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ARTICLE · 18 JUNE 1996

Defamation - Who is Liable for Posting Defamatory Statements?

Andersen Legal
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United KingdomMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Online defamation raised substantially the same issues as online infringements of copyright. As with copyright, the person making the defamatory statement may well be difficult to trace. Moreover, the online provider, having deeper pockets, will make the more attractive defendant. An online provider is therefore faced with the possibility of liability for defamatory material of which it is not aware and which, given the amount of material likely to be made available online, it could not realistically hope to detect.

Defamation case no 1

Cubby v CompuServe Inc
CompuServe was sued by a person claiming that he had been libelled by an electronic newsletter, Rumorville, carried on the CompuServe service. CompuServe successfully argued that it should not be held liable: the Rumorville newsletter was provided by independent contractors, and it had no more control over it than a library has over copies of newspapers.

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