Source: http://www.kleinmoynihan.com/fake-news-a-legal-perspective/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 09:11:17+00:00

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The concept of “fake news” has garnered substantial attention in recent years, evolving from its satirical literary origins into a passionately criticized Internet phenomenon. Whether described as rumors, “counterknowledge,” misinformation, “post-truths,” “alternative facts” or just plain damned lies, these false statements of fact typically are published on Web sites and disseminated via social media for profit or social influence.
While fake news publishers are regularly taken to task in the court of public opinion, we are unaware of any prior structured discussion of the unique legal issues surrounding the publication of fake news. This article evaluates examples of fake news publications to present a workable definition of “fake news” for purposes of our legal analysis. We then explore many of the legal and regulatory hurdles facing online fake news publishers. This article concludes by discussing some of the legal protections available to fake news publications and publishers of other online content.
As the above-referenced examples illustrate, the cornerstone of a fake news publication is its falsity— the principal statements of fact communicated in fake news articles are fabricated and untrue. Further, fake news publications are intentionally or knowingly false. Fake news publishers do not reasonably believe that the stated facts are true. Negligent and reckless false publications of fact (including erroneous publications by mainstream media sources), while potentially legally actionable, fall outside the scope of this article. In addition, although print tabloids and news satire television series receive their fair share of legal attention, our fake news legal analysis set forth herein focuses on articles, videos, and graphics shared via the Internet. The vast majority of fake news articles are written about public figures or controversial current events and shared via social media with the hope of going “viral.” By linking social media posts to Web sites that contain banner advertisements and/or other promotional content, many publishers of fake news are able to monetize the resulting Web traffic. In fact, a successful fake news publication can be shared millions of times and generate tens of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue.
For purposes of this article, we define “fake news” as the online publication of intentionally or knowingly false statements of fact. Others have defined “fake news” to exclude well-known satirical Web sites such as the Onion, which uses humor and exaggeration to criticize social and political issues.3 While it is true that obvious satire and parody often are legally protected speech, the underlying legal analysis that is applied to reach this conclusion is a complex and fact-specific endeavor better addressed through case-by-case analysis.
Fake news publishers most frequently are sued by private individuals or businesses seeking to collect monetary damages or injunctive relief. Some of the more common civil legal claims and associated defenses are described below.
No legal claim is invoked more frequently against fake news publishers than the common law tort of defamation. Generally, defamation is the communication of a false statement of fact that harms another person’s reputation or character. Spoken, unrecorded defamation is known as slander, while defamatory statements that are written or otherwise recorded are defined as libel.
Publishers of fake news and other online content should be aware of the risks associated with the unauthorized use of third-party intellectual property. Most notably, the federal Lanham Act and applicable state unfair competition laws prohibit trademark infringement and false representations of fact in commercial advertising that misrepresent the nature or characteristics of another’s goods, services, or commercial activities.16 Online publishers should refrain from using third-party names, logos and other identifiers in a way that may confuse consumers as to the origin or sponsorship of products or services. This is especially relevant for fake news publishers that use third-party brands for product endorsement or promotional purposes.
Likewise, the creators of written text, photographs, artwork, and other original works of authorship are granted exclusive rights under federal copyright law to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works from such content.17 To avoid claims of infringement, publishers using third-party materials should be sure to seek out the permission of content owners or consult intellectual property counsel as to whether the legal doctrines of fair use or public domain apply.
Separate intellectual property rights exist with respect to a person’s name and likeness. The laws of at least 47 states have acknowledged a “right of publicity,” which grants an individual the right to control the commercial use of his or her identity.18 While the First Amendment and some statutory safe harbors protect the use of an individual’s name and likeness in publications concerning matters of public interest, the person’s prior written consent may be necessary to exploit his or her right of publicity for purely commercial purposes, such as in connection with advertising. As such, online publishers are advised to obtain consent in writing to the commercial use of an individual’s name and likeness, especially if the person is purportedly providing a testimonial or otherwise promoting a product or service.
