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Libel: Product libel

Journalists who write about consumer products should be aware that their reports may be subject to product disparagement laws.

In June 2002, a federal appeals court allowed a product disparagement lawsuit brought by Suzuki Motor Corporation to proceed against the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine.¹⁴ The court found that there was sufficient evidence for a jury to find that the magazine rigged the results of automobile tests to give the Suzuki Samurai a "not acceptable" rating. A dissenting judge said the ruling created a standard for consumer reporting that intrudes on free expression.

Thirteen states have enacted statutes aimed specifically at restricting the "disparagement" of food products.¹⁵ The statutes generally authorize food producers to sue anyone who disparages a food product with information unsupported by reliable scientific data. Texas's food disparagement law was used in a highly publicized case brought against "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 1998. The plaintiffs in the case, Texas feed yard owners, claimed Winfrey caused a decrease in beef sales when she said she would never eat a hamburger again for fear of mad cow disease. Winfrey won the suit.¹⁶

Notes

14. Suzuki Motor Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc., 292 F.3d 1192 (9th Cir. 2002).

15. The states with product disparagement statutes are Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas.

16. See Texas Beef Group v. Winfrey, 11 F. Supp. 2d 858 (N.D. Tex. 1998), aff'd 201 F.3d 680 (5th Cir. 2000); see also Agricultural General Co. v. Ohio Public Interest Research Group, No. 97 CVC07-7367 (Ohio Ct. of C.P., filed July 31, 1997); and Burleson Enters. Inc. v. American Honda Motor Co. Inc., No. 2:97-CV-98-J (N.D. Tex., filed Oct. 22, 1997).

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