Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.

Summary

The Court held that the First and Fourteenth Amendments did not require Ohio to immunize a television station that, without consent, broadcast an entertainer's entire paid performance. The broadcast threatened the economic value of the performer's act, while a damages remedy would not prevent reporting on the event or deprive the public of access to it. Justice Powell, joined by Justices Brennan and Marshall, would have affirmed because the broadcast was routine news reporting absent commercial subterfuge, and Justice Stevens would have remanded for clarification of the state court's holding.