Study Guide for Test 3

Textbook chapters 4-8

Articles on web page dealing with libel and privacy

Libel

What are the rights to be balanced?

Elements of Libel

Individual Interest in Reputation

• Identification
• Publication
• Defamation
• Falsity

Societal Interest in Freedom of Expression

• Fault

- public figures

- private figures

Proof of Fault

N.Y. Times vs. Sullivan (1964)

Private Figures - Negligence

• failure to exercise reasonable care

- trusting untrustworthy sources

- not checking facts

Public Figures - Actual Malice

• knowledge of falsity
• reckless disregard for the truth

- time pressures

- source reliability

- probability of story

Three Kinds of Public Figures
Gertz vs. Welch (1974)

• public officials
• all purpose public figures
• limited public figures

Defenses Against Libel

• statute of limitations
• truth
• privileged communication

- absolute

- qualified

- neutral reportage

• opinion and fair comment
• consent
• retraction

Opinion vs. Fact in Libel

Ollman Test (Ollman v. Evans, 1984, U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C.)

• can the statement be proven true or false
• what is the common or ordinary meaning of the words
• what is the journalistic context of the remark
• what is the social context of the remark

Damages in Libel Suits

• actual
• special
• presumed
• punitive

Libel on the Net

How is libel on the net similar and different from traditional media?

- liability of users versus ISP's

• First-time offenses
• Repeated offenses
• Screened services

Privacy

What are the rights to be balanced?

Four Components of Privacy

• appropriation
• intrusion
• publicity of private facts
• false-light privacy

Appropriation

Right to Privacy

• mental suffering, embarrassment, and humiliation
• dies with the individual
• may be asserted by any person

Right to Publicity

• damage to economic interests
• may be passed on to heirs
• must be asserted by person with economic interest

Intrusion

• an ethical issue as much as a legal one
• whether or not published is irrelevant
• information obtained from a 3rd party generally protected
• no privacy in public
• use of hidden recording devices iffy

Publicity About Private Facts

• there must be publicity to private facts about an individual
• revelation must be offensive to a reasonable person
• material is not of legitimate public concern

False Light Privacy

• publication of material must put an individual in a false light - material must be substantially false
• false light would be offensive to a reasonable person
• publisher of the material at fault - usually similar to libel’s actual malice

Privacy and the Internet - how are the issues different from traditional media?

Make sure to read the 5 articles on the web page!

Informational Privacy

• Truths about you that you have kept private
• Truths about you that have been revealed
• Differences between what government can collect and what private companies can collect
• Company policies on data collection

Protections from Intrusion

• Electronic Communications Privacy Act - exceptions for sysops
• Encryption

Major Privacy Concerns Regarding Computers

• Issues of workplace surveillance and monitoring of digital communications
• intrusion
• Issues of transaction-generated data and access to electronic records
• disclosure
• Issues of electronic profiles
• appropriation when sold on market

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