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October 2017

MediaLawLetter September 2017

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10 Questions to a Media Lawyer: Laura Handman

Laura Handman is a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, dividing her time between the New York and Washington D.C. Offices and is co-chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice. 1. How’d you get into media law? What was your first job? I trace the roots of my interest in media law to several people. First and…

Privacy and the Press in the Digital Age: The Right to Know vs. The Right to be Forgotten

MLRC London Conference 2017 By Judge Ganna Yudkivska, ECtHR Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s a great pleasure and privilege to address today the top media lawyers from all over the world. I was asked to tackle the Court’s approach to the right to privacy, as protected by Article 8 of the Convention, in particular in the…

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Lachaux, Seriously Limiting Serious Harm

By Nicola Cain On September 12, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in Lachaux v AOL (UK), Independent Print Ltd & Evening Standard Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 1334, the first time it has considered the meaning and application of the serious harm threshold in the Defamation Act 2013. The Court ruled that rather than a…

Federal Court in Texas Denies Motion to Compel The Dallas Morning News to Disclose Anonymous Web Commenters

By Paul C. Watler and James C. McFall A motion to compel The Dallas Morning News to unmask anonymous posters to an online article was denied by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. In Diamond Consortium Inc. v. Brian Manookian, No. 4:17-MC-13, slip op. at 3–8 (E.D. Tex. Aug. 3, 2017),…

New Hampshire Court Dismisses Libel Suit for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

Court Rebuffs Plaintiff’s Effort to Take Advantage of Three Year Statute of Limitation An Arizona brokerage firm failed to establish that an online business journal with offices In New York, California, and Washington DC had the minimum contacts with New Hampshire to be sued there for defamation. Scottsdale Capital Advisors Corp. and John Hurry v….

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Defamation Suit By 9/11 Scammer Dismissed

By Matthew Leish The latest attempt by a convicted 9/11 scammer to sue the Daily News has been dismissed on res judicata grounds. Kendall v. Cuomo, 2017 WL 4124342 (S.D.N.Y. September 15, 2017). Cyril Kendall – who bills himself as “the World’s Most Unique Man” in his pleadings – was convicted in 2003 of defrauding…

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Mississippi Appellate Court Reinstates Defense Verdict for Blogger

Failure to File Appeal Brief Not a “Confession of Error” The Mississippi Court of Appeals reinstated a defense verdict in favor of a blogger who was sued by a municipal clerk for defamation. Griffith v. Wall, No. 2016 CA 01131 (Miss. App. Aug. 29, 2017). The case has an unusual procedural background. The blogger had…

California Court Holds Transgender Misidentification Is Not Facially Defamatory

Richard Simmons Loses SLAPP Motion Against Publications By Cydney Swofford Freeman In what appears to be a case of first impression, a California trial court has held that misidentifying a person as transgender is not defamatory on its face. Simmons v. American Media Inc., et al., No. BC 660633 (Cal. Super. Sept. 1, 2017) (Keosian,…

Federal Court Rejects Sarah Palin Libel Suit Against NY Times Over Editorial

By Jeremy Kutner A New York federal judge has rebuffed a libel lawsuit brought by former Alaska Governor and television personality Sarah Palin against The New York Times, holding that Palin had failed to plausibly allege that The Times acted with actual malice in publishing an editorial. Palin v. New York Times. (Aug. 31, 2017)….

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From the Executive Director’s Desk: London Conference a Great Success

Event Climaxes with Max Mosley Privacy Debate By George Freeman The MLRC’s London Conference was terrific. The only question was whether that was due to the great programme and events which Dave Heller put together, or our host city of London, which was bustling and lovely and clearly energized and excited our attendees. The answer,…

MediaLawLetter September 2017

 Download Publication MLRC From the Executive Director’s Desk: London Conference a Great SuccessEvent Climaxes with Max Mosley Privacy Debate 10 Questions to a Media Lawyer: Laura Handman LIBEL & PRIVACY S.D.N.Y.: Federal Court Rejects Sarah Palin Libel Suit Against NY Times Over EditorialPalin v. New York Times Co. Cal. Super.: California Court Holds Transgender Misidentification…