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The first legal arena most writers learn about is probably copyright, or intellectual property (IP). However, there are many other issues to be aware of, including defamation, immorality, the right to privacy, and publicity rights.

Is there a collective term for all the legal issues relating to media other than IP? One reason I'm asking is because it's easy to search for an attorney that specializes in IP, but finding an attorney who covers all the other issues I listed above is very difficult. Does one search for a defamation attorney, a separate publicity rights attorney, etc.?

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  • For what it is worth, an IP lawyer would usually also handle publicity rights, although not defamation, immorality, or other kinds of privacy rights.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 18:54

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"Media law" is a commonly used term for this, covering issues around intellectual property, free expression, defamation, privacy, data protection, advertising and promotion, regulatory issues, etc.

An overlapping term is "entertainment law". This is pretty similar, but the focus is on creative industries as opposed to journalism. It is all the kinds of law that end up being involved in the business of making movies, TV shows, and so on.

Attorneys and firms might use either or both words to describe what they do, depending on the clients they are targeting.

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  • "First Amendment law" would be another fairly common self-description that would cover many of these topics.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 18:55

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