The claimant sought damages for an article in the defendant’s newspaper, a review of her book which said she had falsely claimed to have interviewed artists including the review author and that the claimant allowed interviewees control over what was said. The claimant sought to have struck out the defence of fair comment.
Held: A partial offer of amends had been rejected. The court considered whether the article purported to go beyond comment and to make false assertions of fact. The review consisted overwhelmingly of a subjective commentary. ‘It is by no means always easy to differentiate fact from comment. Mr Price is of course right to emphasise the importance of context. What might otherwise appear to be a statement or at least an inference of fact may be seen to be a factual inference when account is taken of admissible surrounding circumstances.’ and ‘I cannot say that a finding by the jury that the words constitute comment would be perverse. ‘
However a reader could not readily establish the factual basis of the comment, if comment it was, as to opportunities given by the claimant to interviewees to comment on her work. The passage complained of contained a clear and material mis-statement and the defence was struck out.
Sir Charles Gray
[2009] EWHC 2863 (QB)
Bailii
Defamation Act 1952 6, Defamation Act 1996 2
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Kemsley v Foot HL 25-Feb-1952
Fair Comment Crticism of Newspaper Publisher
The plaintiff alleged that the headline to an article written by the defendant which criticised the behaviour of the Beaverbrook Press, and which read ‘Lower than Kemsley’ was defamatory. The defendant pleaded fair comment. The plaintiff appealed. . .
Cited – Tse Wai Chun Paul v Albert Cheng 13-Nov-2000
(Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong) For the purposes of the defence to defamation of fair comment: ‘The comment must explicitly or implicitly indicate, at least in general terms, what are the facts on which the comment is being made. The reader or . .
Cited – Kemsley v Foot CA 14-Dec-1950
Pleading of Fair Comment Defence
The plaintiff newspaper proprietor complained that the defendant had defamed him in a publication ‘The Tribune’ with a headline to an article ‘Lower than Hemsley’ which article otherwise had no connection with the plaintiff. He said it suggested . .
Cited – Rath v Guardian News and Media Ltd and Another QBD 5-Mar-2008
The Claimant requested summary judgment on the fair comment defence to his defamation claim which was pleaded by the Defendant: ‘the Claimant’s conduct in relation to the false claims and criticisms has contributed in large part to a madness which . .
Cited – Joseph and Others v Spiller and Another CA 22-Oct-2009
The claimants, members of a rock band, alleged defamation by the defendants on their web-site. The defendants provided booking services. They said that the claimants were unreliable in failing to meet their contractual obligations. Their terms . .
Cited – Associated Newspapers Ltd v Burstein CA 22-Jun-2007
The newspaper appealed an award of damages for defamation after its theatre critic’s review of an opera written by the claimant. The author said the article made him appear to sympathise with terrorism.
Held: The appeal succeeded. Keene LJ . .
Cited by:
See Also – Thornton v Telegraph Media Group Ltd QBD 16-Jun-2010
The claimant said that a review of her book was defamatory and a malicious falsehood. The defendant now sought summary judgment or a ruling as to the meaning of the words complained of.
Held: The application for summary judgment succeeded. The . .
See Also – Thornton v Telegraph Media Group Ltd QBD 4-Feb-2011
The defendant sought permission to amend its defence to the claim in malicious falsehood. . .
Appeal from – Thornton v Telegraph Media Group Ltd CA 29-Mar-2010
. .
See Also – Thornton v Telegraph Media Group Ltd QBD 27-May-2011
The defendant appealed against an order refusing trial by judge alone on the basis that the application had been made out of time. . .
See Also – Telegraph Media Group Ltd v Thornton CA 22-Jun-2011
. .
See Also – Thornton v Telegraph Media Group Ltd QBD 26-Jul-2011
The claimant alleged defamation and malicious falsehood in an article published and written by the defendants. She complained that she was said to have fabricated an interview with the second defendant for her book. An interview of sorts had now . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Defamation, Torts – Other
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.379562
