Verified Document

Fame And Liability Article

Libel Cases Liable is one way of preventing, someone from making false claims about another person. At the heart of these cases, is a focus on having varying degrees of proof. This means that private citizens have lower standards for demonstrating the damage that was caused (i.e. negligence). While more famous public figures and celebrities have higher benchmarks they must reach in providing their cases (i.e. strict liability). These differences are designed to give specific benefits to one group of people over others. The problem is that a double standard exists in the legal system, by providing favoritism to someone based upon the fact that they are not famous.

Years ago, these guidelines made sense, through giving the public more leeway in preventing damage to their reputations, income and standards of living. However, the rise of the 24-hour news cycle is highlighting how these concepts have become relics of the past. This enables news organizations to harass and criticize anyone who is a celebrity or public figure. The main argument is based upon the U.S. Supreme Court decision New York Times v. Sullivan. It outlined two basic standards which can be used to demonstrate how someone falls into one of these categories (i.e. pervasive and vortex public figures). The most notable include:

If the individual is actively involved in public affairs (such as: politicians and anyone in elected office).

If they are throwing themselves into the spotlight, in order to influence the outcome of various issues...

Yet, they may not be actively involved in the public affairs. Instead, they could be an actor, musician, model or producer / director. This allows news organizations to harass and publish material which is not true. In many cases, they will make slanderous statements and use New York Times v. Sullivan to defend their actions.
In these situations, plaintiffs should not be required to overcome the larger standard for burden of proof. This is because they are not trying to influence the political debate. Instead, they are individuals who have fame. Yet, they are entitled to greater amounts of privacy and protection against slanderous accusations. This can be accomplished by allowing them to use the negligence standard for proving their case. Under the law, this can occur by showing how the defendant engaged in irresponsible statements through: talking about the individual in public and not having any kind of proof to support their claims. If this standard was applied to celebrities, it will hold news organizations responsible for their actions. This will give them greater amounts of privacy in the process.

However, if the person is actively involved in public affairs, is when the higher standards of strict liability should apply. This is because they are thrusting themselves into the public debate and they are trying to influence its outcome. For example, when George Clooney discusses his views on…

Sources used in this document:
References

Harris, R. (2002). Citizenship and Participation in the Information Age. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Business Entities, Laws and Regulations
Words: 1038 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Felipe's inability to speak English would be a liability to the company and a possible safety threat, so he should not be hired as well. That leaves Eric and Michelle, who are both qualified candidates and could therefore both be hired. Even though Eric does not have a high school diploma, his life experience should make up for the lack of education, and he knows how to work a

Price Beauty 'For Though Beauty Is Seen
Words: 6265 Length: 20 Document Type: Term Paper

Price Beauty? 'For though beauty is seen and confessed by all, yet, from the many fruitless attempts to account for the cause of its being so, enquiries on this head have almost been given up" William Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty, (1753) Not very encouraging words, but if the great artist William Hogarth felt himself up to the task, we can attempt at least to follow his lead. That beauty is enigmatic

Octagon Football: Sports Law
Words: 2919 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

Sports Law Unlike was the case a few decades ago, sports has today become a multi-million dollar industry. It is this exponential growth in the 'business of sports' that has informed the growing interest in sports law. The legal issues that, in one way or another, relate to sports typically range from intellectual property to torts to contracts and many others. In seeking to explore the various legal issues in the

Legal and Ethical Considerations in Marketing Product Safety and...
Words: 3091 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

Marketing, Product Safety, and Intellectual Property Ethical issues relating to marketing and advertising, intellectual property, and regulation of product safety Various organizations often find themselves in the wrong side of the law when undertaking their various business practices relating to marketing and advertisement. It is the desire of every company to have its product known to as many consumers as possible. This often drives them to employ diverse marketing and advertisement

General Finance Questions
Words: 766 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Module 2 Class Discussion 1. There are several issues with pegging a currency. Largely they relate to the economic distortion this creates – Chinese good are cheaper than they should be in America and American goods are more expensive than they should be in China. This results in higher employment in China, higher GDP, but also much higher inflation. In the US, inflation is held low but employment and GDP growth

Privacy Rights in the Case
Words: 6316 Length: 15 Document Type: Term Paper

Layne', in December 1994, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner received a compliant that the Vancouver Police Department had taken a decision to block out the faces of those person who were being interviewed by the police in the program, "To Serve and to Protect." The complainant was KF Media Inc., of Vancouver B.C. KF Media Inc. who was the producer of the program, and it generally

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now