Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul loses bid for identities of those posting online spoof

A federal judge ruled that Republican presidential contender Ron Paul could not force YouTube and Twitter to provide the identities of whoever uploaded videos with a spoof of Ron Paul bashing former candidate Jon Huntsman for being a Chinese agent. It is unusual for a candidate to sue in these matters given the courts’ tolerance [...]

Gap claims Kardashians too tarnished to suffer defamation

In defending themselves from a Kardashian lawsuitover the use of a double in an ad mocking the Kardashian lifestyle, the Gap is contending that the Kardashians have no reputation left to protect, that  they have already sought so much negative publicity that they are libel-proof. The Kardashians are asking for $15-20 million in damages. -db [...]

D.C. appellate court rules for whistelblower’s anonymity

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled that a software trade association did not have to disclose the name of an anonymous tipster. Solers, a software company, had sued the trade association to determine the identity of the tipster who they claimed made a false accusation that the company used unlicensed software. -db From [...]

Law blog suggests ways to avoid libel suits for online postings

A Los Angeles media lawyer provides eight strategies for avoiding libel and concludes by saying that retractions and apologies must be done carefully so that you don’t make the situation  worse. -db From the California Defamation Law Blog, January 17, 2012, by Gordon Firemark. Full story  

Georgia Supreme Court rules for The Atlanta-Journal-Constitution in Jewell libel case

The Georgia Supreme Court upheld a ruling in the Richard Jewell defamation suit against The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jewell’s survivors sought damages for stories the newspaper ran identifying Jewel as a suspect in the 1996 Olympic Games bombing, hurting his reputation. The newspaper said they had reported correctly that Jewell was a only a suspect in [...]

Former ball boys say Syracuse basketball coach defamed them

Former ball boys for the Syracuse University  who claimed an associate coach molested them filed a lawsuit in a county court against head coach Jim Boeheim for calling the men liars. Among other things, Boeheim said the men were trying to play on the Penn State scandal to obtain money. -db From the Courthouse News [...]

Dominican Republic sugar owners suffer setback in defamation case

A federal court of appeals said owners of Dominican Republic sugar cane plantations were public figures, making it more difficult for to prove they were defamed by a documentary film about the harsh treatment of Haitian laborers on the plantations. To prove defamation, the owners must show that documentary film makers acted with actual malice. [...]

Minnesota TV station loses million dollar libel judgment

A Minnesota jury found that an ABC affiliate station acted with reckless disregard for the truth and awarded a naturopathic healer $1 million in a defamation suit. The suit hung on the testimony of one of the healer’s clients that the healer had advised her to stop taking an anti-anxiety medication. The jury found the [...]

Rapper responds to Lohan defamation lawsuit

Through his lawyers the Rapper Pitbull struck back at Lindsay Lohan who sued him for defamation for a hit song that mentioned Lohan’s incarceration. Providing a detailed account of her encounters with the law to prove Lohan is a California resident, the lawyers said she did not have standing to sue in Long Island. Lohan’s [...]

Woman claims documentary defames her as rapist and prostitute

A woman is suing a documentary maker for portraying her as a rapist and prostitute 30 years ago when she followed her fiance to England. The woman said she granted interviews with the filmmakers on the belief that they were making a film on paparazzi.-db From the Courthouse News Service, November 7, 2011, by Matt [...]

Seattle school administration considers new policy of prior restraint for student free press

A policy under consideration by the Seattle School Board would give principals the authority for prior review of high school newspapers and allow a stop to publication if they detected libel, obscenity and violations of the school’s educational mission. Critics argue that the principal would gain censorship powers and take responsibility for content out of [...]

Chicago doctors bring defamation suit against Google after negative online review

Two Chicago doctors are suing Google for a review complaining of “facial lumps” after plastic surgery. The doctors want $50 million for damage to their reputation. The review most likely appeared on Google Place, a site allowing users to rate local businesses and post comments. -db From paidContent, November 4, 2011, by Jeff Roberts. Full [...]

California: Santa Rosa Press Democrat wins defamation suit

A district judge ruled for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in a suit that claimed the newsaper had defamed a woman by calling her a “serial squatter” and a “tenant from hell.” The judge said the newspaper used court records correctly in portraying the woman. -db From the SF Weekly, October 26, 2011, by Ellen [...]

