According to the EFF, the liabilities facing reporters are mainly

  • Defamation
  • Intellectual Property
  • Privacy

Defamation

Defamation is the reporting as fact untrue claims which may be harmful to an individual or group of individuals. Defamation laws are legislated by individual states and not the federal government. Some laws prevent only defamatory statements made in bad faith, ie, they allow an individual to make a claim he or she has good reason to believe is true. For example, the Sullivan Privilege allows for erroneous statement in the press provided the statement is made without actual malice. Libel is defamation in written form, while slander is spoken. Truth is a complete defense against claims of defamation.

Intellectual Property

Individuals have a right to control what they create. Copyright protects against misappropriation of another’s work, and limits the degree to which an individual can reproduce the work of another. Individuals are, however, allowed to reproduce a work so long as the reproduction is considered fair use. Courts look at four main factors when determining fair use:

  1. the purpose and character of the use; including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

US Code Title 17 Chapter 1 §107

Laws also exist to protect other forms of intellectual property, such as trade secrets, trademarks, and individual’s names and likenesses from misappropriation.

Privacy

Privacy laws vary from state to state and are defined by tort law. A tort is “a wrongful act or damage (not involving a breach of contract) for which a civil action can be brought” (Senat). These laws protect an individual’s right to privacy, including protections for private property and information. An important note about privacy laws is that truth is not a valid defense for invasion of privacy.