Protects book publishers under the shield law: journalist's right to withhold the identity of confidential sources or notes or elements of professional work

3 Co-sponsors

• Ruben Diaz
• Liz Krueger
• John L. Sampson

Title of bill

An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to protecting book publishers under the shield law

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill would include the protection of books and book publishers under the Shield Law by extending the definition of a professional journalist to include book authors and including book publishers as protected agents.

Summary of specific provisions

Section One paragraph 6 of subdivision (a) of section 79-h of the civil rights laws, as amended by chapter 468 of the laws of 1981, is amended to include book publishers as a professional medium or agency as a work of professional journalists.

Section Two subdivision (a) of section 79-h of the Civil Rights Law is amended by adding a new paragraph (9) defining a book publisher.

Section Three subdivision (b) of section 79-h of the Civil Rights Law, as amended by chapter 33 of the laws of 1990, is amended to include book publishers as a professional medium under the exemption from contempt, including absolute protection from confidential news.

Section four subdivision (c) of section 79-h of the Civil Rights Law, as added by chapter 33 of the laws of 1990, is amended to establish book publishers of present and previous employment of professional journalists under the exemption from contempt, with qualified protection for non-confidential news.

Justification

New York State's Shield Law protects professional journalists from being held in contempt for failing to reveal the identity of confidential sources or to turnover notes or any element of their professional work product except under extraordinary circumstances. The Shield Law on its face protects all professional journalists in any medium. the definition of professional journalist carefully drafted to ensure that no one whose profession is not clearly of a legitimate journalistic nature is afforded the protection of the law. While New York State courts to date have properly held the Shield Law to cover a professional journalist working in any medium. including a professional author working on a manuscript for publication by a book publisher, the absence of the specific mention of "book" or Book publisher" is of real concern to professional journalists working in the medium of books, due to the negative court decisions in other states where the failure of those state statutes to specifically mention book and book publisher was cited to hold that book authors and publishing companies were not included. This amendment is intended to ensure that the legislative intent of the existing law is respected. by not leaving any doubt that book authors and publishing companies are of course covered by the definition of professional journalist.

This bill does not extend the range of the Shield Law to any new categories of people; rather. it clarifies what is already there by specifically citing books and book publishing as a protected medium to which the coverage of the Shield Law extends.

Prior legislative history

A.3480 of 2007-2008 A.9974 and S.1921 of 2006 A.5836 and S.1921 of 2005 (became inactive) A.4860 and S.847 of 2003-2004 A.569 and S.708 of 2001-2002 A.664 and S.779 of 1999-2000 A.1588 and S.434 of 1997-1998

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.