Have you ever had someone make up an outrageous lie about you? Did they publicize this lie in someway, perhaps by putting it monthly neighborhood association’s newsletter or the school paper? Did the publicizing of this lie hurt your reputation in some way? On a much larger level, this is known as defamation.
Defamation is also defined as:
• Calumny
• Vilification
• Slander-when the defamation is done through spoken words
• Libel-when the defamation comes in the form of published words
It is the communication of a false, malicious claim made against an individual, business, product, group, government or nation that results in the creation or acerbating of a negative image.
There is also the tort of false light. This is when the hurtful information that was distributed is not technically false, but is determined to be misleading. False light was put forth to dissuade the publication of information that is technically true but twisted to seem different from what it actually is in order to avoid suits of defamation.
Defamation, the term, is used internationally and purposefully does not distinguish between libel and slander. Although defamation is technically a tort and is most commonly used in civil cases, in some nations defamation can actually be a criminal offense.
Common Instances of Defamation
It is almost impossible to enter a grocery store without being overwhelmed by countless magazines with hundreds of stories about celebrities. These stories are often very derogatory and it can be argued that they are severely hurting the status of a certain celebrity. It is confusing in many ways that celebrity tabloids exist within a world that allows lawsuits for defamation. But these publications feel that the risk of defamation lawsuits are worth publishing stories that are absurd enough to sell.
Many, many celebrities do, in fact, sue these magazines or television programs. It is so common, it is not often talked about. The energy that taking out a lawsuit against a magazine takes is often times not worth it to the celebrity when it comes to fighting a lie that is published against them.
Other groups that can be severely hurt by defamation are large companies. For them, a serious allegation against their character can turn the public against them and hurt them financially.
For more information on defamation, visit the website of the personal injury attorneys of LaMarca & Landry PC
Joseph Devine
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