Wayne Overbeck is Professor of Communications, Emeritus, at California State University, Fullerton. Professor Overbeck earned his Ph.D. at UCLA and his J.D. at Loyola Law School. He passed the California bar exam in 1975. In addition to practicing law in California and Washington, D.C., he is a longtime professor and prolific writer. With more than 35 years of teaching experience and expertise as a practicing attorney, he continues to be an authority in the field of media law. Dr. Overbeck has also written several other books and taught on other campuses.
Genelle Belmas is Associate Professor at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. In 2002 she received her Ph.D. in mass communications with an emphasis in media law from the University of Minnesota, where her dissertation examined then-emerging issues in the areas of libel, hate speech, and pornography law as applied to the Internet. She has taught media law for more than 10 years to thousands of students. Her research interests include flag display and desecration law, indecency regulation, intellectual property, scholastic journalism issues, and the connection between media ethics and law. Her research has appeared in such journals as COMMUNICATIONS LAW AND POLICY, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS LAW JOURNAL, and the SOUTH CAROLINA LAW REVIEW. She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Bar Association, where she participates in the communications law and intellectual property sections. In 2010, Dr. Belmas assumed primary authorship of MAJOR PRINCIPLES OF MEDIA LAW.
