The Children’s Television Act of 1990: How the FCC is Failing and What They Can Do About It

Taelor Thornton 

Associate Editor 

Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2024 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently hit Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group and nineteen other broadcast licensees with a combined $3.4 million fine for repeatedly airing children’s Hot Wheels commercials during a Hot Wheels-themed show created for children. The FCC was authorized to impose these fines through the Children’s Television Act  of 1990 which was amended in July of 2019 to provide broadcasters with greater programming requirements.  

Broadcasters, cable operators, and satellite providers are all supposed to comply with the Act. However, the oversight process requires only that such entitles report their compliance with the Act to the FCC annually. This presents issues with ensuring that compliance is regularly monitored and that violations are caught before the statute of limitations for fining non-compliant entities is reached.  

For example, the aforementioned combined 3.4 million dollar fine was imposed two years after the violation occurred. These delays clearly show that the FCC needs to implement a more effective oversight process in order to identify noncompliance earlier, before the statute of limitations runs.  

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Pfizer Gets a Dose of their Own Medicine from Moderna…Legally.

Juhi Desai

Associate Editor

Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2024

As if the world has not had enough of its fair share of COVID-19-related matters, news regarding the virus has topped headlines once again. On August 26, 2022, Moderna, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, publicly announced it was filing two patent-infringement lawsuits against its rival, Pfizer, Inc., and its development partner, BioNTech. Moderna claims Pfizer duplicated its vaccine technology that was later used to administer doses to help combat the COVID-19 virus. This suit comes nearly two years after the Food Drug Administration (FDA) permitted both pharmaceuticals to roll out the first vaccine against COVID-19.

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