Administrative Law

Libel Suit over Digitized Article Dismissed

By Mary

From American Libraries June 13: "A federal judge has dismissed a $1-million lawsuit filed by a Cornell University alumnus who claimed that the school libeled him in a 1983 Cornell Chronicle article reporting that he had been charged with third-degree burglary when he was a student. Back issues of the Chronicle, a newspaper published by the university?s press office, are being digitized by the campus library."

Minow take: This is an important issue for all libraries who are doing digitization projects, especially digitizing old newspapers.  Good decision, though I notice the plaintiff has filed for an appeal.  Libel claim - the court looked at the article and found that although perhaps poorly written, the "gist" of the article was true. Disclosure of private facts claim was dismissed since the item was newsworthy. Almost anything today is newsworthy, so it would very tough to succeed in such a claim.

Full post as published by LibraryLaw Blog on June 16, 2008 (boomark / email).