In addition to the examples provided above, fake news publishers have faced claims for false light invasion of privacy, fraud, tortious interference, unfair/deceptive trade practices, and a variety of other civil causes of action. The applicability of these claims to publishers of fake news and other online content—and the various constitutional and statutory defenses associated therewith—depend largely on the specific factual circumstances of each case.
In addition to the sampling of civil legal issues described above, fake news publishers are, on occasion, accused of crimes and violations of other governmental regulations, including those explored below.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state Attorneys General are given broad discretion to investigate questionable trade practices and take appropriate enforcement action. Businesses and individuals found to have engaged in consumer fraud or deception can be permanently enjoined by a court from continuing such conduct in the future and may be ordered to pay civil penalties and provide consumer redress (e.g., disgorgement of related profits to the government for the public’s benefit). For example, in April 2011, the FTC filed lawsuits in federal district courts throughout the country against 10 fake news publishers for allegedly using the names and logos of major news organizations for purposes of deceptively promoting an acai berry weight-loss product. Through settlement agreements, the defendants ultimately agreed to pay millions of dollars to the FTC, halt their allegedly deceptive practices and add certain marketing disclosures to their respective Web sites.
In many instances, criminal libel charges have been reduced or dismissed entirely when defendants question the constitutionality of the subject statute. In light of the continued activity in this space, fake news publishers are advised to seek legal counsel in the event that they are investigated or charged for criminal libel.
Some legal scholars describe the Alvarez ruling as delineating a “constitutional right to lie.”26 While the FTC and Attorneys General have broad discretion to aggressively pursue unfair and deceptive trade practices claims against fake news publishers, defendants in other cases have had increasing success in raising First Amendment defenses to criminal and regulatory claims involving restrictions on false speech.
Not all regulations affecting fake news publishers are strictly legal in nature. Many advertising networks, social media companies, and other Internet partners enact and enforce their own restrictions relevant to the publication of fake news.
As described above, fake news publishers often monetize their articles by partnering with advertising networks (e.g., Google AdSense and Media.net) and marketing affiliate programs (e.g., Amazon Associates) that may place banner advertisements on their Web sites. Further, some publishers supplement their social media traffic by purchasing Internet search advertising, such as Google AdWords.
Accordingly, publishers of fake news Web sites and other online content should carefully review each partner advertising network and marketing affiliate program’s policies and guidelines to ensure their compliance with all applicable content requirements and restrictions. Online publishers whose accounts are suspended by Google or another advertising partner (often without warning and with little or no stated justification), or that are otherwise notified of program policy violations, may consider consulting Internet marketing counsel to take proper remedial action, which may include Web site content revisions and/or submission of appeal correspondence.
As mentioned above, social media is the lifeblood of fake news. Social media platforms allow publishers to disseminate viral fake news media to mass audiences more efficiently and affordably than traditional marketing methods.
As detailed above, fake news publishers are faced with a variety of serious legal and regulatory concerns. However, publishers who choose to navigate the legal risks associated with fake news may be able to take certain proactive steps to help protect themselves and minimize their legal exposure.
When determining whether a person of reasonable intelligence would construe a false statement as describing actual facts, courts often consider whether the subject publisher readily identifies itself as a source of fiction, parody, or satire. Fake news publishers may consider mitigating legal risk by working with experienced Internet marketing counsel to craft appropriate notices and disclaimers, which should be placed conspicuously on their Web sites and social media pages. If applicable, fake news publishers also may wish to include an appropriate copyright notice on their respective Web sites, original articles, artwork, and other creative materials to inform the public that the subject works are protected by copyright (as discussed below).
While multiple issues of printed newspapers and other periodicals can be bundled together for group copyright registration as a collective work, online articles published one at a time must be registered separately. Many Internet publishers find this distinction—combined with the lengthy processing time for standard copyright applications (currently six to ten months) and relatively short lifespan of most online news stories—to be prohibitive to registration of each individual online publication. However, publishers of fake news articles or other online works that are the subject of a pending or prospective copyright dispute can take advantage of the Copyright Office’s special handling option, which typically reduces the copyright application processing time to only five business days.
