INTRODUCTION

Defamation is the publication of a statement that refers to a person’s reputation and

tends to lower him in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally
or tends to make them shun or avoid him.

Defamation also called calumny, vilification, slander, and libel is the

communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be
factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or
nation a negative image.

The tort of defamation protects a person’s interest in his reputation. If the

defendant had made an untrue statement, or what amounts to a statement, which is
defamatory of the plaintiff, the plaintiff has a right of action against him unless the
defendant can establish one of the special defenses available to an action for
defamation. Since the tort of defamation protects the plaintiff’s reputation, and
since reputation depends on what other people think of the plaintiff, the publication
of the statement by the defendant to persons other than the plaintiff himself is an
essential part of the tort –the purpose of the tort is not to protect the injured the
feelings of the plaintiff. The tort goes beyond protecting their mere personal
reputation of the plaintiff and extends to the protection of the reputation of his
commercial and business undertakings.

The rules of the tort represent an attempt to strike a balance between two important
and often competing interests, the public interest in freedom of speech and the
private interest in marinating one’s reputation. The difficulty of achieving this
balance is perhaps indicated by the fact that, though liability for a defamatory
statement is strict and substantial damages might be recovered from the one
making the defamatory statement, a large variety of defenses exist for the one who
makes such a statement.

Regardless of whether a defamation action is framed in libel or slander, the

claimant must always prove that the words, pictures, gestures, etc are defamatory.
Secondly, the claimant must show that they refer to him and finally, that they were
maliciously published. These are the three essentials elements in a defamation
action.

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There are 2 types of defamation:

1. libel which is generally in a written format and

2. Slander which is in an Oral format.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

 To decode the law of defamation.
 To describe the meaning of defamation.
 To analyze which wrongful act constitutes the claim of defamation.
 To analyze the remedies under the tort of defamation.

HYPOTHESIS
There is no tort unless there has been a communication of the defamatory matter to
a third party.

If a defamation claim is successful the plaintiff can be awarded general or

aggravated compensatory damages or exemplary damages. Courts can issue
injunctions to prevent publication. The publisher’s retraction and apology reduce
damages.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 What is tort of defamation?
 What is the process of bringing an action against defamation?
 What are the available remedies against defamation?
 How can be recover damages for the suit against defamation?

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SOURCE OF DATA
 Blog
 Book
 Journal
 Magazines

TENTATIVE CHAPTERIZATION
1. Introduction
2. What is defamation?
3. Different types of defamation?
4. What is considered as defamatory?
5. Distinction Between libel and Slander
6. Remedies for Defamation
7. Damages for defamation
8. Conclusion
9. Bibliography

BIBLOGRAPHY
 https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/tort-law/defamation-is-the-
publication-of-a-statement-law-essays.php
 https://www.lawhandbook.org.au/2020_11_02_05_remedies_for_defamatio
n/
 https://ezproxy.nujs.ac.in:2100/HOL/Page?
collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/arklr6&id=432&m
en_tab=srchresults

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