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Defamation law protects against false information that damages reputation, with libel per se for openly defamatory written statements and libel by quod for contextually damaging ones. Plaintiffs must prove the elements of defamation and may seek civil penalties and punitive damages.
Defamation law offers legal recourse to those who have written and published false information about them that damages their reputation, moral character and integrity. The two main types of libel laws are libel per se and libel by quod. The elements of proving defamation law are a published statement, a false statement, an infringing statement, and a non-privileged statement, which means that the statement is not otherwise protected by law. A libel suit often requires the plaintiff to provide additional facts to prove the elements of the case.
Defamation laws are a subset of defamation law in most jurisdictions. These laws are similar to slander laws and the evidence used to prove both are the same. The difference between defamation law and libel law is that the former protects against injury to reputation and moral character in written and published statements, and the latter protects against injury to reputation and moral character in oral statements. There are civil penalties for defamation, and the injured person has a legal recourse in the civil courts. Courts can award punitive damages in defamation suits.
Libel per se, which means on his face in Latin, refers to written words that openly defame someone’s reputation. The statement must be false in order for the plaintiff to win a defamation case. The plaintiff need not seek special compensation, only that the elements of defamation have been satisfied. For example, if a newspaper publishes that a local businessman killed his wife and the elements necessary to prove a libel case are satisfied, the plaintiff will receive compensation. No matter how terrible the statement, the plaintiff often has to prove that the statement did actual damage to his reputation, because libel law is a form of tort.
Libel for quod, which means undercover in Latin, means that a written, public statement leads to reputational damage based on the context of the statement and how readers might interpret it. Unlike libel per se, the plaintiff must seek special damages and show facts in addition to what is often required in a libel suit. The reason is that libel for quod in libel law is often more subjective than libel itself, which is simple. An example of libel for quod is when a newspaper runs a birth announcement claiming that Sandra Williams on Main Street is the proud mother, but Sandra is a 16-year-old and a devout Christian, and the newspaper really meant to write about another Sandra who lives on Second Street. The mistake is libel for quod because Sandra is a minor and the ad may suggest that she is promiscuous and not a devout Christian after all.
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