MC 4163 SECOND EXAM STUDY GUIDE:
LIBEL: Defenses
Know the definitions and rules in general and how they are applied in Oklahoma. Be able to correctly recognize and apply them in hypothetical situations.
- What is summary judgment? What would it allow the libel defendant avoid? What can the defendant argue in requesting a summary judgment? The court is obligated to look at such a request in what way? What would prevent a summary judgment from being issued? If the judge issues a summary judgment, what has the judge decided?
- What is the statute of limitations in Oklahoma?
- Truth as a defense, including:
- Why is truth a defense?
- Substantial Truth: Do minor inaccuracies or omissions destroy the defense of truth? Why?
- Do proper attribution and qualifying phrases such as "it is rumored," "reports say," or "allegedly" invalidate the libelous character of a defamatory statement?
- Qualified Privilege
- Is this an absolute defense or a conditional defense?
- Why are journalists granted qualified privilege?
- Does qualified privilege exist only by statute in Oklahoma?
- What elements are necessary for the defense to succeed?
- Official proceedings:
- How do courts make that determination?
- Is reporting about government documents covered by the state's fair-reporting statute?
- Reports about which official proceedings and documents are covered by qualified privilege?
- In what way does Oklahoma common law provide broader protection than that provided by the statute?
- Fair and true report:
- Is it necessary that the story be exact in every immaterial detail or conform to the precision demanded in technical and scientific reporting?
- Has Oklahoma adopted the "substantial accuracy test"? What is the "substantial accuracy test"?
- Can text in an article undo the falsity in the article's headline?
- Is "mild hyperbole" protected by the statutory privilege?
- Are journalists required to conduct their own investigations to determine the accuracy of statements made in an official document or proceeding?
- Are journalists required to state that the government information may be inaccurate?
- Opinion:
- Has the Oklahoma Supreme Court recognized that the First Amendment protects expressions of pure opinion?
- What are the examples of pure opinion?
- Why should the underlying factual basis for the opinion be disclosed?
- Does couching a statement in terms of what someone thought, believed, or felt by itself make the statement an opinion?
- Why do Oklahoma courts recognize protection for rhetorical hyperbole? What is rhetorical hyperbole?
- What is the Ollman Test? How has it been applied in Oklahoma?
- Fair Comment and Criticism:
- What is the underlying principle for this defense?
- To be protected, must the opinion be reasonable?
- Does the state's fair-report statute also provide a statutory defense of fair comment and criticism? If so, how do those defenses differ?
- Oklahoma's common law recognizes a defense of fair comment and criticism.
- What do courts look at to determine if the common law fair comment defense is applicable?
- How is it broader than its statutory counterpart?
- Does the common law protection apply to false statements of fact?
- Can the common law defense of fair comment be used in Oklahoma when the libel plaintiff is a private person?
- Neutral Reportage Privilege:
- Do Oklahoma courts recognize this defense?
- What is this defense? What are the elements?
- Online Liability and The Communications Decency Act:
- What liability can online service providers incur under these cases? (Read the related footnotes in my book.)
- Cubby, Inc. v. Compuserv, Inc. (significance of)
- Stratton Oakmont, Inc. v. Prodigy Servs. Co (significance of)
- Zeran v. AOL (significance of)
- Is an online service provider more like a newspaper publisher or a bookstore? What difference does that make in terms of liability?
- Can an online service that exercises editorial control over its bulletin boards be considered a publisher subject to libel laws?
- How is it that Web sites are protected by The Communications Decency Act against libel claims?
- The CDA's "Good Samaritan" defense was a congressional response to which judicial reasoning? What unintended consequence does the provision create? (You'll have to determine the answer.)
- Understand how the CDA has been used to protect Web sites from libel claims arising from the publication of information provided by third parties.
- Wire Service Defense (from lecture)
- Under what criteria would the wire service defense not be available to a media defendant?
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