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Full-Text Articles in Law
Re-Establishing Distributor Liability On The Internet: Recognizing The Applicability Of Traditional Defamation Law To Section 230 Of The Communications Decency Act Of 1996, William E. Buelow Iii
Re-Establishing Distributor Liability On The Internet: Recognizing The Applicability Of Traditional Defamation Law To Section 230 Of The Communications Decency Act Of 1996, William E. Buelow Iii
West Virginia Law Review
Plaintiffs whose reputations have suffered irreparable injury from the distribution of defamatory statements have generally been permitted by law to recover damages from the enterprises that distributed the publications known to contain the defamatory material. However, when the enterprise that knowingly distributed the injurious content is an Internet service provider ("ISP"), present law denies that same plaintiff recovery. This perception of ISP immunity flows from a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Zeran v. America Online, Inc., where the Court extended certain immunities offered by the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (the "CDA"). …
Fifteen Minutes Of Infamy: Privileged Reporting And The Problem Of Perpetual Reputational Harm, Richard J. Peltz-Steele
Fifteen Minutes Of Infamy: Privileged Reporting And The Problem Of Perpetual Reputational Harm, Richard J. Peltz-Steele
Richard J. Peltz-Steele
This Article provides an overview of the labyrinth of media tort defenses, specifically the four privileges – fair comment, fair report, neutral reportage, and wire service – that come into play when the media republish defamatory content about criminal suspects and defendants without specific intent to injure. The Article then discusses these privileges in light of a hypothetical case involving a highly publicized crime and an indicted suspect, against whom charges are later dropped, but who suffers perpetual reputational harm from the out-of-context republication online of news related to his indictment. The Article demonstrates how the four privileges would operate …