Salt Lake: Prosecutor claims newspaper libeled her

A prosecutor alleged that the Salt Lake Tribune libeled her in a report accusing her of making racially charged remarks about a candidate for district attorney. She was demoted before the Tribune acknowledged that the accusations were not true. The prosecutor said the article was written to promote a Democratic candidate over the Republican incumbent [...]

Employee of private security firm in Iraq claims Pulitzer prize-winning reporter libeled him

An ex-Marine and former employee of a private security firm in Iraq is suing reporter Steve Fainaru for defamation in the book, “Big Boy Rules” about mercenaries in Iraq. The man claims Fainaru called him “a sadistic killing machine” and libeled him with a number of false statements including some about his  lack of care [...]

Oregon Twitter defamation case may be difficult to prove

In an unprecedented case in Oregon, a doctor is suing a blogger for stating incorrectly on Twitter that the doctor lost his medical license and his right to practice. In fact, the doctor was reprimanded for allegedly touching a female patient inappropriately and required to have a chaperone present when treating female patients. -db From [...]

‘Basketball Wives’ cast member claims website defamed her

NFL football player Chad Ochocinco’s fiance is suing the website Media Take Out for an article that says she cheated on Ochocinco with his friend NFL player Terrell Owens. The webisite also said she was quitting the reality show “Basketball Wives” because she was “knocked up” and wanted to become a “full-time mom.” -db From [...]

California court rejects libel suit against Korean-language news company

A California appeals court ruled that the Korean Broadcasting System had not defamed Yuin University in statements that it was a “degree factory.” A judge wrote that “since the ‘degree factory’ statement was cautiously phrased in terms of apparency, the statement is less likely to be reasonably understood as a statement of fact rather than [...]

Palin faces steep climb in proving ‘The Rogue’ defamation

Former Alaskan Governor and GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has threatened to sue Random House and author Joe McGinniss for false statements in an unauthorized biography, “The Rogue.” But lawyers specializing in libel say that as a public figure, Palin will have to meet the actual malice standard, showing  that McGinniss had malicious intent in [...]

Miami food company sues Yelp for defamation

A Miami company that delivers meals has sued Yelp for defamation claiming Yelp showed negative reviews before positive ones. One legal expert thinks the company, YS Catering, does not have a strong case since the Federal Communications Decency Act exempts online service companies from defamation claims based on users’ posts. -db From MediaPost, September 26, [...]

Minnesota decision shreds truth as a defense in libel

The Minnesota District Court has upheld a $60,000 claim against a blogger who posted truthful information about a man that contributed to the man’s losing his job.The court ruled that the blogger had interfered with the man’s contractual arrangements with his employer. Itai Maytal argues for the Citizen Media Law Project, “The Supreme Court has [...]

Man sues National Enquirer for accusing him of killing Caylee Anthony

A meter reader who found the body of Caylee Anthony is suing the National Enquirer for their article headlined, “Mater Ready Killed Caylee.” The man, Ray Kronk, was never charged in the crime while Calee Anthony’s mother Casey was indicted and found innocent by a jury this year. Kronk said he was a private figure [...]

Opinion: Celebrity defamation suits inundate courts

Megabuck libel suits filed by and against celebrities are burgeoning despite the low success rate, the huge lawyer fees and the bad publicity that inevitably arises from the additional attention brought by the lawsuits (Streisand effect). In a commentary in The Hollywood Reporter, Eriq Gardner suggests that a saner approach might be to play down [...]

State court rules no libel in stating connection between imams and suspected terrorists

A New York trial court ruled that merely stating that three imams had worked in the state prisons where four suspected Muslim terrorists were incarcerated was not a factual assertion that accused the imams of radicalizing the suspects. The court ruled that the New York Post article containing the statement had not libeled the imams. [...]

Lohan sues for rap song she claims hurt her reputation

Lindsay Lohan is suing the rapper Pitbull and associates for mentioning her arrest record in his hit, “Give Me Everything.” The song goes “he’s got it locked up, like Lindsay Lohan.” Given her rap sheet, that seems like an innocuous reference, but Lohan claims the song released March 18 has injured her career and caused [...]

Carolina court dismisses libel suit brought against Indian TV network

A North Carolina court dismissed a libel suit against an Indian television network for reporting rumors that a man pushed his pregnant wife out of a moving car. The fight grew out of a dispute over a dowry. The husband claimed that his wife had suffered brain injuries when he rolled his car after he [...]

