Defamation:  Overview

● Libel and Slander

One can cause defamation by either libel or slander.

Slander consists of an oral defamatory statement communicated to a person other than the plaintiff.

Libel consists of a printed or written defamatory statement that is published (communicated to a person other than the plaintiff).

A "repeater" or "republisher" is liable for defamation as if he had originally published the statement.

A distributor is liable only if he knew or should have known of the defamation.

Whether a Service Provider is considered a publisher or a distributor has been established by considering the following factors:

1. the use and nature of the Service Provider’s content guidelines,
2. the use of software which screens postings for offensive language,
3. the use of moderators to ensure that postings conform to content standards,
4. the availability of a delete function to prevent postings from getting online,
5. whether the Service Provider holds itself out as maintaining editorial control over content, and
6. whether the Service Provider likens itself to newspapers or other traditional publishers.

Stratton Oakmont v. Prodigy, 1995 WL 323710 (N.Y. Supp.) Prodigy was held to be a publisher because it held itself out as having editorial control over the content on its site; it expressly compared itself to a newspaper; it had a trained staff of moderators who had the ability to delete postings; it used software to screen for offensive language; and the moderators could use an emergency delete function to prevent non-conforming postings from going online.

Cubby v. CompuServe, 776 F.Supp. 135 (S.D.N.Y. 1991) CompuServe was held to be a distributor because it exercised no editorial control over content and in that capacity it was more like a news vendor or bookstore than a newspaper.

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Service Provider Liability Pages

Introduction • Table of Contents
Servcie Providers - Overview • Service Providers - Discussion • Liability Analogies - Overview • Liability Analogies - Discussion • Defamation - Overview • Defamation - Discussion • Intellectual Property - Overview • Intellectual Property - Discussion • Obscenity - Overview • Obscenity - Discussion • Criminal - Overview • Criminal Discussion • Privacy - Overview • Privacy - Discussion • Policy Discussion • Conclusion • Pocket Part • Notes & Links

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Prepared for Professor Laura Gasaway's Cyberspace Law Seminar (Law - 357C)
UNC School of Law - Spring 1997

By:  Ashe Lockhart (Webmaster) & Carol Kozar

Instructor: Laura N. Gasaway, Professor of Law and Director of the Katherine R. Everett Law Library

Copyright © 1997 Ashe Lockhart & Carol Kozar