Opinion ID: 390302
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Scurrilous and Libelous Statements About Third Parties

Text: 76 The district court stated that the evidence in the present case was distinguished from that in the Watergate litigation and the Myers case because the tapes now under consideration are replete with scurrilous and libelous statements about third parties. I simply do not believe that a court should condone, much less affirmatively aid, the large-scale republication of such material. 501 F.Supp. at 862-63. As we have previously stated, courts may appropriately exercise their discretion to deny copying for rebroadcast of evidence which may inflict unnecessary and intensified pain on third parties who the court reasonably finds are entitled to such protection. Our review as to the strength of this factor in this case is hampered because the district court has failed to specify the nature of the offending statements or identify the persons concerned. For example, we do not know if the district court used the terms scurrilous and libelous as terms of art. They have different denotations. A scurrilous statement is generally considered to be merely offensive while a libelous statement is actionable. See generally Tollett v. United States, 485 F.2d 1087, 1092-96 (8th Cir. 1973). That which is scurrilous to one viewer may be shrugged off by another. 77 Under these circumstances, we believe it appropriate to remand this matter so that the district court can exercise its discretion to determine whether specific portions of the tapes merit excision. We are confident that the court will recognize that in view of our conclusion that there is no basis to withhold the right to copy the tapes in general, if any portion is deleted the broadcasters will be able to identify precisely which material has been deleted by comparing the transcripts of the evidence which they already have with the taped material to be made available to them. Therefore, excision might elicit comment on and reference to precisely the material which the district court would seek to protect. Nonetheless, the district court has some area of discretion in which to balance the strong public interest favoring access against legitimate privacy concerns of third parties. We therefore remand to the district court to consider, in light of this balancing, whether actual broadcast of videotape material is so likely to cause such serious harm to third parties that excision is warranted.