topics. Corpus Juris Secundum (Carrier REF KF154 C65) Comprehensive entries, alphabetically arranged and extensively footnoted, relate points of law pertaining to each subject. Cited as CJS.     West’s Encyclopedia of American Law (Carrier REF KF154 .W47 1998 and online) Excellent legal resource for non-attorneys.

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LEO Library Catalog

Use LEO to find books, encyclopedias, videos, government documents, etc. in the JMU Libraries’ collections. Some suggested subject headings include:

Finding Cases

If you'd like to identify cases on a given topic, there are a number of tools (both print and electronic) for finding cases.

LexisNexis Legal Research   [help with connectors like w/s; help with wildcards like !]

Includes full text state and federal court opinions. Before searching, be sure to select Federal & State Cases, in the left-hand menu.  

Media Law Reporter (Carrier KF2750 A513)

Provides full-text, indexed coverage of all U.S. Supreme Court decisions and significant federal and state court and administrative agency decisions in the field of media law. A topical index can be found at the front of each volume. The current editions are in Carrier Reference. Older volumes back to 1977 are in Carrier stacks.

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Explaining Your Case:  Law Review and News Articles

Once you find a case, you may need help in summarizing the legal points being addressed in the decision. Often a law review article will dedicate itself to explaining a single case. Sometimes you will find news stories on more prominent cases.

LexisNexis Legal Research [help with connectors like w/s; help with wildcards like !]

Includes full text law review and law news articles. This is the default Legal Research search. If you aren't already there, select Law Reviews in the left-hand menu.

**Important Note about Printing: Some law review articles can exceed 200 pages in length!

The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Courts (Carrier REF KF251 .G37 2004)

In-depth advice on writing style for a legal brief.

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Internet Resources

Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet!  Rely on good lists of sources to help identify good sites!

FindLaw for Legal Professionals

Reputable source for finding legal resources freely available on the Internet.  

Media Arts & Design Subject Guide

Find this handout, news, research databases and more.

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