Also known as: libel · libels · libeled · libeling · defame
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A tort committed by publishing false matter defamatory of another in writing or another permanent form. Liability attaches even without proof of special harm. The publication must reach at least one third party and must tend to harm the plaintiff's reputation.
United Equity mails its monthly newsletter to fifty subscribers in State B. The January issue accuses Continental Wealth of running a fraud mill. Continental Wealth files a libel action in federal court in State B after several subscribers cancel their contracts. The court may exercise personal jurisdiction because the publisher regularly circulates the newsletter in the state and the statements caused injury there.
Dana posts in a community Facebook group that Mr. Lopez was removed for showing pornography to students. The statement is false. Mr. Lopez sues Dana for libel. Dana is subject to liability even though Mr. Lopez proves no special harm from the post.
Lee tells reporters at a press conference that engineer Jordan ignored safety protocols and signed off on faulty software. The statement is false. Jordan sues Aurora Aero for libel. The court awards Jordan nominal damages even without proof of actual economic loss.
Riley posts a viral review accusing CodeCraft Apps of secretly mining users' banking passwords. Downloads collapse and AppSphere cancels a planned distribution deal. CodeCraft sues Riley for libel. Riley is liable for the specific lost revenue that the publication legally caused.
Leo posts on a regional trade forum that Apex Builders diverted safety funds to personal luxuries. Several readers forward the post to other contractors. Apex's business declines further after the forwards. Leo is liable for the additional special harm that resulted from the repetition.
A newspaper publishes an editorial criticizing a city commissioner for official misconduct. The commissioner sues the paper for libel. The commissioner must prove that the paper acted with actual malice because the statements concerned the commissioner's official conduct.
L. B. Sullivan is one of three elected Commissioners of the City of Montgomery, Alabama. He has duties including supervision of the Police Department. He brought this civil libel action against the New York Times Company and four individual petitioners who were Alabama clergymen. The suit sought $500,000 in damages based on a full-page advertisement entitled "Heed Their Rising Voices" that appeared in the New York Times on March 29, 1960. A jury in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County awarded Sullivan the full amount claimed against all petitioners. The Supreme Court of Alabama affirmed the judgment. The advertisement was signed by the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Freedom in the South. It described widespread non-violent demonstrations by Southern Negro students and an unprecedented wave of terror against them. Two paragraphs formed the basis of the claim. One alleged that after students sang on the State Capitol steps their leaders were expelled, truckloads of police ringed the Alabama State College Campus, and the dining hall was padlocked to starve students into submission. The other stated that Southern violators had bombed Dr. King's home, assaulted him, arrested him seven times, and charged him with perjury. The text appeared over the names of 64 persons. It was endorsed by the individual petitioners among others. Sullivan contended that the references to police referred to him in his supervisory capacity. Six Montgomery residents testified that they read the statements as referring to him. However, several statements were inaccurate. The students sang the National Anthem rather than "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." The expulsions were for a different incident. The dining hall was not padlocked. Dr. King had been arrested only four times. The bombings occurred before Sullivan's tenure with police efforts to apprehend the perpetrators. The Times published the advertisement for approximately $4800. It acted upon an order from a New York advertising agency. The agency provided a letter from A. Philip Randolph certifying authorization. The Times made no efforts to confirm its accuracy against its own news files. Sullivan served written demands for retraction on the petitioners pursuant to Alabama law. None of the individual petitioners responded as they had not authorized use of their names. The Times did not retract. It published a retraction only upon demand by Governor John Patterson after learning more facts. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to the separate petitions of the individual petitioners and the Times due to the importance of the constitutional issues involved.
View caseNo. One who falsely publishes defamatory matter in a manner that constitutes libel is subject to liability even though no special harm results from the publication.
A defendant liable for libel must pay at least nominal damages. The defendant is also liable for any special harm legally caused by the publication and for proved actual harm to reputation.
The original publication is a legal cause of special harm from repetition if the third person was privileged to repeat it or if the repetition was authorized or intended by the original publisher.
A publisher that regularly circulates its publication in a state and thereby causes potential injury there may be sued for libel in that state consistent with due process.
…and the Supreme Court of Alabama affirmed. 273 Ala. 656, 144 So. 2d 25. Respondent's complaint alleged that he had been libeled by statements in a full-page advertisement that was carried in the New York Times on March 29, 1960. Entitled "Heed Their Rising Voices," the advertisement began by stating that "As the…