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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
CONFEDERATE MOTORS, INC.,
Plaintiff,
-
against
-
WES SILER, GRANT RAY,JALOPNIK.COM, and GAWKERMEDIA LLC,
Defendants.
X
:::::::::::X
Civil Action No. 2:09
-c
iv
-
00949
-
JEO
MOTION TO DISMISS AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW
BY DEFENDANTS GAWKER MEDIA, JALOPNIK.COM AND WES SILER
Forrest S. Latta
Richard J. Davis
BURR & FORMAN LLP
3400 Wachovia Tower
420 North 20th Street
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
James Rosenfeld
(
admitted
pro hac vice
)
Deborah Adler
(
admitted
pro hac vice
)
DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP
1633 Broadway
27th Floor
New York, New York 10019
Counsel for Defendants Gawker Media,
Jalopnik.com and Wes Siler
FILED
2009 Jun-30 PM 04:06U.S. DISTRICT COURTN.D. OF ALABAMA
Case 2:09-cv-00949-JEO Document 12 Filed 06/30/09 Page 1 of 32
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION
.....................................................................................................
1
STATEMENT OF FACTS
........................................................................................
2
The Parties
......................................................................................................
2
The Publication
...............................................................................................
3
The Claims and Requests for Relief
................................................................
5
ARGUMENT
............................................................................................................
6
I.
THE COURT MAY DISMISS PLAINTIFFS CLAIMS AS A
MATTER OF LAW
..............................................................................
6
A.
Rule 12(b)(6) Standard After
Twombly
......................................
6
B.
Judicial Notice of Public Records
..............................................
8
II.
PLAINTIFF'S LIB
EL CLAIM FAIL AS A MATTER OF LAW8
A.
The Publication Is Not Libelous Per Se
...................................
10
B.
The Publication Contains ConstitutionallyProtected Opinion
.....................................................................
10
1.
Reviews and Commentary
..............................................
11
2.
Hyperbole
.......................................................................
15
C.
The Posts Statement Regarding Prior Court
Actions Is Substantially True
...................................................
17
D.
Plaintiff Fails to Plead the Required Element of Special Damages
......................................................................
20
III.
PLAINTIFFS
TORT CLAIMS FAIL AS A MATTER OF
LAW...................................................................................................
21
CONCLUSION
.......................................................................................................
23
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Table of Authorities
Page(s)
Cases
Agora, Inc. v. Axxess, Inc.,
90 F. Supp.2d 697 (D. Md. 2000),
affd
, 11 Fed. Appx. 99 (4
th
Cir. 2001
)
......
13
Ala. Ride Co. v. Vance
,
178 So. 438 (1938)
.............................................................................................
17
Anderton v. Gentry
,
577 So. 2d 1261 (Ala. 1991)
..............................................................................
10
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
,
129 S. Ct. 1937 (2009)
.........................................................................................
7
Aviation Charter, Inc. v. Aviation Research Group/U.S.
,
416 F.3d 864 (8th Cir. 2005)
..................................................................
11, 12, 14
Baker v. Los Angeles Herald Examr
,
721 P.2d 87 (Cal.1986)
.....................................................................................
13
Barta v. Confederate Motorcycles
,
No. 459674M (19th Jud. Dist. Ct., Parish of E. Baton Rouge 1999
)
..................
4
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
,
550 U.S. 544 (2007)
.............................................................................
6, 7, 23, 24
Bernheim v. Litt
,
79 F.3d 318 (2d Cir. 1996)
...................................................................................
6
Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc.
,
466 U.S. 485 (1984)
.............................................................................................
9
Bryant v. Avado Brands, Inc
.
,
187 F.3d 1271 (11th Cir. 1999)
............................................................................
8
Butler v. Town of Argo
,
871 So. 2d 1 (Ala. 2003)
..............................................................................
14, 20
Casey v. McConnell
,
975 So. 2d 384 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007)
...............................................................
20
Case 2:09-cv-00949-JEO Document 12 Filed 06/30/09 Page 3 of 32
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