A variety of media liability insurance policy options exist for writers, including online publishers. While the scope of coverage varies, a number of underwriters offer media liability insurance policies that provide protection in connection with many legal claims faced by online publishers, including defamation, intellectual property infringement and violations of the right of publicity. In light of the substantial risk of legal liability associated with the dissemination of fake news, publishers are well-advised to purchase appropriate media liability insurance coverage.
The recent proliferation of fake news has roused the ire and condemnation of fact-checkers and traditional news publishers across the globe. Many believe that fake news undermines our faith in the mainstream media and the very foundation of our democracy. Others claim that fake news publications unethically exploit social media “filter bubbles” or “echo chambers” through which many Internet users obtain their news. In response, California State lawmakers have introduced legislation to commission new high school “media literacy” curriculum standards to help young people distinguish fake news from its traditional counterpart.34 One epidemiologist has even drawn parallels between the propagation of fake news stories via the Internet and the evolution and transmission of infectious diseases.35 Needless to say, fake news publishers will not soon win any Peabody Awards or popularity contests. As media attention and public condemnation of fake news continues to intensify, we predict that more lawmakers, regulators, courts, and private citizens will explore legal and regulatory solutions that balance the societal importance of truth-seeking with the constitutional right to speak freely (and, at times, to lie).
This article presents a definition of fake news for purposes of legal analysis and provides a non-exhaustive survey of the many legal and regulatory issues that face fake news publishers. Because every publication is different, online publishers are advised to speak with an experienced Internet marketing and intellectual property attorney about minimizing their unique legal risks before publishing fake news.
David O. Klein is the managing partner of Klein Moynihan Turco in New York, where he practices Internet marketing law and intellectual property law. He can be reached at dklein@kleinmoynihan.com. Joshua R. Wueller is an associate at Klein Moynihan Turco and can be reached at jwueller@kleinmoynihan.com.
This article was originally published in the April 2017 edition of the Journal of Internet Law.
Craig Silverman, “How the Bizarre Conspiracy Theory Behind ‘Pizzagate’ Was Spread,” BuzzFeed News (Dec. 5, 2016), http://bit.ly/pizzagatefakenews.
2. Liam Stack, “To Lure Moviegoers, 20th Century Fox Dangles Fake News,” N.Y. Times, February 16, 2017, at B1.
3. See Hunt Allcott & Matthew Gentzkow, “Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election,” NBER Working Paper No. 23089 (Jan. 2017), http://bit.ly/allcot-gentzkow.
4. See Donald J. Trump, Twitter, http://bit.ly/trumpfakenews (last visited Mar. 7, 2017).
5. Bente Birkeland, “When a Politician Says ‘Fake News’ and a Newspaper Threatens to Sue Back,” NPR (Feb. 17, 2017), http://bit.ly/NPRfakenews.
6. See Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974); N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964).
7. New Times, Inc. v. Isaacks, 146 S.W.3d 144 (Tex. 2004).
8. Farah v. Esquire Magazine, Inc., 863 F. Supp. 2d 29 (D.D.C. 2012).
9. 47 U.S.C. § 230.
10. Section 230 Protections, Elec. Frontier Found., http://bit.ly/EFF230 (last visited Feb. 28, 2017); see also Kevin Delaney, “Republication in the Internet Age,” News Media & the Law (Summer 2014).
11. Complaint, Trump v. Tarpley, No. V424492 (Md. Cir. Ct. Sept. 1, 2016); Dan Morse, “Melania Trump Reaches Settlement in Libel Lawsuit Against Maryland Blogger,” Wash. Post (Feb. 7, 2017), http://bit.ly/trumplibel; Webster G. Tarpley, “Statement Regarding Melania Trump Lawsuit,” Tarply.net (Sept. 1, 2016), http://bit.ly/tarpleystatement.
12. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 cmt. d (Am. Law Inst. 1965).
13. Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988).
14. Hamilton v. Prewett, 860 N.E.2d 1234 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).
15. Tharpe v. Lawidjaja, 8 F. Supp. 3d 743 (W.D. Va. 2014); Peter Vieth, “Soccer Coach Settles Case Against Photographer,” Va. Law. Wkly. (May 30, 2014), http://bit.ly/fakenewsIIED.
16. 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a); see also Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200–10; N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 349.
17. 17 U.S.C. § 106.
18. See, e.g., Cal. Civ. Code § 3344.1; N.Y. Civ. Rights Law § 50.
19. See A. Jay Wagner & Anthony L. Fargo, Int’l Press Inst., “Criminal Libel in the Land of the First Amendment,” 37 n.76 (2015) (citing criminal libel statutes in Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, the Virgin Islands, Virginia, and Wisconsin).
20. Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 64 (1964) (citations omitted).
21. David Pritchard, “Rethinking Criminal Libel: An Empirical Study,” 14 Comm. L. & Pol’y 303, 327-28 (2009).
22. Mink v. Suthers, 482 F.3d 1244 (10th Cir. 2007) (dismissing the blog publisher’s constitutional claims on lack of standing and mootness grounds for failure to establish a credible fear of criminal prosecution). Subsequently, the General Assembly of the State of Colorado repealed the State’s criminal libel statute. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-13-105 (repealed 2012).
23. See, e.g., N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:33-4.1.
24. State v. Bishop, 787 S.E.2d 814 (N.C. 2016).
25. United States v. Alvarez, 567 U.S. 709 (2012) (invalidating as unconstitutional the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, 18 U.S.C. § 704(b)).
26. Noah Feldman, “The Constitutional Right to Lie,” Bloomberg View (June 29, 2012), http://bit.ly/righttolie.
27. AdSense Program Policies, Google, http://bit.ly/adsensepolicy (last visited Mar. 7, 2017) (prohibiting Web sites with “misrepresentative content”); AdWords Policies, Google, http://bit.ly/adwordspolicies (last visited Mar. 7, 2017) (prohibiting representations that are not “accurate, realistic, and truthful”); Program Guidelines, Media.net, http://bit.ly/medianetguidelines (last visited Mar. 7, 2017) (prohibiting “fake news” Web sites); Associates Program Policies, Amazon Associates, http://bit.ly/associatespolicy (last visited Mar. 7, 2017) (prohibiting Web sites with “libelous or defamatory materials”).
28. Scott Spencer, Google, “How We Fought Bad Ads, Sites and Scammers in 2016,” The Keyword (Jan. 25, 2017), http://bit.ly/keywordblog.
29. Advertising Policies, Facebook, http://bit.ly/FBadpolicies (last visited Mar. 7, 2017).
30. Gwenaelle Barzic & Sudip Kar-Gupta, “Facebook, Google Join Drive Against Fake News in France,” Reuters (Feb. 6, 2017), http://bit.ly/reutersfakenews; Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook (Nov. 19, 2016), http://bit.ly/zuckerbergfakenews.
31. Melissa Eddy, “German Court Refuses to Block Facebook Users from Reposting a Refugee’s Selfie,” N.Y. Times, March 8, 2017, at B5.
32. Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices § 310.2 (3d ed. 2014).
33. Karolina Andersdotter, “Alternative Facts and Fake News— Verifiability in the Information Age,” IFLA Blogs (Jan. 27, 2017), http://bit.ly/IFLAblogs.
34. Melanie Mason, “Fake News 101? Lawmakers Want California Schools to Teach Students How to Evaluate What They Read on the Web,” L.A. Times (Jan. 11, 2017), http://bit.ly/fakenewslaw.
35. Adam Kucharski, “Post-Truth: Study Epidemiology of Fake News,” 540 Nature 545 (2016).

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