Please. That lawsuit was decided in 1998 -- eight years ago. He hasn't filed another since that I know of. He uses the fact that he did file one long ago and win as a way of intimidating people -- and when other people pass it around as evidence that "oooh... you better be careful of this guy... he really *will* sue you..." they are playing right into his hands.
Besides, that old lawsuit was about people trying to get his radio show off the air -- he was suing other people trying to infringe on his right of freedom of speech in that suit. Which is pretty funny, considering that now he is trying to stop other people from exercising their freedom of speech and using his ancient freedom of speech lawsuit as "proof" that he will sue you. The lawsuit he filed 8 years ago had NOTHING to do with movie posters or eBay. The key issue at hand right now is the fact that when he puts up his description of his auctions on eBay he is placing them "in the public eye" and that makes them open to public comment -- negative, true or not, unfounded... doesn't matter. Such comments can still be made because the auction is in the public eye. Think about it: If a business owner could successfully sue anyone who said anything negative about his business that "damaged his reputation or business" then how can a film reviewer say anything bad about a film? That certainly damages people's reputation and business. But they have placed the film "in the public eye" and people can say whatever they want about it. What about food critics in newspapers? They rag on a restaurant's food and service all the time, damaging the owners "reputation or business", but the restaurant doesn't sue them because they couldn't win. No, once you place something in the public eye, your recourse to recoup damages to "your reputation" though lawsuits drops way, way down. The "burden of proof" that people have mentioned applies primarily to private things. Like, if I go around saying that Sue Heim is secretly running a brothel, then I bloody well be able to prove that's true or yes, I would be libel to lose a lawsuit. If you keep your observations and opinions to what this bozo does and says in public on eBay you're safe enough. -- JR ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randall Petersen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 11:01 Subject: [MOPO] Loce and lawsuits > TL has filled lawsuits before. This one makes for very interesting > reading, for those who haven't seen it before. It's definitely worth > digging through the court document to get the juicy details. Tells you > something about this man's character, to be sure. > > http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=2nd&navby=case&no=979301 > > http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/supreme_court/index.html?query=LOCE,%20TOM&field=per&match=exact > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > > Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
