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Mad Cows, Offended Emus, And Old Eggs: Perishable Product Disparagement Laws And Free Speech, Lisa Dobson Gould
Mad Cows, Offended Emus, And Old Eggs: Perishable Product Disparagement Laws And Free Speech, Lisa Dobson Gould
Washington Law Review
In the wake of the 1989 controversy over Alar use on apples, several states enacted laws providing a civil cause of action to producers damaged by false statements disparaging the safety of their perishable food products. Commentators have suggested that these laws are unconstitutional and contrary to the First Amendment's free speech protections. This Comment argues that the majority of state laws either meet or exceed the constitutional protections established by the U.S. Supreme Court's defamation cases. However, these laws are unlikely to be used widely in the future because of their stringent proof requirements and because such suits often …
Circuit Over Troubled Waters: Ninth Circuit Comparative Fault Principles In Seaman's Personal Injury Actions, Orland S. Seballos
Circuit Over Troubled Waters: Ninth Circuit Comparative Fault Principles In Seaman's Personal Injury Actions, Orland S. Seballos
Washington Law Review
Maritime personal injury actions employ the comparative fault doctrine, under which damages are allocated between mutually negligent parties according to their proportionate fault. This Comment focuses on recurring issues Ninth Circuit courts have faced in this area: apportioning liability in cases of violations by seamen's employers of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulations, and determining whether to include both causation and fault in making the apportionment. This Comment argues that the Ninth Circuit should adopt rules consistent with the pronounced congressional and U.S. Supreme Court policies of achieving uniformity in domestic and international admiralty and providing liberal recovery for …
The Drudge Case: A Look At Issues In Cyberspace Defamation, Robert M. O'Neil
The Drudge Case: A Look At Issues In Cyberspace Defamation, Robert M. O'Neil
Washington Law Review
In the days following Newsweek's January 1998 decision to defer publication of an exposé of President Clinton's alleged affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, attention focused on the medium where the story first appeared: Matt Drudge's online gossip column, The Drudge Report. Though his postings on this issue seem to have been substantially accurate, Mr. Drudge has recently been sued for defamation because an earlier Report carried a story of a quite different sort, in which even he conceded there were some flaws. That lawsuit provides a vehicle through which to explore a fascinating array of legal …
Right Of Publicity Tarnishment And The First Amendment, Edgar Sargent
Right Of Publicity Tarnishment And The First Amendment, Edgar Sargent
Washington Law Review
This Comment proposes a new cause of action for tarnishment of the right of publicity. The claim would protect the rights holder from uses that create offensive or degrading associations and thus harm the value of the protected persona. To prevent undue constraint upon First Amendment protected speech about public figures, publicity rights protection must be carefully balanced against free speech interests. In most cases, a speaker's right to refer to a public figure will be superior to the publicity rights holder's interest in controlling the manner in which a persona is used. However, publicity rights holders should prevail when …