STUDENT OUTLINE ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW CHAPTER 4 Libel Establishing a Case I THE LIBEL LANDSCAPE A TIME AND MONEY the defendant B DAMAGES SOUGHT AND WON extraordinary sums C LIBEL LAW COMPLICATIONS i The Libel Puzzle i The protracted nature of many libel cases plus the high cost of defending against such suits can result in a heavy financial burden for i Plaintiffs sometimes claim exaggerated damage and seek 1 Libel law is especially complicated and often confusing to the point that sometimes jurors and even judges don t understand the law and make erroneous decisions i Some plaintiffs file libel lawsuits to try to silence their critics in the D THE LAWSUIT AS A WEAPON press and the public i SLAPP suits 1 Example Facebook page about chevy complaints 2 Lawsuits were initiated in all cases to block the defendants from making further critical comments about the plaintiff It is not important for the plaintiff to win these cases most don t 1 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE expect to But by forcing their critics to mount a costly defense they hope to silence these critics ii Anti SLAPP statutes 1 Passed laws that permit a court to expedite a judicial review of the plaintiff s allegations 2 Permit the defendant to ask a judge to dismiss the complaint 3 All require judge to take two step examination of the immediately complaint II LAW OF DEFAMATION A LIBEL written defamation B SLANDER oral defamation III ELEMENTS OF LIBEL A CHARACTER VS REPUTATION THE LAW PROTECTS REPUTATION i Character what you are ii Reputation what people think you are III Libel proof there must be proof that the individual s reputation was harmed a A significant minority of the community must believe that the plaintiff s reputation has been damaged B PLAINTIFF MUST PROOVE i The libel was published ii Words were of and concerning plaintiff iii Material is defamatory iv Material is false 2 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW v Defendant was at fault STUDENT OUTLINE C PUBLICATION i Definition one person in addition to the source of the libel and the person who is defamed sees or hears the defamatory material ii Republication of a libel can also be in a lawsuit iii Publishers and vendors vendors who distribute the finished printed product cannot be geld responsible for republishing the defamation UNLESS the plaintiff can show that these people or institutions knew the printed matter contained a defamation or should have had reason to know a Scienter guilty knowledge 1 Ex free newspaper placed in shop store owner not liable because he is a vendor not a publisher b Network affiliated television stations not responsible for defamatory content in the programming they transmit for the networks iv Libel on the Internet c Internet publishers same rules third party a Communications Decency Act CDA Protects internet providers for letting content flow through or distributing content they did not create D IDENTIFICATION i Identification can occur in several ways a A plaintiff may be explicitly names 3 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE b Defendant can use a similar name that suggests the plaintiff s real name c A picture or drawing can be sufficient if the likeness is recognizable d If a reasonable reader rationally suspects that the protagonist of a fictional novel is in fact the plaintiff notwithstanding the author s and publisher s assurances that the work is fiction ii Group identification a Considerations 1 The size of the group 2 The circumstances iii Other considerations a Innuendos can be defamatory b The article as a whole must be considered c A defamatory opinion cannot be the basis for a libel suit E DEFAMATION i Types of defamatory words a Libel per se b Libel per quod ii Crime a Saying someone has done something illegal is libelous b Use of the word alleged iii Sexual references a Statements that a woman is unchaste is sleeping with a man to whom she is not married has been raped or is just promiscuous can be defamatory 4 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW iv Personal habits STUDENT OUTLINE a Material regarding an individual s personal habits needs to be carefully screened It s generally best to avoid 1 Raising questions about an individual s honesty integrity or 2 Comments about an individuals consumption of alcohol or financial responsibility drugs 3 False assertions that an individual has a contagious disease 4 Comments about an individuals personal religious faith patriotism or political activities a Not all humorous stories about someone are defamatory only those in which the subject of the story is made to appear uncommonly v Ridicule foolish b False obituaries vi Business reputation a Single mistake rule the community would not think less of a doctor or businessperson who made a single error the reasoning goes Hence the statement is not defamatory vii Criticism of a product a Trade libel Also known as disparagement of property focuses on the product itself b To win a trade libel suit the plaintiff must 1 Prove that the statements made about the products are false 2 Show specific monetary loss because of the false comments 5 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE Show that the false comments about the product were 3 motivated by ill will and bad feelings or actual malice F FALSITY i Proof must be direct and explicit ii Conflicting evidence if there is conflicting evidence the fact finder will decide who is telling the truth iii The truth of falsity of a story is based on what was said not what was iv Even is a story contains only truthful statements it still might be regarded meant as false 6 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE CHAPTER 5 Libel Proof of Fault I NEW YORK TIMES V SULLIVAN E CASE DETAILS III March 29 1960 Times ran ad places by coalition of civil rights leaders accusing public officials in the south of using violence to end a peaceful civil rights movement ad contained small factual errors IV Heed Their Rising Voices editorial advertisement V Plaintiff L B Sullivan VI Supreme Court decision reversed decision because Times did not know info was false VII Actual malice 1 Proof of knowledge of falsity 2 Proof of reckless disregard for the truth II PUBLIC PERSONS VERSUS PRIVATE PERSONS C THREE CATEGORIES OF PUBLIC FIGURES V Public officials VI All purpose public figures VII Limited purpose public figures G PUBLIC OFFICIALS I Who is a public official A Job description 1 Elected to public office 2 Appointed or hired for government jobs 7 ADV 3352 MASS MEDIA LAW STUDENT OUTLINE 3 Not everyone works for the
View Full Document
Unlocking...