Legal Question in Technology Law in New York

Private emails, internet forums and libel

I posted an email on an internet forum that was sent to someone else and forwarded to me. The author of the original email is now claiming that I falsified the email and stuck his name on it...which I didn't. I posted what was sent to me (by the original recipient), who assured me that it was original. Can the author of the email sue me for libel? Do they have a real case?


Asked on 2/08/02, 9:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kenneth J. Ashman Ashman Law Offices, LLC

Re: Private emails, internet forums and libel

Initially, you should be certain of what constitutes "libel." Matters of opinion are not libelous. For example, if, in the email, the author stated that so-and-so was a jerk, this would not be actionable as libel. In order for something to be libelous, it must be a false statement of fact.

Second, as you can surmise from the "false" statement requirement, if the statement is, in fact, true, there is no libel.

Setting these issues aside, one who distributes a libelous statement can face exposure for defamation, depending -- like everything else in the law -- on the circumstances.

-- Kenneth J. Ashman; Ashman Law Offices, LLC; [email protected]; www.lawyers.com/alo

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Answered on 2/08/02, 9:47 pm


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