well ok. I'll go for the proposition it's probably not his opinion, but that still doesn't make it libel. It makes it untrue, but for it to be slander it has to be a statement which can be construed as fact.
For example -- if I said Gruss has a horrible singing voice and he can't carry a tune, this would be untrue in that I have never met him and have no idea what he looks like let alone how he sings. But it's not libel because it's just what I think. Now supposing I said that I have three of his college term papers and have determined that they were plagiarized. This would be a factual statement (I have his papers) and an untrue statement (I have examined them) and it is also derogatory and in that I not only don't have any of his terms papers, but don't know where he went to college or even what his actual name is, this would also demonstrate a reckless disregard for the truth. I didn't just prettify or edit an interview, I dod not make a mistake, in this example I flat out made stuff up. He'd have to show damages but he would have a case. > > No, Mary Jo, I don't think so. He didn't say they were down on the > > corner peddling their all. The remark was derogatory but I do not > > think that anyone could show that it was meant as a atatement of > fact. > > It was an insult but it was an opinion. > > I have to disagree there. You can argue that it was humor and thus not > slander but very hard to claim it was just opinion. Here's the > definition of an opinion: > > "A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by > positive knowledge or proof" > > Meaning, you can't state it as fact, but it's your belief in what is > true. This isn't opinion, since it's clear he did not truly have any > belief in the truth of his statements. The only defense for his > statement *is* that it was intended as humor...which in and of itself > is not a defense. It just makes the burden of proof for a plaintiff > even harder, since they have to prove that at least some of the > audience might not have construed the statement in that way. > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Upgrade to Adobe ColdFusion MX7 Experience Flex 2 & MX7 integration & create powerful cross-platform RIAs http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/?sdid=RVJQ Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:232529 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
