Overlawyered » libel slander and defamation http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:22:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 February 6 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-6-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-6-roundup-3/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:02:14 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27368
  • “A 4-Page Playdate Waiver? Is This the New Normal?” [Lenore Skenazy, Free-Range Kids; our 2000 post on "Rise of the High-School Sleepover Disclaimer"]
  • Spirit Airlines sets what it calls DOTUC fee, for “Dept. of Transportation Unintended Consequences” [Stoll]
  • How fairly are fathers treated in family court? [Nina Shapiro, Seattle Weekly via Alkon]
  • “‘Insider’ Trading by the Representative Plaintiff in Shareholder Litigation” [Bainbridge]
  • “Donation controversy focuses attention on Madison County asbestos litigation” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chamber-backed LNL]
  • Update: Appeals court reinstates Duluth doc’s defamation claims [DNT, earlier here, here, here; "bedside manner" criticism]
  • U.K.: “‘Psychic’ Sally Morgan Sues Critics for £150,000 After Refusing $1 Million to Prove Her Powers” [D.J. Grothe, HuffPo] “She’ll be calling witnesses such as ‘an uncle, or father, or a man… with a b in his first name’.” [@thegagthief]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-6-roundup-3/feed/ 1     Claim: “defamation by omission” http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/claim-defamation-by-omission/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/claim-defamation-by-omission/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:43:30 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27299 “Once profiled in The New York Times as a former Harvard student who had his own claim as being the true genius behind Facebook, [Aaron] Greenspan is now involved in a dispute with Columbia Pictures that alleges [among other counts] he was defamed by being left out of the award-winning film about Facebook’s origins ['The Social Network'].” [Hollywood Reporter]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/claim-defamation-by-omission/feed/ 4     Andrew Wakefield sues critics again http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/andrew-wakefield-sues-critics-again/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/andrew-wakefield-sues-critics-again/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:13:39 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26899 The researcher of anti-vaccine fame, who was struck off the British medical rolls following scandal over his methods, had earlier sued journalist Brian Deer in the U.K.; this time he has filed an action in Texas [Respectful Insolence, Popehat]. As parents decline vaccination, whooping cough and measles make a deadly comeback [Amy Alkon, Orac]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/andrew-wakefield-sues-critics-again/feed/ 1     Developer drops suit against eminent domain critic http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/developer-drops-suit-against-eminent-domain-critic/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/developer-drops-suit-against-eminent-domain-critic/#comments Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:44:16 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26289 It took three years of litigation, but Texas developer H. Walker Royall has finally ended his defamation suit against author Carla Main and publisher Encounter Books (which is also my publisher on Schools for Misrule). Main’s book Bulldozed had been critical of the use of eminent domain in land takeovers, and in particular of its use in a deal in Freeport, Texas. The case helped prompt the Texas legislature to enact stronger protections for defendants against so-called SLAPP suits, a development long overdue in some other states as well. [Roger Kimball, Houston Chronicle; Jacob Sullum; earlier]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/developer-drops-suit-against-eminent-domain-critic/feed/ 0     Suing Google over search results http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/suing-google-over-search-results/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/suing-google-over-search-results/#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 14:58:35 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26162 Max Mosley, former head of the Formula One racing organization, has been the subject of a number of lurid allegations in the European press. Now he is suing Google in France and Germany, and contemplating suit in California, “in an attempt to force the internet company to monitor and censor search results about” the allegations. “It is understood Google has removed hundreds of references to the defamatory claims after requests from Mosley’s solicitors. However, Mosley is attempting to force Google to monitor its search results so the material never appears” in the first place. [Guardian] More: Above the Law.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/suing-google-over-search-results/feed/ 5     Free speech and chilling effects roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/free-speech-and-chilling-effects-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/free-speech-and-chilling-effects-roundup/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:49:45 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25775
  • “Stamp Out Online Misogyny?” [Wendy Kaminer, Brendan O'Neill]
  • Jacob Mchangama of Danish think tank CEPOS on blasphemy laws and Islam-critical speech [Nov. 4 FedSoc., PDF]
  • Niall Ferguson to sue LRB scribe? “If he won’t apologise for calling me a racist, I will persecute him until he does” [Guardian; more, Atlantic Wire] New York judge quashes subpoena seeking to identify anonymous bloggers in rabbi-defamation suit [Paul Alan Levy]
  • “If bullying has gone down, how can it be a pandemic?” By broadening its definition to include such behaviors as “eye-rolling” and pointed non-invitation [Hans Bader/Examiner, Neal McCluskey/Cato]
  • “I strongly recommend an umbrella policy for all bloggers. Defending myself cost nearly $100,000, thankfully paid by insurance.” [@DianaHsieh]
  • Federal crime under CFAA to lie on the internet? [Kerr, more, yet more, Balko]
  • “Will Canada Repeal its Hate Speech Law?” [Peter Worthington, Frum Forum]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/free-speech-and-chilling-effects-roundup/feed/ 1     Update: ousted Congressman sues opponents for “loss of livelihood” http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/update-ousted-congressman-sues-opponents-for-loss-of-livelihood/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/update-ousted-congressman-sues-opponents-for-loss-of-livelihood/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:00:34 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25332 Updating our story of last December: A federal judge has given the go-ahead to former Rep. Steve Dreihaus’s suit against the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List for allegedly falsely characterizing his stands on issues during last year’s race, thus causing him to lose. Earlier, Driehaus had filed a complaint against the Anthony List under Ohio’s remarkable False Statements Law, “which criminalizes lying about public officials” and has been assailed by the ACLU among other groups as inconsistent with the First Amendment. [Seth McKelvey, Reason; Peter Roff, U.S. News]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/update-ousted-congressman-sues-opponents-for-loss-of-livelihood/feed/ 6     “Supreme Court of Canada Stands Up for the Internet: No Liability for Linking” http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/supreme-court-of-canada-stands-up-for-the-internet-no-liability-for-linking/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/supreme-court-of-canada-stands-up-for-the-internet-no-liability-for-linking/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:17:34 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25216 Sighs of relief after a decision in a defamation case (Crooks v. Newton) reported on earlier. [Michael Geist] Justice Abella:

