Defamation: Libel and Slander Law - Essay Example

Defamation: Libel and Slander Law Defamation defined Usually, conflicts as a result of defamation occur among people working on the same community or organization. People become subjects of vicious lies and causes moral damage to the complainant. Sometimes it destroys the peaceful living of an individual or even disrupts the harmonious relationship among his love ones. Defamation is the issuance of a false statement about another person, which causes that person to suffer harm (Larson 2003). The area of law that this type of conduct is connected to usually termed “defamation of character”, either categorized as “libel” or “slander”. The difference between the two (2) is that “Slander” involves making of false statements by transitory or non-fixed representation (i.e. verbal issuance of statement), while “Libel” are defamatory statements in a printed or fixed medium, such as a magazine or newspaper. Though defamation claims are frequently asserted against commercial publications, such as newspapers, defamation can also occur in a private setting, arising out of a letter or a conversation (Turner 1999). It is therefore important in the business setting that the content of communications, either hardcopy or softcopy (e-mails), particularly those which are written or circulated to varied offices or departments, be accurate and fair. To cite an example of a “libel” or defamation case, let us look at the $100 million defamation lawsuit filed by a well-known Hollywood actor Tom Cruise against a pornography actor Chad Slater who uses stage name Kyle Bradford. Slater allegedly claimed he had a gay affair with Cruise that broke up Cruise's marriage (Digital Journal 2001). According to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Slater told the French magazine Actustar that “he had a continuing homosexual relationship during Cruise’s marriage and that the relationship was discovered by Nicole Kidman, who ended the relationship”. With this allegations, a per se defamation, it caused damage to the plaintiff or Cruise. The defender, in the person of Slater, issued false statements in the effect that Cruise committed immoral turpitude. The lawsuit claimed that ``Cruise is not and never has been a homosexual'' and ``does not even know Slater”. Slater defaulted the $100 million by claiming that he never met Cruise and said that "I hope by defaulting, Cruise will finally get what he is after and I can finally start to put my life back in order,'' (NDTV.com 2003). The default motion did not indicated that Slater admitted to wrongdoing, but was an acknowledgment that he did not have the money to fight the lawsuit and would not contest it, causing Tom Cruise to win a $10 million defamation judgment, and clearing his name in the public eye. Actustar, also, retracted the released information thus fully vindicating the name of Tom Cruise. Not at all times that will a plaintiff win over a defendant. There are defenses available to people accused of defamation. The most important defense is that he’ll be able to show the “truth” and has no malice in the issuance of statement. Another defense acknowledged in most courts or jurisdictions is “opinion”. If the person accounted an opinion that is different from the fact, the statement may not support a cause of action for defamation, usually, if the person who issued the statement is viewed by the community as being in a position to know whether or not it is true. To give a concrete example, let us look at the defamation lawsuit of “Friends” Harassment Lawsuit. The California Supreme Court threw out a sexual harassment case against the bosses of defunct TV hit Friends on April 20, 2006 (WENN 2006). The former studio assistant Amaani Lyle, alleged that raw sexual remarks during conversations she heard on set and during writer’s meeting could be construed as sexual harassment. The defendant won over the lawsuit for the justices noted that Lyle had been warned of the sexual content of Friends since it was an adult-oriented comic show featuring sexual themes. The climate within the writer’s meeting allowed creative freedoms and that trash talk was part of the creative process. Thus, the allegations revealed that there is no malicious intent or context against the plaintiff and the allegations were perceived as pure fabrications. Some typical elements of defamation include the following: a. A false or fabricated statement on another person; b. The unprivileged publication of the account to third party (i.e. Actustar as 3rd party in the Cruise vs. Slater defamation lawsuit); c. Allegations concerns the public, fault amounting at least to negligence on the part of the publisher (i.e. Actustar published the statements or allegations of Slater without even checking the validity of its content or getting the side of Tom Cruise about the allegations); d. Damage to the plaintiff (i.e. in the event, the relationship of Kidman and Cruise cannot be repaired). Usually, the damages implicated by defamation affect heavily the reputation of the plaintiff and causes mental anguish. For instance, David Schwimmer took offense to the comments of a former charity fundraiser Aaron Tonken when Tonken claimed that the actor demanded and received two Rolex watches in return to attending a fundraising event (WENN 2006). According to Swimmer, what Tonken said was grossly inaccurate. Schwimmer won $400,000 in the judgment when Tonken retracted the statements he made and apologized to the actor. Filing a defamation action is not always advisable to the individual who was a recipient of the false testimonies or defamation. It would require a big amount of money to bring the action. The Hollywood actors have enough funding to support their cause or to vindicate their name specially that their reputation is significant to their profession. However, for non-public individuals, filing a defamation action may experience the stigma of more negative publicity which repeats the false allegations whenever there are hearings or if the incident goes on print on newspapers or other forms of media. It may draw more attention to the people, and if unsuccessful, the litigation may solidify in the mind of the public that the accusations were true. Many may not look at the specific procedures as to why the plaintiff losses the lawsuit but accepts the judgment of the proceedings. Thus, defamation lawsuits may either “make” the plaintiff or “break” the complainant. Though many may be able to successfully prosecute defamation actions, the complainant must be ready still with the downside of not winning the litigation. Work Cited Page Digital Journal (2001). Tom Cruise Files Defamation Lawsuits. Posted on May 5, 2001. Retrieved on December 10, 2006 from http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/32595/Tom_Cruise_Files_Defamation_Suit Larson, Aaron (2003). Defamation: Libel and Slander Law. In Expert Law. Posted August 2003. Retrieved on December 10, 2003 from http://www.expertlaw.com/library/personal_injury/defamation.html NDTV.com Movies (2003). Cruise Wins $10 million libel case. Ed. January 19, 2003. Retrieved on December 10, 2006 from http://www.ndtv.com/ent/newstory.asp?section=Movies&slug=Cruise+wins+%2410+million+libel+case&id=1611 Turner, David L. (1999). Defamation: When Careless Words Can Be Costly. In Find Law for Legal Professionals. Retrieved on December 10, 2006 from http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jul/1/128248.html WENN – World Entertainment News Network (2006). Court Dumps ‘Friends’ Harassment Lawsuit. Posted on April 21, 2006. Retrieved on December 12, 2006 from http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/id/ 3492282. WENN – World Entertainment News Network (2006). Schwimmer Wins Defamation Suit. Posted on June 17, 2006. Retrieved on December 12, 2006 from http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/id/3506177. Read More