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Defamation

by Mike Masnick

Fri, Mar 4th 2011 6:41am




Filed Under:
courtney love, defamation

Companies:
twitter


Courtney Love Settles Twitter Defamation Lawsuit; Pays Up

from the did-they-negotiate-in-140-characters dept

Two years ago, we wrote about the first big Twitter defamation lawsuit, involving Courtney Love complaining, rather emphatically, about a fashion designer, Dawn Simorangkir, with whom she'd had a falling out. Of course, we noted that the legal filing against Love seemed to make statements that appeared equally libelous towards Love as the statements she had made towards Simorangkir. We also pointed out that there seemed like better ways to deal with the case other than a lawsuit. The lawsuit really only served to call much more attention to the statements about Simorangkir.

Still, it seemed like Love's defense didn't have much substance, so it's really not a huge surprise that Love has agreed to settle and is paying out a stunning $430,000.

Yeah, that's an expensive tweet.

Love's lawyer tried to brush this off as a "modest" settlement, but I don't think most people think $430,000 for an outburst in 140 character chunks is "modest." I'm not sure what went into the decision to settle, but what worries me about this ruling is that it will encourage people to file more defamation lawsuits in hopes of getting similar settlements out of it.

12 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  1.  
    identicon
    EG, Mar 4th, 2011 @ 6:53am

    I wouldn't mind...

    A payout of over 30K a letter. Someone famous and well off, defame me!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
    icon
    Spaceman Spiff (profile), Mar 4th, 2011 @ 6:57am

    Big vs. Little

    Well, perhaps $430k isn't out of order for when a big start defames a small business owner (which I assume Simorangkir is), since their actions have much deeper and broader effect than some "little person" slandering/defaming a big star. Since I don't know much about this case, that's just a comment on the relative impact of what one person says vs. another when one is widely known, quoted, followed, and the other is just another head in the crowd.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    identicon
    Shaun, Mar 4th, 2011 @ 7:13am

    A fool and their money are easily parted.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  
    icon
    Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), Mar 4th, 2011 @ 7:46am

    Re: I wouldn't mind...

    The payout per goes way down when divided by the number of times Ms. Love has gotten naked with little to no provocation. If she uses that formula, she'll probably sleep a little better (and presumably, naked).

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    icon
    Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), Mar 4th, 2011 @ 7:48am

    Re:

    Someone uncouth could easily switch out "money" with "legs" in this particular case, but I'm above that sort of childish behavior.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Mar 4th, 2011 @ 8:03am

    You'd think a settlement for such a large sum would have confidentiality agreement keeping the amount a secret.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Mar 4th, 2011 @ 8:08am

    Re: I wouldn't mind...

    Call Charlie Sheen!
    Catching! Winner!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Mar 4th, 2011 @ 9:46am

    The problem is that the statement Love made is arguably libelous and untrue. With the media coverage that Love gets when having outbursts like these, its likely to spread to many more eyes and ears than others. While the statements in the suit against Love are, with common knowledge of her history, likely to be entirely true.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  
    icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), Mar 4th, 2011 @ 11:21am

    Re:

    You'd think a settlement for such a large sum would have confidentiality agreement keeping the amount a secret

    Agreed. I was surprised that it was made public. Love seems to have totally folded in this case.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Mar 4th, 2011 @ 1:15pm

    I wonder if I could get Courtney Love to start hating me? I could use a few extra hundred thousand...
    I can see it now... I'll have business cards printed. "Occupation: Hated by Courtney Love. Salary: Six figures."

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Mar 5th, 2011 @ 1:52pm

    Re: Re: I wouldn't mind...

    My kinda girl!!!!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  12.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Mar 5th, 2011 @ 7:00pm

    So much for a singer/musician standing up for first amendment rights...

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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