False Accusations

**rahulguj** · 02-21-2010, 04:14 PM

Can you sue someone if its a journalist thats making false claims about a person?

**Dogmatique** · 02-21-2010, 04:16 PM

Quoting rahulguj

Can you sue someone if its a journalist thats making false claims about a person?

Can you give more details?

**rahulguj** · 02-21-2010, 04:22 PM

This is the scenario:

An artist produced an artwork which has been put for display in a park. a journalist wrote an article against the artist and stated that the artist had 3 other artworks that she had produced. those accusations were false. the artists also included pictures of the artworks.

**Dogmatique** · 02-21-2010, 04:48 PM

Quoting rahulguj

This is the scenario:

An artist produced an artwork which has been put for display in a park. a journalist wrote an article against the artist and stated that the artist had 3 other artworks that she had produced. those accusations were false. the artists also included pictures of the artworks.

You haven't made this any clearer.

Did the journalist inadvertently assign some works of art to the artist that didn't in fact belong to her?

Or did the journalist critique a piece which the artist feels may be unfair?

**rahulguj** · 02-21-2010, 05:13 PM

The journalist posted pictures claiming that they were the artist's other works of art when it was not. Basically he made a false claim and the pictures were fake.
Can the artist do anything about this situation
Thank you

**rahulguj** · 02-21-2010, 08:44 PM

So, does anyone know if a journalist can make false claims about you and publish the article. Can you sue him?

PS: he is inserting pictures of artworks that are not the artists work and is claiming that they are.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 02-21-2010, 09:58 PM

Laws are different in each state. What U.S. state are we talking about?

**KeyWestDan** · 02-22-2010, 01:39 AM

It makes absolutely no difference WHAT STATE you are in. There is no state in which you could sue for this alleged conduct. No state court is going to issue an opinion that goes against controlling opinions from US Courts of Appeal or the US Supreme Court which make your hoped for libel action totally impossible.

In a word NO. In a few words: NO FLIPPING WAY. The journalist was sloppy and should obviously have interviewed the artist. A letter to the editor or a request for a followup story to correct the errors should be requested.

Nobody can sue for sloppy reporting. The artist could never prove any actual damages anyway.

As for taking legal action, there is not a chance. A civil action can be filed, but it will be dismissed upon the first motion for dismissal.

You will never find an attorney to take this case on contingency, period.