Protect Yourself from Defamation
Our friends at the Community Newspapers Reciprocal Insurance Exchange and media lawyer Stuart Robertson have provided a reminder about special provision newspapers have regarding defamation.
We are not in the business of giving legal advice, but are happy to pass the following along, with the strong recommendation that you contact your media lawyer or newspaper association for further information:
Statutes grant special rights to newspapers in defending defamation claims, especially when something disreputable has been published in error. In those cases, if a retraction is published on a timely basis in an appropriate place, the paper is protected from most types of damages.
In Ontario, the retraction must be published within three days of receipt of the notice of libel, or in the next edition in the case of a weekly paper. Other provinces and territories have similar protections.
The defamation statutes grant specific rights to newspapers regarding libel suits, including short periods in which they can be sued; getting notice of the plaintiff’s intent to sue; specific defences for reporting on public events; the right to eradicate claims for most types of damages if they publish a retraction; and the right to have damages against them mitigated by any other award of damages or compensation paid to other defendants for the same libel.
But to qualify for the special provision, the newspaper must publish a ‘Notice’ in every edition, stating the name of its proprietor, publisher and physical address.
In Ontario, the Notice must go either on the front page of the newspaper or above the lead editorial on the editorial page. This position may not suit your layout and design, but it is a legal requirement.
Courts have ruled the web version of your newspaper is as much newspaper as the print version, so it is advised you put the Notice on the home page of your website, or on the ‘Contact Us’ page.
Special rights around defamation are granted by law because newspapers are vital to freedom of expression, and to encourage correction of errors.
But remember: if your newspaper does not publish the Notice as described and is sued for defamation, you will not be entitled to the basic newspaper defences. Also, you will not benefit fully from publishing a retraction or from mitigating your damages when someone else settles with the plaintiff for the same libel.
