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Shor v. Billingsley, Supreme Court, NY Country, Special Term, 1856 Are ad-libbed statements in a radio broadcast slander or libel? Issue Reasoning Rule Facts
The utterance of defamatory remarks, read Radio broadcaster ad-libbed a statement about ∏ that he from a script into a radio microphone and was heavily in debt to everyone. This, ∏ said this defamed him. broadcast, constitutes publication of libel.
Because of the vast and wide audience reached by radio, broadcast of scandalous stuff is potentially harmful to the defamed person’s reputation as publication in writing. Even if not from a transcript, broadcast material could be very harmful. 1) True! But this falls squarely in within the boundaries of slander and we can’t change it. However, because TV and radio are new, we can make up new rules.
Defamation by radio is actionable per se.
Rule: Applying the law of libel to motion pictures because in the hands of a wrongdoer these devices have untold possibilities toward producing an effective libel
Held Procedure P argues D argues
1) Delivery of the same statement over an amplifier to a vast stadium would still be slander even it is caused a lot more damage than a writing that reaches a few.