Libel: Insurance executive files $60 million suit against Eliot Spitzer

A former insurance executive is suing former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer for a column in Slate.com on an insurance bid-rigging scandal that said the man was guilt of crimes. In fact, the executive’s conviction was thrown out of court before the column was published. The executive, William Gilman, said Spitzer was acting out of [...]

Fashion designer’s widow files $10 million defamation suit against Vanity Fair

Fashion designer Oleg Cassini’s widow, Marianne Nestor-Cassini,  alleges that Vanity Fair defamed her in a September article and is asking $10 million in damages from Conde Nast Publications. The complaint read that Nestor-Cassini tried to correct the record even before the article was published , “Upon becoming aware of the innuendos being made to plaintiff’s [...]

Journalists beware: Tweets can be libelous

Contrary to common-held belief that Tweets are ephemeral and not subject to libel law, statements on Twitter are fair game for libel suits say legal experts. So far there have been few suits, but as public use and awareness of Twitter increases, libel cases are expected to increase. So far observers could only come up [...]

Country singer sues National Enquirer for defamation

Country singer Mindy McCready filed a lawsuit against the National Enquirer alleging that it published false statements about her and her custody fight for her five-year-old son. Writes Tim Kenneally in The Wrap, “In the suit, McCready (born Malinda Gayle McCready) cites a June 2011 article published first on the Enquirer’s website and then in [...]

Woman sues media outlets for defaming her with claim she had Schwarzewnegger ‘love child’

A flight attendant who worked on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s private jet is suing Gawker Media, the National Enquirer and the Daily Mail for articles saying she had a child with the former governor. The articles began in 2003 in the National Enquirer with an assertion that the attendant told friends that Schwarzenegger was the father of [...]

Company recruiting schools for Chinese students claims Christian school defamed it

United Students Association that places Chinese students in private Christian school is suing a school in Oregon for abandoning its contract and libeling the recruiter, costing the Texas corporation in revenue and reputation. The complaint reads that the Salem Academy reneged on its contract to take 15 students then sent  ”a number of false and [...]

Barbara Walters sued for defamation

A Massachusetts woman, Nancy Shay, claims that Barbara Walters defamed her by lying about her relationship with Walters’ adopted daughter in 1983 in Walters’ recently published, Audition: A Memoir. Shay’s lawyer alleges in a  court memorandum, “Barbara Walters used her influence and power to have Plaintiff Nancy Shay expelled from the Wykeham Rise School, when [...]

Georgia appeals court clears Atlanta newspaper of libeling Richard Jewell in Olympics bombing coverage

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution did not libel Richard Jewell, the security guard, who notified authorities about an anonymous call warning of an impending bomb blast that killed two and injured 100 some people. Jewell’s prompt action resulted in an evacuation that saved lives. The newspaper reported that the FBI [...]

Federal court dismisses inmate’s defamation suit after television show casts him as gang member

A federal appeals court in Denver dismissed a defamation lawsuit against A&E Television Networks for referring to an inmate as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang when he had only helped the gang. He subsequently received death threats from other prison gangs. The court found the A&E program defamatory but substantially true so protected [...]

Art expert sues The New Yorker for defamation

An art authenticator is suing The New Yorker magazine for an investigative article that he claims defamed him. Peter Paul Biro said the article contained false statements and omitted important information showing the value of his methods of authenticating art works through fingerprints. The complaint read, “Through selective omission, innuendo and malicious sarcasm, the article [...]

Federal judge rules ‘Dirty’ website not libel for inflamatory comments

Even though the operator of the Dirty World website made derogatory comments about a woman, a federal judge in Arizona ruled that the site is not liable for invasion of privacy. The judge applied Missouri privacy law since the woman resided there reasoned that there was no valid claim for public disclosure of private facts [...]

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 [...]

Federal judge finds First Amendment violation in search of home of blogger’s mother

A federal district judge ruled that a Colorado prosecutor could not order the police to search the home of the mother of a blogger who a professor said had libeled him in satirical online postings. The court noted that since the postings were satirical it was not reasonable that people would see them as truth [...]

Law firm sues Courtney Love for defamation

Celebrity Courtney Love asked the law firm Gordon & Holmes to help her recover money and property allegedly stolen from her late husband’s estate. The firm agreed to represent her conditional on her remaining sober during their client-attorney relationship. When the firm subsequently refused to represent her, they claim Love became angry and sent a [...]

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