The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York ruled today that the Federal Communications Commission’s indecency policy regarding “fleeting expletives” is unconstitutionally vague. That term refers to the spontaneous use of the “seven deadly words” in live televised events. You know, like the MTV Awards. The ruling also covers “wardrobe failures," no pun intended. We all saw that, too.
There is a very interesting interview with Newton Minow, former chair of the FCC under President John F. Kennedy, on the LibraryLaw blog. Mr. Minow joined an amicus brief on behalf of the broadcasters against the FCC.
I thought it might be a good time to watch the 2008 documentary Obscene: a portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press. It chronicles the life and work of the publisher of the first American edition of Lady Chatterly’s Lover, Tropic of Cancer, The Autobiography of Malcolm X and other titles that have been, and still are, banned in many places. Grove Press also published works by Samuel Beckett, Kenzaburo Oe, Tom Stoppard, Che Guevara and Harold Pinter, as well as the literary journal The Evergreen Review, apparently a favorite whipping boy of then Rep. Gerald Ford. (He really seemed to enjoy showing the press those pictures of naked bodies. Makes you wonder!)
Rosset continually defended works of literature in the courts with cases that have had lasting impacts on what is published in America and what Americans have the right to read. But he also comes across as, if not a bit of a "dirty old man" in places, at least a little kinkier than the times found comfortable. It's no wonder that he infuriated people (like a judge in Philadelphia) and enthralled others (like John Waters).
All in all, an interesting but not essential documentary.
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