Libel
Massive Sanctions Against Rudy Giuliani for "Willful Shirking of His Discovery Obligations" in Libel Lawsuit Against Him
Among other things, "Default judgment will be entered against Giuliani as a discovery sanction ..., holding him civilly liable on plaintiffs' defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and punitive damage claims ...."
Lawsuit Over Alec Baldwin's Publicly Labeling Woman "Insurrectionist" for Her Jan. 6 Activities Dismissed by Court
Plaintiffs sued for defamation, and also for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress stemming from the comments aroused by Baldwin's posts.
Court Reduces $1.4M Verdict to $71.5K in #TheyLied Renaissance Faire Libel Case
Defendant had accused plaintiffs, "the King and Queen of [the Pittsburgh] Renaissance Faire," of failing to properly deal with allegations of sexual harassment, and of retaliating against sexual harassment victims; the jury found that the defendant knew the statements were false, or at least recklessly disregarded the risk of falsehood.
No Sealing of Plaintiff's Expunged Court Records That Are Central to Plaintiff's Libel Claim
"[T]he fate of Plaintiff's claims hinges to some extent on the truth or falsity of Defendant's statements regarding Plaintiff's conviction of a crime. Whether Defendant's statements are false—a determination that relies at least in part on Plaintiff's criminal records—is directly relevant to the public."
Illinois Court Rejects Claim for Group Libel of Poles Living During World War II Era
People may be able to successfully sue based on allegedly false and defamatory statements about themselves, or about very small groups of people that include themselves—but not based on statements about whole countries or ethnic groups.
Plaintiff Professor's Losing Libel Lawsuit May Lead to His Former Lawyers Foreclosing on His Home
(Part of the fees also stemmed from defending against Ohio State's investigating his alleged research misconduct.)
Journal of Free Speech Law: "Where's the Liability in Harmful AI Speech?," by …
Profs. Peter Henderson, Tatsunori Hashimoto, and Mark Lemley, just published in our symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Speech; more articles from the symposium coming in the next few days.
Journal of Free Speech Law: My "Large Libel Models? Liability for AI Output"
Just published, in our symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Speech; more articles from the symposium coming in the next few days.
Journal of Free Speech Law: "An AI's Picture Paints a Thousand Lies: Designating Responsibility for Visual Libel,"
by Prof Jon M. Garon, just published in our symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Speech; more articles from the symposium coming in the next few days.
Journal of Free Speech Law: "Bots Behaving Badly: A Products Liability Approach to Chatbot-Generated Defamation,"
by Prof. Nina Brown, just published in our symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Speech; more articles from the symposium coming in the next few days.
Political Activist Brandon Straka Loses Jan.-6-Related Libel Lawsuit Against NBC
"The material challenged in the plaintiff's complaint cannot be understood by a reasonable person as anything but substantially, if not literally, true."
Alleged "Psychic Intuition" Isn't Enough to Make a Federal Claim "Plausible" Enough to Withstand Dismissal
An allegedly psychic "Internet sleuth" alleged a professor was involved in the University of Idaho student murders; the professor sued; then the "sleuth" countersued.
Journal of Free Speech Law: "The Application of the New York Anti-SLAPP Scheme in Federal Court,"
by Matthew L. Schafer & Tanvi Valsangikar, just published, through our normal blind review process.
Giuliani Admits His Oft-Told Tale of Georgia Election Fraud Was Not True
Unlike calling Trump's stolen-election fantasy "the Big Lie," his lawyer's statements were demonstrably false assertions of fact.
Cryptocurrency Blogger: "Craig Wright Is a Fraud." Wright: "Libel!" Court: "Your Litigation Lies Mean You Win £1"
Wright claims he's Satoshi Nakamoto, who's credited with inventing Bitcoin; defendant claimed otherwise.
No Absolute Privilege for Accuser's Allegations in College Disciplinary Proceedings; #TheyLied Libel Lawsuit
alleging the accuser lied in the proceedings can thus go forward, holds the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Allegations That Particular Conduct Stemmed from a Racist Motivation Generally Aren't Defamatory
(though false allegations about the details of the conduct may be).
Journal of Free Speech Law: "Cheap Speech and the Gordian Knot of Defamation Reform," by Prof. Lyrissa Lidsky
Just published as part of the symposium on Media and Society After Technological Disruption, edited by Profs. Justin "Gus" Hurwitz & Kyle Langvardt.
First (?) Libel-by-AI (ChatGPT) Lawsuit Filed
"Every statement of fact in the summary [provided by ChatGPT] pertaining to [plaintiff] Walters is false."
Preliminary Injunction Against "Disparag[ing]" or "Frivolous" Claims About School Board or Employees …
violates the First Amendment, holds the Louisiana Court of Appeal.