If you allow comments on your site, breathe easier. On Nov. 20, the Calif. Supreme Court decided that online publishers cannot be sued for posting or distributing libelous material written by others.
"Plaintiffs who contend they were defamed in an Internet posting may only seek recovery from the original source of the statement," wrote Justice Carol Corrigan in the court opinion.
This decision was in the closely watched Barrett v. Rosenthal case, covered earlier in Tidbits by Tish Grier. Bear in mind that people who make defamatory statements on others' sites and blogs are not off the hook -- they still can be sued for libel. So this decision does not, I believe, encourage online media to become a free-fire zone.
So far, this precedent applies only to lawsuits filed in Calif. -- but that state's Supreme Court is considered highly influential on media law, so it may well carry weight around the US.
More details at the Mercury News and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
(Thanks to JD Lasica for the tip.)
