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2. DEFAMATION
Friday, 19 October 2018 4:34 PM
a. In General
• Defamation
• Offense of injuring a person's character, fame , or reputation through false and malicious statements
• That which tends to:
• Injure reputation or to diminish the esteem, respect, good will or confidence in the plaintiff
• Excite derogatory feelings or opinions about the plaintiff
• Publication of anything which is injurious to the good name or reputation of another
• Bring another person into disrepute
• An invasion of a relational interest
• Involves the opinion which others in the community have of the plaintiff
• To determine whether certain utterances are defamatory, the words used should be:
• Construed in their entirety
• Taken in their plain, natural and ordinary meaning
• Unless it appears that they were used and understood in another sense
• Words which are MERELY INSULTING are not actionable as libel or slander per se
• Mere words of GENERAL abuse however ill‐natured, or vexatious DO NOT constitute basis for an action for defamation
• In the absence of an allegation for special damages
• Fact that language is OFFENSIVE to the plaintiff does NOT make it actionable by itself
b. Libel
• RPC:
a. Libel is a public and malicious imputation of:
• A Crime
• A Vice or defect, whether real or imaginary
b. Libel is any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to:
• Cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person
• Blacken the memory of one who is dead
• Elements of Libel:
• An allegation or imputation of a discreditable act or condition concerning another
• Publication of the imputation
• Identity of the person Defamed
• Existence of malice
• Publication
• Libel is punished, not only when it is widely circulated, but also when it is made known to another person OTHER THAN
the author and the offended party
• Published work alleged to contain libelous material must be examined as a whole
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