Libel basics

Libel is published defamation of character, as opposed to spoken defamation of character, which is slander.

· Exposes a person to hatred, shame, disgrace, contempt or ridicule.

· Injures a person’s reputation or causes the person to be shunned or avoided.

· Injures the person in his or her occupation.

Examples might include accusing someone of having committed a heinous crime, or of having a disease that might cause them to be shunned.

Two other important points:

· Libel is by definition false. Anything that is provably true cannot be libelous.

· “Published” in this context simply means that the libelous statement is communicated to someone other than the person being libeled. That can mean anything from an article that’s photocopied and distributed to just a few people to a story that appears in a newspaper with millions of subscribers.

In order to win a libel lawsuit, private individuals need only prove that an article about them was libelous, and that it was published.

But public officials – people who work in government at the local, state or federal level – have a tougher time winning libel lawsuits than private individuals. Public officials must not only prove that an article was libelous and that it was published; they must also prove it was published with something called “actual malice.”

· The story was published with the knowledge that it was false.

· The story was published with reckless disregard of whether or not it was false.

Later the use of the “actual malice” standard to prove libel has been expanded from just public officials to public figures, which basically means anyone who is in the public eye. Put simply, politicians, celebrities, sports stars, high-profile corporate executives and the like all must meet the “actual malice” requirement in order to win a libel suit (from “The Opinion Makers”).

Дата добавления: 2015-07-11