Opinion ID: 1804268
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Elements: False Light v. Defamation

Text: Although Prosser described false light as one of the four causes of action for invasion of privacy, it is more closely related to defamation than the other three privacy torts. When the elements of false light are compared to those of defamation, the overlap between the two torts is evident. As previously mentioned, false light has the following six elements: (1) publicity; (2) falsity; (3) actor must act with knowledge or reckless disregard as to the falsity; (4) actual damages; (5) publicity must be highly offensive to a reasonable person; and (6) publicity must be about the plaintiff. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652E; see also Bueno, 54 P.3d at 899-900. Defamation has the following five elements: (1) publication; (2) falsity; (3) actor must act with knowledge or reckless disregard as to the falsity on a matter concerning a public official, or at least negligently on a matter concerning a private person; (4) actual damages; and (5) statement must be defamatory. See Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 558B, 580A-580B. Except for the distinction between publicity that is highly offensive and a publication that is defamatory, which we will discuss in more detail below, a comparison reveals that the elements of these two torts are remarkably similar.