Throw the Blog at Them
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Media Law Resource Center
Compiled by MLRC Staff Attorney Eric P. Robinson
Last Update: April 29, 2006
This list, which is an outgrowth of the Pre-Dinner Symposium on Blogging held on Nov. 9, 2005, includes legal cases that MLRC is aware of in which bloggers have been sued for libel and related claims, including the first case against a blogger of which MLRC is aware that has gone to trial and resulted in a liability verdict. It also includes a criminal case against bloggers in Ohio. The list also includes links to articles reporting on these cases, and court decisions when available. This list does not include lawsuits outside of the United States.
TheBuzzMachine
by Jeff Jarvis
"Media companies have been united in opposing libel actions for many years (through MLRC [Media Law Research Center], formerly LDRC) in part to make it very difficult for plaintiffs’ lawyers to succeed and thus to really discourage lawyers from taking on libel cases. If bloggers, their insurance companies and other non-media company defendants start losing cases and/or paying out settlements, that will actually help to fund what could quickly mushroom into a force of plaintiffs’ lawyers eager to take on these cases, cases that would have become potentially lucrative as a result of any payouts. So the risk you raise is very real. There’s also a risk that careless postings by bloggers that lead to litigation could also result in legal decisions that set precedents damaging to free speech / free press interests. So the risk is two-fold — harmful legal precedents and a new funding source for lawyers bringing libel suits."
Geanne Rosenberg, head of the journalism program at CUNY’s Baruch and an attorney
.
Media Law Resource Center
Compiled by MLRC Staff Attorney Eric P. Robinson
Last Update: April 29, 2006
This list, which is an outgrowth of the Pre-Dinner Symposium on Blogging held on Nov. 9, 2005, includes legal cases that MLRC is aware of in which bloggers have been sued for libel and related claims, including the first case against a blogger of which MLRC is aware that has gone to trial and resulted in a liability verdict. It also includes a criminal case against bloggers in Ohio. The list also includes links to articles reporting on these cases, and court decisions when available. This list does not include lawsuits outside of the United States.
TheBuzzMachine
by Jeff Jarvis
"Media companies have been united in opposing libel actions for many years (through MLRC [Media Law Research Center], formerly LDRC) in part to make it very difficult for plaintiffs’ lawyers to succeed and thus to really discourage lawyers from taking on libel cases. If bloggers, their insurance companies and other non-media company defendants start losing cases and/or paying out settlements, that will actually help to fund what could quickly mushroom into a force of plaintiffs’ lawyers eager to take on these cases, cases that would have become potentially lucrative as a result of any payouts. So the risk you raise is very real. There’s also a risk that careless postings by bloggers that lead to litigation could also result in legal decisions that set precedents damaging to free speech / free press interests. So the risk is two-fold — harmful legal precedents and a new funding source for lawyers bringing libel suits."
Geanne Rosenberg, head of the journalism program at CUNY’s Baruch and an attorney
.
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