Chapter 4 Libel Establishing a Case Defamation broadcast of any statement that Injures someone s reputation OR Lowers that person s esteem in the community or libel is a tort or a civil wrong It is the publication or It is unusual for a defamation to result in full blown lawsuits Regardless of the outcome libel suits filed against the mass media Plaintiff initiates the lawsuit to take a lot of time and money just to defend Repair any damage to reputation and Collect money damages to compensate for the harm to reputation Tort civil wrong Lawyers who represent the press usually 1 try to have the libel case SLAPP suits Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation The plaintiff is dismissed 2 offer to settle the case far more interested in blocking the defendant from publishing further harmful comments than winning damages Attempt to use the law to harass or punish defendants rather than Ex Being unhappy at the local Chevrolet dealer so you create a simply repair a damaged reputation Facebook page called Customers Against Galaxy Chevrolet and you invite people to join it Chevrolet can sue for libel saying that the page has harmed its reputation Libel law is essentially state law Law of Defamation Elements of Libel includes both libel written and slander spoken oral Published communication printed matter radio TV film internet Purely spoken or interpersonal Defamation a communication that damages the reputation of a To be actionable defamation the words must actually damage a person but not necessarily the individual s character reputation There must be proof that the individual s reputation was harmed Significant minority of the community must believe that the plaintiff s reputation has been damaged at least 3 people Survival statutes if a living person is defamed brings suit and then dies before the matter is settled by the court relatives continue to pursue the lawsuit To win a libel suit a plaintiff must prove if there was 6 it would be harm 1 The libel was published 1 person other than the defendant has to 2 Identification words were of and concerning plaintiff see it identification such as nickname photos a Identification plaintiff may be explicitly named or defendant can use a similar name that suggests the plaintiff s actual name 3 Material is defamatory 4 Material is false 5 Defendant was at fault Scienter guilty knowledge News vendors bookstores libraries and others who actually distribute the finished product cannot be held responsible for republishing the defamation unless the plaintiff can show that these people or institutions knew the printed matter contained a defamation they do for material published in newspapers magazines or books Courts regard material that is published on the internet the same way Libel on the internet libel The status of online service providers OSPs in the transmission of a If the OSP is the author or originator of the libelous message it will be regarded as a publisher of the material in a libel suit Jurisdiction Communications Decency Act unless you are the author of the material you are not liable SPEECH Act legislation that prohibits the domestic enforcement of foreign libel judgments against US persons where the judgments are inconsistent with First Amendment protections built into American law Defamation Libelous per se words that are defamatory on their face and damage Libel per quod words are innocent on their face and become the reputation of any person Ex thief cheat traitor defamatory only if the reader or viewer knows other facts Harder to prove Ex She s pregnant Must prove the esteem of their reputation was lowered Cannot sue for libel based on pure opinion Innuendo may be defamatory Ex Professor MacNamara was interviewed and appeared sober Categories of words why libel suits are created 1 Implying criminal behavior 2 Sexual references 3 Personal habits financial responsibility 4 Ridicule a Saying a woman is unchaste or has been raped a Raising questions about an individual s honesty integrity or a The subject of a story is made to appear uncommonly foolish b Reporting that someone has died is not defamatory because it does not lower their reputation but saying a man is so cheap that he built his own casket and dug his own grave lowers his reputation 5 Business reputation Trade libel a Protected more than regular individuals b Any comment that injures people s ability to conduct their c Single mistake rule not in FL publishing a mistake may not business harms them in their job or makes it more difficult for them to pursue their occupation always be defamatory because the community would not think less of a doctor or businessperson who made a single error criticism of a product Hurts the product and sales or defames a product Ex saying the secret ingredient in Coca Cola is dirt their sales would most likely suffer Proving trade libel Statements made about the product are false Specific monetary loss because of the false comments about the False comments about the product were motivated either by ill will product and bad feelings or actual malice Falsity Libel plaintiffs are divided into public persons and private persons Public persons government officials elected officers prominent entertainer More difficult for public persons to win a libel suit Private persons anyone who is not a public person in court must go to the heart of the libelous charge The first rule for proving truth or falsity is that the evidence presented Chapter 5 Libel Proof of Fault NY Times v Sullivan Ruling NY Times Rationale Seditious libel Debate on public issues should be wide open Public officials should expect their work to be scrutinized and critisized
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