He contended that the mention of "police" in the ad referred to him as the Montgomery police commissioner and that the ad contained factual errors that damaged his reputation. Sullivan, had not been named in the advertisement, he sued for libel. Even though the police commissioner, L.B. The advertisement accused the police department in Montgomery, Alabama, of being armed with shotguns and using tear gas to subdue students. It also claimed that black students who had staged a nonviolent civil rights demonstration at Alabama State University had been the target of police brutality. The ad claimed that King had been arrested seven times and that his home had been bombed. The group was trying to raise money for the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King. The New York Times case stemmed from an advertisement the newspaper accepted in 1960 from a group of people in the civil rights movement. Sullivan, and the standards have been applied since then to public officials. Supreme Court applied in 1964 in a landmark libel case, New York Times Co. The key factors to consider are whether you published untrue information that hurt the reputation of an identifiable person and whether you were either negligent or reckless in failing to check the information: -Are you publishing something that may not be truthful? -Are you carelessly publishing something that is inaccurate? -Are you publishing something accusatory that you haven't checked out? -Are you publishing something that clearly identifies a person and harms that person's reputation? If your answer is yes to any of those questions, you could be in trouble for libel. The real concern is whether the person has grounds enough to win. Anyone can sue or threaten to sue for libel, claiming injury to his reputation. If the defamatory statements are published - whether online or in print - they can still be considered libelous. Several libel suits have also resulted from messages that people posted to online discussion groups. The "script" is not limited to a news story, the authors explain it can take the form of headlines, photos, cartoons, film, tape, records, signs, bumper stickers and advertisements. Oral or spoken defamation is slander," according to Donald Gillmor and his co-authors in Mass Communication Law: Cases and Comment. Broadcast defamation is libel because there is usually a written script. "Libel is essentially a false and defamatory attack in written form on a person's reputation or character. If you've recorded something from a DVD, videotaped your TV screen, or downloaded a video online, don't post it unless you have permission." The YouTube site specifically states: "If you're not sure if something will violate someone's copyright, the safest thing to do is to create something completely original, with images and audio you've created. Question 4: False You are violating copyright by using all or a portion of a song or video that you did not create yourself. You can criticize someone as a bad performer without being libelous, but if you falsely accuse the performer of being a drug addict, that would be libelous. Question 3: False You may express opinions without impunity, but if you publish an allegation that is false and damaging to a person's reputation, you can be sued for libel no matter where it is published in a newspaper, on a website or in a broadcast medium. In many cases the site may grant permission to use images on personal pages, but not for commercial use. government sites or from websites that say permission is granted for specific use. However, some images may be available without permission if they are from most U.S. It does not need to have a copyright notice to be protected by U.S. Question 2: False All material on the Internet is copyrighted as soon as it is created. It is probably a good idea to check the postings and delete ones that you think are offensive or potentially libelous. In addition, because the Web is a global medium, you could be liable in other countries. But if you create part of the message by editing it, you could be considered a "content provider," and you might be liable in a lawsuit. The federal Communications Decency Act grants immunity to website operators and Internet providers for messages posted by a third party. Question 1: False The paper is not liable for messages posted by a third party.
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