At 12:30 AM 1/27/97 -0600, Jim Choate wrote:

Hi,

After review of the material I forwarded by request it is clear that 'fantasy' quotes are libel provided:

[gibberish deleted] You're mixing up elements of a prima facie case for libel, defenses, and standards for liability and damages. You're missing some elements, and adding some extra (contradictory) elements. You're also ignoring at least two other potential causes of action where a quote is misattributed, as well as trying to simultaneously discuss criminal and civil actions. Your summary of defamation law is not an accurate one. Your original message suggested that misattribution could be criminal. While this may be true in some jurisdictions (modulo the First Amendment), no prosecutor is going to waste his or her time with this sort of silliness. Also, go watch _The People v. Larry Flynt_ and meditate on the reason why Jerry Falwell lost his libel claim in the trial court. -- Greg Broiles | US crypto export control policy in a nutshell: gbroiles@netbox.com | http://www.io.com/~gbroiles | Export jobs, not crypto. |