anti-SLAPP law

California court rules talk show commentator shielded from libel under fair report privilege

A California court of appeals ruled that when a talk show commentator reported that a former high school principal used school resources to sell ads for a gay magazine, he was exempt from libel charges under a state laws that protects journalists reporting on government matters. The former principal had had earlier lost a ruling in trial court on his claim under the anti-SLAPP law. The appeals court also found that the principal was a

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Dentist loses defamation case must pay Yelp and reviewers for legal fees

A California dentist, who sued Yelp and reviewers for a bad review concerning a filling the dentist put into the mouth of the reviewers’ six-year-old son, must pay court costs according to a ruling in district court. A California appellate court ruled last year that Yelp could not be held for defamation because the post was protected under the state’s anti-SLAPP law that protects public discussion of important issues, in this case the presence of

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CA Appeals Court: free Internet porn isn’t unfair competition to pay porn sites

Bright Imperial Limited of Hong Kong, which operates paid pornography sites with streaming X-rated video, filed suit in California against Redtube.com, a competing porn business that does not charge users for access. The suit claimed Redtube’s free porn sites were hurting Bright Imperial’s business and constitute “unfair competition” under California’s Unfair Practices Act. As reported by Ars Technica, the complaint charged that: “. . . ubiquitous distribution of free adult videos through redtube.com has had

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‘Hurt Locker’ producers cite First Amendments protections in dispute with Iraq war vet

Producers of the Oscar winning “The Hurt Locker” have filed a motion to dismiss a suit brought by an Iraq war veteran who said the filmmakers ripped off his life story. -db Yahoo!News June 15, 2010 By Eriq Gardner, Reuters LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Producers of “The Hurt Locker” are firing back against the Iraq War veteran who claimed that his life story was ripped off to create the Academy Award-winning drama. Master Sgt.

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California court rules suit over attorney’s rule violation a SLAPP

A California appeals court ruled that even though an attorney erred in failing to omit identifiers in a court filing of a credit report, the filing was not of a certain type of criminal activity cited in a previous case and therefore was protected activity. -db Metropolitan News-Enterprise June 11, 2010 By Steven M. Ellis An action against a Beverly Hills attorney who admittedly violated a court rule by filing an unredacted copy of a

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