Powell defends the broadcast as routine news coverage
Lewis F. Powell Jr.U.S. Supreme Court justice, dissenting with Justices Brennan and Marshall
Powell argues that routine news use should be protected unless it is a cover for exploitation.
“When a film is used, as here, for a routine portion of a regular news program, I would hold that the First Amendment protects the station from a "right of publicity" or "appropriation" suit, absent a strong showing by the plaintiff that the news broadcast was a subterfuge or cover for private or commercial exploitation.”
Original text
Where this statement fits
Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard: performer challenges broadcast of his entire act; broadcaster claims press protection
The Supreme Court split over a station's broadcast of Hugo Zacchini's entire act without consent. The majority rejected constitutional immunity while leaving state-law protection open; Powell's dissent argued for First Amendment protection of routine news use.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
The Supreme Court considers a news broadcast of an entire human-cannonball act. The opinions include the broadcast script and the competing constitutional arguments.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Powell warns about discouraging news coverage and emphasizes the use of footage in a regular news program.
After the quotation
He distinguishes appropriation suits from other privacy torts and would protect bona fide news use.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Powell defends the news broadcast challenged in the case.
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More from this case
Read the full caseWhite rejects constitutional immunity for the entire-act broadcast
“Wherever the line in particular situations is to be drawn between media reports that are protected and those that are not, we are quite sure that the First and Fourteenth Amendments do not immunize the media when they broadcast a performer's entire act without his consent.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Powell defends the broadcast as routine news coverage". First published: 2026-11-02. Last updated: 2026-11-02. https://disputeindex.com/events/7676-powell-argues-that-routine-news-use-should-be