LOS ANGELES, CA - The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, Directors Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild, and Writers Guilds of America, East and West jointly responded today to an Appeals Court decision overturning a new FCC policy on decency standards.
In a statement issued today all five guilds said: "Actors, directors, writers and broadcast personnel are pleased that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals today rejected the FCC's effort to expand their authority and influence over creative content. The fines imposed have had a chilling effect on free expression over the airwaves. If allowed to stand, these fines would have subjected all programming to arbitrary claims of indecency without regard to context or type of programming. We are united in our opposition to this, or any other, FCC decision to overturn long-standing policy in this area, and replace it with arbitrary decision-making standards that tread on free speech."
In November, DGA, SAG and WGA East and WGA West joined a coalition of arts, filmmakers and free expression organizations in filing a friend-of-the-court amicus brief in support of Fox, NBC, and CBS. The amicus brief urged the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn an FCC ruling that applied new standards for censoring indecency and profanity to complaints received between 2002 and 2005.
