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Libel

Libel occurs when a false and defamatory statement about an identifiable person is published to a third party, causing injury to the subject's reputation.

A libelous statement can be the basis of a civil lawsuit brought by the person or group allegedly defamed or, in rare cases, a criminal prosecution.

There is no uniform law for libel. Each state decides what the plaintiff in a civil libel suit must prove and what defenses are available for the media. However, constitutional law requires that plaintiffs or prosecutors prove fault before a news organization can be held liable for defamatory communications.¹ When a news organization is sued, the court must balance protection of a person's reputation against the First Amendment values of freedom of the press. Generally, this requires an examination of six different legal elements -- defamatory communication, publication, falsity, identification, harm and fault -- as well as any of a number of defenses available to media defendants.

Notes

1. Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974).

Next section: Libel: Defamatory communication