WHAT IS DEFAMATION ALL ABOUT?
Defamation law is all about protecting reputation. Where a
person has published something whether orally or in permanent form
about somebody else to a third person or persons which is
defamatory, then the person defamed may have an action in
defamation.
Something is defamatory if it causes the audience to think less
of the person defamed or is likely to cause them to shun or avoid
that person. A communication of defamatory material can take many
forms including novels, poems, cartoons, paintings, photographs,
songs and satire.
WHY DOES THE LAW OF DEFAMATION MATTER?
As Shakespeare said in Othello (Act 3 Scene 3):
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate
jewel of their souls: Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis
something, nothing;
