Chapters 5, 6

NYT v. Sullivan (1964)

Libel and slander are not protected, and you need to prove malicious intent. - Supreme Court ruled in favor of NYT

What must a private person prove for compensatory damages?

Negligence

Appropriation

Privacy tort that discourages use of one's name, likeness or identifying features for commercial gain without consent.

Intrusion

Privacy tort that protects people from invasion of personal space and solitude. The offense is viewed as the invasive act itself, so publication is not required.

SLAPP Laws

Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation - lawsuits that are often nothing more than a form of intimidation - an attempt to silence corporation critics

Right of Publicity

The appropriation tort protecting a celebrity's right to have his or her name, picture, likeness, voice and identity used for commercial or trade purposes only with permission. - protect famous people and those who wish to protect their likeness, voice or image from others exploiting it for commercial gain.

Fault

either the lower fault level of "failure to exercise reasonable care" or the higher level of fault of "intentional lying" or "reckless disregard for the truth"

Trespass

entry to another's property without right or permission - common law tort protecting people against interference with their person, land and possessions

Rhetorical hyperbole

exaggeration or exaggerated statements of opinion - the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech

Negligence

failure to take proper care in doing something

Retraction

formally taking back something which was said or done - correction - admit something is wrong over any platform - can help reduce damage award

Public Disclosure of Private Facts

highly offensive publicity of private information - protects people against the unwarranted dissemination of intimate personal information that offends the public sense of decency.

Reckless disregard for the truth

if you knew that what you were saying was false but said it anyway

Absolute Privilege

immunity from the charge of defamation even if the statement is malicious -officials doing official business and those testifying a witness stand in judicial proceedings - most often claimed by legislators

Compensatory (Actual) Damages

monetary compensation designed to remedy the losses suffered by the plaintiffs

When proving publication in a libel case, how many people must have seen the damaging information?

one or more

Consent

permission to do/say something

Garrison v. Louisiana (1964)

public officials and those running for office are public figures

Publication

refers to any dissemination of a defamatory statement, not strictly in print. In order to damage someone's reputation, a defamatory remark must be communicated to a third party.

Slander

the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation. -private media SPOKEN

False Light

the intentional false portrayal of someone in a way that would be offensive to a reasonable person - false light case, only embarrassment, not defamation, needs to be claimed

Booth Rule

the media may use previously published newsworthy materials in later advertising of the publication itself as long as no endorsement is implied

Right to Reply

the opportunity for permitting a person criticized in a story to respond to that criticism in the same story - right to defend oneself against public criticism in the same venue where it was published.

The President cannot alter libel laws because...

there are no federal libel laws.

Libel tourism

traveling to a foreign venue to file a defamation action that would not succeed in this country - going to other states or countries for it to be easier to prove actual malice

4th Amendment

unlawful search and seizures by the government

Ohlman Opinion Test

verifiability of the statement -"literary context" in which the statement was made - "public context" of the statement - the precisions and specificity of the disputed statement

Actual Malice

when a person makes a statement with either knowledge of its falsity or a reckless disregard for the truth

Libel Per Se

written communication that is considered obvious libel - consists of those words which in and of themselves are so damaging as to be considered defamatory OBVIOUS

Fraud

wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain - an intentional material misrepresentation of fact by the defendant that the plaintiff relies on to his or her detriment.

Criteria for Defamation

• Publication - to one or more persons • Identification - not necessarily by name • Damages - to professional reputation; lawfulness; honesty; virture. Can be based on inaccurate questions, story out of context or just plain falsehood. • Fault - intentional lying or reckless disregard for the truth.

Primary Defenses

• Truth • Fair Report and Neutral Reportage (reporting and not taking a side) • Absolute Privileges

Defamation applies to:

• existing relationships • future relationships • public image destroyed • negative public image created

Secondary Defenses

•Consent • Retraction • Right to Reply • Proof of bad reputation • Reliance upon reliable source e.g. "wire service" defense • Settlement out of court

Privacy

- the right to be left alone - freedom from unwarranted publicity

Group Libel *approx.*

1-25 people - actionable 26-100 people - grey zone 101+ people - rarely if ever - applies when an identifiable group is libeled

To sue for libel, what 4 things must a plaintiff prove?

1. Defamation 2. Publication 3. Identification 4. Fault

How long do libel claims have to gather information and evidence?

2 years

Criminal Libel

A crime in which a publisher could be charged with defamation by the government.

Innocent Construction Rule

A rule some courts use to interpret allegedly libelous statements that might have multiple interpretations according to the most innocent interpretation, or the one that most favors the defendant.

Summary Judgement

A ruling by the court that no trial is necessary because some essential facts are not in dispute - no way a plaintiff will win - judge makes an executive decision

Defamation

Act of harming or ruining another's reputation communicating false statements about a person that injure the reputation of that person

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)

Act that makes it unlawful to intercept messages in transmission, access stored information on electronic communication services, or disclose this information.

What must a private person prove for punitive damages?

Actual Malice

What must a public person prove for punitive damages?

Actual Malice

what must a public person prove for compensatory damages?

Actual Malice

Libel Per Quod

Consists of word or phrases that require contextualization in order to identify the harm. NEED CONTEXT

Falsity

In defamation law, a defendant cannot be found liable for defamation unless his/her statement was false. - in libel claims, the person or entity quoting false words that harm a reputation can be held just as accountable for defamation as the person making the original statement.

Identification

In libel law, plaintiffs must show that they were identifiable from the libelous material. - names are not necessary in order to prove identification because context, circumstance or association can reveal the real person.

Limited Purpose Public Figure

In libel law, plaintiffs that are not otherwise public figures might be considered to be if they have gained notoriety by voluntarily injecting themselves into a matter of public controversy in an attempt to influence the outcome.

Privilege

In libel law, privilege is an affirmative defense in which the defendant asserts a justification for having defamed the plaintiff.

Defamatory Language

In libel law, the plaintiff must show that the libelous material was defamatory, meaning it asserts an untrue fact that would cause harm to the plaintiff's reputation in the mind of "right thinking persons." - in order to be considered libelous, the statement has to be an assertion of fact and not mere opinion or humor.

Neutral Reportage

In some jurisdictions, this is recognized as a defense to libel which asserts that so long as a medium accurately recounts all sides of an argument it acts as a neutral conveyance of information and should not be responsible.

Right of Privacy

The right to a private personal life free from the intrusion of government.

Qualified Privilege

a legal right allowing journalists to report judicial or legislative proceedings even though the public statements being reported may be libelous

Plaintiff

a person who brings a case against another in a court of law.

Libel-proof plaintiff

a plaintiff whose reputation is deemed to be so damaged already that additional false statements of and concerning him or her cannot cause further harm

Libel

a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation. -mass media WRITTEN

Florida Star v. BJF

a state may not punish the media for publishing truthful information lawfully obtained unless there is a need to serve the interest of the highest order. -police officials mistakenly gave the name of a rape victim to a reporter; the Court held that the receipt of this information by the press was lawful

Tort

action causing injury

Settlement out of court

an official agreement intended to resolve a dispute or conflict - can take place before lawsuit is filed - "one the side" deals

FCC rule about recording conversations

before you record your conversation, or air it live, inform the other person of your intent.

Punitive Damages

damages exceeding simple compensation and awarded to punish the defendant.