What is Defamation?

• In U.S. law, both libel and slander are forms of defamation. Defamation is the act of one or more parties making a false claim that can or has already caused apparent injury to another party. The specific type of injury may vary, but most defamation cases deal with injury to the reputation of the person or entity on the receiving end of the false claim. For instance, if a man named Bob has never broken the law, but someone spreads false claims that Bob is a bank robber, Bob has been defamed.
  
  

The Key Differences Between Libel and Slander

• Libel and slander both qualify as defamation, but the major difference between them is the form that a specific case of defamation has taken. Libel refers to defamatory statements that have been made in a durable, fixed medium; published words or pictures, public signage and even some types of electronic communication can qualify as libel. Slander refers to defamatory statements that are made in more transitory or less durable forms, and is most often used to define defamatory statements that have been spoken aloud. Slander can also refer to defamatory gesturing or any other type of defamation that is not as fixed and permanent as defamatory writing. Both forms of defamation, however, require the instance of defamation to be published or broadcast over some form of media.
  
  Newer technologies, particularly online media, have created legally fuzzy areas regarding the distinction between libel and slander. Take online chats, for example. They are clearly broadcast via a mass medium, and they are also clearly written forms of communication, so any defamatory statements that take place through online chats can be considered libelous. But the actual mode of communication in online chatting is most similar to a face-to-face conversation or phone call, which would only qualify as slander if such communications were published or broadcast. Court decisions may one day help form the legal definitions of defamation on this shaky ground, but so far, they have not.
  
  

Defenses Against Libel and Slander Charges

• There are numerous legal defense and prosecution strategies that apply to cases of libel or slander. In the United States, one of the most powerful legal strategies for libel or slander defendants is to prove that the defamatory statements they made are actually true, although they do not necessarily have to prove this to win their cases. Plaintiffs in these cases have a higher burden of proof to meet if they want to use the truth to win their cases; they must prove that the defamatory statements are false.
  
  If the person or entity alleged to have been defamed is a public figure or entity, his burden of proof is even higher. Not only does he have to prove that the defamatory statements are false, but he also has to prove actual malice on the part of the defamer. In other words, he must prove that the defendant knowingly spread harmful falsehoods.
  
  Defendants may also escape prosecution in such cases by successfully claiming that their defamatory statements were protected by some form of legal privilege, such as court testimony. If a defendant can also prove that he made the statements in good faith with a legitimate reason to believe that they were true, he can also often avoid penalties.