FAQ: Questions and Answers

[back to notice text] Question: What is defamation? Answer: Generally, defamation is a false and unprivileged statement of fact that is harmful to someone's reputation, and published "with fault," meaning as a result of negligence or malice. State laws often define defamation in specific ways. Libel is a written defamation; slander is a spoken defamation. [back to notice text] Question: Can an opinion be defamatory? Answer: No ? but merely labeling a statement as your "opinion" does not make it so. Courts look at whether a reasonable reader or listener could understand the statement as asserting a statement of verifiable fact. (A verifiable fact is one capable of being proven true or false.) This is determined in light of the context of the statement. A few courts have said that statements made in the context of an Internet bulletin board or chat room are highly likely to be opinions or hyperbole, but they do look at the remark in context to see if it's likely to be seen as a true, even if controversial, opinion ("I really hate George Lucas' new movie") rather than an assertion of fact dressed up as an opinion ("It's my opinion that Trinity is the hacker who broke into the IRS database"). [back to notice text] Question: What are some examples of libelous and non-libelous statements? Answer: The following are a couple of examples from California cases; note the law may vary from state to state. Libelous (when false): Charging someone with being a communist (in 1959) Calling an attorney a "crook" Describing a woman as a call girl Accusing a minister of unethical conduct Accusing a father of violating the confidence of son Not-libelous: Calling a political foe a "thief" and "liar" in chance encounter (because hyperbole in context) Calling a TV show participant a "local loser," "chicken butt" and "big skank" Calling someone a "bitch" or a "son of a bitch" Changing product code name from "Carl Sagan" to "Butt Head Astronomer" Since libel is considered in context, do not take these examples to be a hard and fast rule about particular phrases. Generally, the non-libelous examples are hyperbole or opinion, while the libelous statements are stating a defamatory fact. [back to notice text] Question: What is unfair competition? Answer: "Unfair competition" covers a wide range of kinds of unjust business behavior---so many kinds, in fact, that it is impossible to give one simple general definition. In essence, unfair competition means trademark infringement or false advertising to confuse the public. In most states, only commercial competitors can be engaged in "unfair competition." [back to notice text] Question: What is libel? Answer: Libel is a false statement of fact expressed in a fixed medium, usually writing but also a picture, sign, or electronic broadcast. See What are the elements of a defamation claim? [back to notice text] Question: What is "interference with contract" or "interference with prospective business relations"? Answer: One can be held liable for intentionally or negligently interfering with the existing or prospective economic relationships of another. (e.g. contractual/business relationships) The 2d restatement of the law which contain general defintions of the law taken from the laws of many states, defines the tort of Intentional Interference with Prospective Contractual Relations as follows: "One who intentionally and improperly interferes with another's prospective contractual relation (except a contract to marry) is subject to liability to the other for the pecuniary harm resulting from loss of the benefits of the relation, whether the interference consists of (a) inducing or otherwise causing a third person not to enter into or continue the prospective relation or (b) preventing the other from acquiring or continuing the prospective relation." Rest 2d (Torts) section 766B. Usually, damages are dependent on proof that "but for" the allegedly interfering behavior, an economic relationship, the contract, would have been entered into. Most jurisdictions and the restatement have slightly different wording for the seperate tort of interference with an already existing contractual relationship.(e.g. when a 3rd party's behavior prevents the performance of or induces the breach of a pre-existing contract)

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