California court rules talk show commentator shielded from libel under fair report privilege

A California court of appeals ruled that when a talk show commentator reported that a former high school principal used school resources to sell ads for a gay magazine, he was exempt from libel charges under a state laws that protects journalists reporting on government matters. The former principal had had earlier lost a ruling [...]

Dentist loses defamation case must pay Yelp and reviewers for legal fees

A California dentist, who sued Yelp and reviewers for a bad review concerning a filling the dentist put into the mouth of the reviewers’ six-year-old son, must pay court costs according to a ruling in district court. A California appellate court ruled last year that Yelp could not be held for defamation because the post [...]

Federal court rules for blogger in anti-SLAPP case

A bogger complaining about the Sedgwick Claims Management Services won a ruling in federal court upholding his free speech rights. Writing about the case in his law blog, Eric Goldman says, “The district court properly dismissed Sedgwick’s defamation and trade libel claims under California’s anti-SLAPP statute because defendant Delsman’s conduct was in furtherance of his [...]

CA Appeals Court: free Internet porn isn’t unfair competition to pay porn sites

Bright Imperial Limited of Hong Kong, which operates paid pornography sites with streaming X-rated video, filed suit in California against Redtube.com, a competing porn business that does not charge users for access. The suit claimed Redtube’s free porn sites were hurting Bright Imperial’s business and constitute “unfair competition” under California’s Unfair Practices Act. As reported [...]

Californai judge rules that ratings by bond-rating companies are protected speech

A California judge ruled that what was alleged to be “wildly inaccurate” ratings by Moody’s, Fitch, S&P were protected speech and insulated by the state’s anti-SLAPP law. -db Bloomberg BusinessWeek December 11, 2010 By Karen Gullo Ratings by Moody’s Investors Service Inc., Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings Ltd. described as “wildly inaccurate” in a [...]

Filmmakers win defamation suit brought by Dole

A Los Angeles judge awarded $200,000 in attorneys fees while dismissing a lawsuit brought by Dole against filmmakers who had made a documentary alleging Dole exposed workers in Nicaragua to dangerous pesticides. -db The Hollywood Reporter Commentary November 28, 2010 By Matthew Belloni Free speech advocates can go bananas over a new court ruling against [...]

California appeals court upholds finding of SLAPP in auto insurance case

The Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that a lower court had been correct in dismissing a suit against a lawyer as a strategic lawsuit against public participation. -db Metropolitan News-Enterprise September 17, 2010 By Sherri M. Okamoto A Mission Viejo lawyer who subpoenaed the mental health records of his client’s insured in the context [...]

‘Hurt Locker’ producers cite First Amendments protections in dispute with Iraq war vet

Producers of the Oscar winning “The Hurt Locker” have filed a motion to dismiss a suit brought by an Iraq war veteran who said the filmmakers ripped off his life story. -db Yahoo!News June 15, 2010 By Eriq Gardner, Reuters LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Producers of “The Hurt Locker” are firing back against the [...]

California court rules suit over attorney’s rule violation a SLAPP

A California appeals court ruled that even though an attorney erred in failing to omit identifiers in a court filing of a credit report, the filing was not of a certain type of criminal activity cited in a previous case and therefore was protected activity. -db Metropolitan News-Enterprise June 11, 2010 By Steven M. Ellis [...]

Attorney allowed to sue over allegedly defamatory anonymous messages on Craigslist

A California district Court of Appeal ruled that a Woodland Hills attorney could sue an anonymous poster for accusing him of committing illegal acts. The court said the posts were neither political speech nor in the public interest and did not qualify for protection under the state’s anti-SLAPP law. -db Metropolitan News-Enterprise June 1, 2010 [...]

Southern California: Appeals court rules against student for Web site hate speech

A California private school student lost an appeal of a decision against him for death threats he sent to a classmate on the classmate’s Web site. The court said the speech was not protected under the First Amendment since it conveyed serious expression to inflict bodily harm. -db Courthouse News Service March 17, 2010 By Avery [...]

Time has come for a federal anti-SLAPP law

A lawyer who earns considerable income from defending citizens from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) says it is time to back a democratic congressman’s bill for a federal anti-SLAPP law to protect citizens’ free speech rights. -db Citizen Media Law Project Opinion March 4, 2010 By Marc J. Randazza Congressman Steve Cohen, D-TN is our [...]

Massachusetts Supreme Court rules that the state’s anti-SLAPP law does not protect journalists

An ACLU lawyer argues that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court erred in ruling that journalists are not protected by the state’s anti-SLAPP law owing to their role in reporting objectively.  The ruling ignores the role of the reporter in petitioning on behalf of the community. -db Media Nation Opinion February 1, 2010 By Sarah Wunsch [...]

Rolling Stone Magazine wins ruling in dispute over use of image

A California appeals court dismissed a lawsuit by rock musicians against Rolling Stone over a use of their image that they said implied they sponsored a cigarette brand. The court found that the image was noncommercial speech protected by the First Amendment. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press January 29, 2010 By [...]

Baseless threats still pose threat to free speech

Attorney Eric Puryear writes that when he posted comments about a case of legal armed self defense in Florida, he received threats from who he guessed was a relative of the person shot dead when committing burglary. The relative made legal threats that Puryear says could have a chilling effect on the speech of non-lawyers. [...]

Court rules anti-SLAPP law not a defense for law firm sued for malpractice

A California appeals court ruled that a law firm could not defend itself in a malpractice suit citing California’s anti-SLAPP laws since the client’s focus was on their attorney’s quality of performance rather than their speech and petitioning activities. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise December 3, 2009 By Kenneth Ofgang The anti-SLAPP statute does not protect a [...]

Anti-SLAPP law used against citizens legislature intended to protect

The Redding Record Searchlight says that when Shasta County uses an anti-SLAPP law to sue a citizen seeking redress of grievance, it constitutes a regrettable development for a law intended to protect the right of citizens to speak out on controversial issues. -DB The Redding Record Searchlight Opinion October 5, 2009 Leave it to the lawyers. [...]

Nonprofits step up in fight against use of lawsuits to stifle free speech

OMB Watch writes that nonprofit organizations have made strong contributions recently in curbing meritless lawsuits to silence and punish people entering the public arena. A congressional representative is planning to introduce anti-SLAPP legislation soon. -DB OMB Watch September 29, 2009 Nonprofit organizations have recently been active in efforts to prevent the use of lawsuits designed to [...]

California Supreme Court upholds SLAPP ruling in case against Fox News

The Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of a suit brought by day laborers finding that they were not defamed in a Fox News story. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise August 27, 2009 A Fourth District Court of Appeal ruling upholding the dismissal of a suit charging Fox News Network with defaming immigrant day laborers in a story about [...]

SLAPP case: Firm brings more notoriety to itself by appealing suit

A management firm who lost a case against a griper defending himself refuses to let the matter die, appealing the case to the Ninth Circuit. -DB Techdirt Commentary August 24, 2009 By Michael Masnick from the bad-idea dept Remember that discussion a few months ago about how most lawyers apparently understood the Streisand Effect, and [...]

California governor signs bill protecting citizens seeking open government

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger singed a bill limiting the ability of state and local public agencies to collect attorney’s fees under the anti-SLAPP law. -DB California Newspaper Publishers Association August 7, 2009 A barrier to citizen enforcement of the state’s public records and open meeting laws was eliminated yesterday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 786 by [...]