FOOD LION, INC. v. CAPITAL CITIES/ABC, INC.

Nos. 97-2492, 97-2564.

194 F.3d 505 (1999)

FOOD LION, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CAPITAL CITIES/ABC, INC.; Lynne Litt, a/k/a Lynne Neufes; ABC Holding Company; American Broadcasting Companies, Incorporated; Richard N. Kaplan; Ira Rosen; Susan Barnett, Defendants-Appellants, Advance Publications, Incorporated; Associated Press; The Association of American Publishers; CBS Broadcasting, Incorporated; Cable News Network, Incorporated; Gannett Company, Incorporated; The Hearst Corporation; King World Productions, Incorporated; McClatchy Newspapers, Incorporated; The National Association of Broadcasters; National Broadcasting Company, Incorporated; The Newspaper Association of America; National Public Radio, Incorporated; The New York Times Company; The Radio-Television News Directors Association; The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Investigative Reporters; Editors, Incorporated; National Grocers Association; International Mass Retail Association; William E. Lee; John Demott; Robert Ellis Smith; Mike Rosen; Accuracy In Media; Media Research Center; Atlantic Legal Foundation; Southeastern Legal Foundation, Amici Curiae. Food Lion, Incorporated, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.; Lynne Litt, a/k/a Lynne Neufes; ABC Holding Company; American Broadcasting Companies, Incorporated; Richard N. Kaplan; Ira Rosen; Susan Barnett, Defendants-Appellees, Advance Publications, Incorporated; Associated Press; The Association of American Publishers; CBS Broadcasting, Incorporated; Cable News Network, Incorporated; Gannett Company, Incorporated; The Hearst Corporation; King World Productions, Incorporated; McClatchy Newspapers, Incorporated; The National Association of Broadcasters; National Broadcasting Company, Incorporated; The Newspaper Association of America; National Public Radio, Incorporated; The New York Times Company; The Radio-Television News Directors Association; The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; National Grocers Association; International Mass Retail Association; William E. Lee; John Demott; Robert Ellis Smith; Mike Rosen; Accuracy in Media; Media Research Center; Atlantic Legal Foundation; Southeastern Legal Foundation, Amici Curiae.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided: October 20, 1999.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

ARGUED: Bruce J. Ennis, Jr., Jenner & Block, Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Richard L. Wyatt, Jr., Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Paul M. Smith, Mark D. Schneider, Deanne E. Maynard, Michelle B. Goodman, Christopher A. Bracey, Jenner & Block, Washington, D.C.; William H. Jeffress, Jr., Randall J. Turk, Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin, Washington, D.C.; Alan N. Braverman, Nathan Siegel, ABC, Incorporated, New York, New York; Kathleen M. Sullivan, Stanford Law School, Stanford, California; Hugh Stevens, Everett, Gaskins, Hancock & Stevens, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellants. Michael J. Mueller, Thomas P. McLish, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P., Washington, D.C.; W. Andrew Copenhaver, Timothy G. Barber, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, P.L.L.C., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellee. Floyd Abrams, Gail Johnston, Cahill, Gordon & Reindel, P.C., New York, New York, for Amici Curiae Advance Publications, et al. David B. Smallman, Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, New York, New York, for Amicus Curiae Investigative Reporters. Thomas F. Wenning, Ronald A. Bloch, National Grocers Association, Reston, Virginia; Christopher A. Weals, Donald L. Rosenthal, Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae Grocers. Neal Goldfarb, Tighe, Patton, Tabackman & Babbin, L.L.C., Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae Lee, et al. Martin S. Kaufman, Edwin L. Lewis, Douglas Foster, Atlantic Legal Foundation, Inc., New York, New York, for Amicus Curiae Foundation. Valle Simms Dutcher, Southeastern Legal Foundation, Atlanta, Georgia; Charles J. Cooper, Michael W. Kirk, Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal, P.L.L.C., Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae Southeastern Legal.

Before NIEMEYER, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.


Affirmed in part and reversed in part by published opinion. Judge NIEMEYER wrote a separate opinion, concurring in part and dissenting in part.

OPINION

MICHAEL, Circuit Judge:

Two ABC television reporters, after using false resumes to get jobs at Food Lion, Inc. supermarkets, secretly videotaped what appeared to be unwholesome food handling practices. Some of the video footage was used by ABC in a PrimeTime Live broadcast that was sharply...

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