Defamation is the general term for a legal claim involving injury to one's reputation caused by a false statement of fact and includes both libel (defamation in written or fixed form) and slander (spoken defamation). The crux of a defamation claim is falsity. Truthful...
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False light is one of the four categories of "privacy torts" (the others being misappropriation , intrusion , and publication of private facts ). While the nature of false light claims vary by state, they generally protect people from offensive and false facts...
DMLP Staff - 07/21/2008 - 9:36pm - 0 comments -
SLAPP stands for "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation." It refers to a lawsuit filed in retaliation for speaking out on a public issue or controversy. You might be "SLAPPed" for actions such as posting a blog entry, posting a comment on...
DMLP Staff - 07/21/2008 - 9:39pm - 0 comments -
While you can't always eliminate your legal risks when publishing online, there are a number of ways you can minimize your risk of being on the receiving end of a defamation or false light lawsuit. Some suggestions include: General Advice Follow good journalistic practices...
DMLP Staff - 07/21/2008 - 9:41pm - 0 comments -
In order to be actionable, a defamatory statement must be "of and concerning" the plaintiff. This means that a defamation plaintiff must show that a reasonable person would understand that the statement was referring to him or her. Of course, if a blog post or...
DMLP Staff - 07/21/2008 - 9:49pm - 0 comments -
A defamatory statement is a false statement of fact that exposes a person to hatred, ridicule, or contempt, causes him to be shunned, or injures him in his business or trade. Statements that are merely offensive are not defamatory (e.g., a statement that Bill smells badly...
DMLP Staff - 07/21/2008 - 9:52pm - 0 comments -
Unlike other countries that hold a publisher liable for every defamatory statement regardless of what steps he or she took prior to publication, under U.S. law a plaintiff must prove that the defendant was at fault when she published the defamatory statement. In other words...
DMLP Staff - 07/21/2008 - 9:54pm - 0 comments - 0 attachment(s)
As a general rule, if you follow good journalistic practices and standards -- being thorough, fair, and accurate in what you publish, carefully attributing your sources and quotes, and not phrasing statements in such a way as to create implications that you do not intend or...
DMLP Staff - 07/21/2008 - 9:56pm - 0 comments -
Choose a state from the list below for state-specific information on defamation law. For general information on defamation and false light, see the section on Publishing Information that Harms Another's Reputation.
DMLP Staff - 07/21/2008 - 9:59pm - 0 comments -
"Truth" is an absolute defense against defamation. See New York Times Co. v. Sullivan , 376 U.S. 254 (1964), and Time Inc. v. Hill , 385 U.S. 411 (1967). Consequently, a plaintiff has to provide convincing evidence of a defamatory statement's falsity in order to...
DMLP Staff - 07/21/2008 - 10:01pm - 0 comments -