    I would conclude that a hyperlink, by itself, should never be seen as “publication” of the content to which it refers.

    Adventurous litigants in U.S. defamation cases have occasionally argued otherwise. On Canada, see also proposals to criminalize links to so-called hate speech.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/supreme-court-of-canada-stands-up-for-the-internet-no-liability-for-linking/feed/ 1     “It’s sad that we can’t…report on experiences freely” http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/its-sad-that-we-cant-report-on-experiences-freely/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/its-sad-that-we-cant-report-on-experiences-freely/#comments Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:40:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24822 Reader Helene G. writes: “I recently joined our local mother’s club, and I received this message. It’s sad that we can’t use the mother’s club forum to report on experiences freely, without risk of being sued”

    “Our forums are a great help to many in our moms community. However, we have a very specific guideline relating to negative comments about an individual, company or indeed health clubs.

    Specifically, if you’ve had a negative experience with a vendor or individual, you need to use this format below. NO MATTER HOW BAD THE EXPERIENCE.

    ——-
    Message Title: Negative Experience at

    Message: I had a negative experience with . If you are thinking of hiring/using this vendor, please contact me.
    ——-

    I’m sorry that in some instances we cannot have more relaxed guidelines, but we have to protect our group. Thanks for understanding.”

    (& welcome Elie Mystal/Above the Law readers)

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/its-sad-that-we-cant-report-on-experiences-freely/feed/ 4     September 14 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-14-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-14-roundup/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:36:41 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24543
  • Large newspaper group drops RightHaven; “it was a dumb idea” [Kravets/Wired, more] Courtroom reverses for copyright aggregator assume a comic tone [BoingBoing, Slashdot, Corporate Counsel]
  • Dan Snyder drops suit against Washington City Paper [WCP, Wolfman/CL&P, Adler, earlier here, here, etc.] More reactions to TSAer’s lawsuit threat against columnist/blogger Amy Alkon [Treacher, Balko, Bader]
  • Jury declines to credit testimony about when victim took Children’s Motrin [Beck]
  • Mississippi high court strikes down widely noted $7 million lead paint verdict in Sherwin-Williams vs. Gaines [AP, Freeland, LNL, opinion]
  • “Is suing the bar a new drunk driving trend?” [NJLRA]
  • Decline of chemistry sets tells a story of fear and liability [John Browning, SETR, earlier]
  • “Expectedly pleasing,” that’s me [Katherine Mangu-Ward, Reason]
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