(a)In any action for damages for the publication of a libel in a daily or weekly news publication, or of a slander by radio broadcast, plaintiff shall only recover special damages unless a correction is demanded and is not published or broadcast, as provided in this section. Plaintiff shall serve upon the publisher at the place of publication, or broadcaster at the place of broadcast, a written notice specifying the statements claimed to be libelous and demanding
that those statements be corrected. The notice and demand must be served within 20 days after knowledge of the publication or broadcast of the statements claimed to be libelous.
(b)If a correction is demanded within 20 days and is not published or broadcast in substantially as conspicuous a manner in the same daily or weekly news publication, or on the same broadcasting station as were the statements claimed to be libelous, in a regular issue thereof published or broadcast within three weeks after service, plaintiff, if he or she pleads and proves notice, demand and failure to correct, and if his or her cause of action is maintained, may recover general, special, and exemplary damages. Exemplary damages shall not be recovered unless the plaintiff proves that defendant made the publication or broadcast with actual malice and then only in the discretion of the court or jury, and actual malice shall not be inferred or presumed from the
publication or broadcast.
(c)A correction published or broadcast in substantially as conspicuous a manner in the daily or weekly news publication, or on the broadcasting station as the statements claimed in the complaint to be libelous, before receipt of a demand for correction, shall be of the same force and effect as though the correction had been published or broadcast within three weeks after a demand for correction.
(d)As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)“General damages” means damages for loss of reputation, shame, mortification, and hurt feelings.
(2)“Special damages” means all damages that plaintiff alleges and proves that he or she has suffered in respect to his or her property, business, trade, profession, or
occupation, including the amounts of money the plaintiff alleges and proves he or she has expended as a result of the alleged libel, and no other.
(3)“Exemplary damages” means damages that may in the discretion of the court or jury be recovered in addition to general and special damages for the sake of example and by way of punishing a defendant who has made the publication or broadcast with actual malice.
(4)“Actual malice” means that state of mind arising from hatred or ill will toward the plaintiff; provided, however, that a state of mind occasioned by a good faith belief on the part of the defendant in the truth of the libelous publication or broadcast at the time it is published or broadcast shall not constitute actual malice.
(5)“Daily or weekly news publication” means a publication, either in print or
electronic form, that contains news on matters of public concern and that publishes at least once a week.
Notes of Decisions
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974).
· cites it 4× “875 , 938 (1956); Cal. Civ. Code § 48a (4) (d) (1954). In its stead, the Court requires defamation plaintiffs to show intentional falsehood or reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of the publication.”
Nunes v. Cable News Network, Inc., 31 F.4th 135 (2d Cir. 2022).
· cites it 6× “Further, we affirm the district court’s determination that the complaint failed to state claims for defamation and civil conspiracy to defame because Nunes (1) failed to demand retraction in accordance with California Civil Code § 48a, a substantive rule of decision, and (2)…”
Taus v. Loftus, 151 P.3d 1185 (Cal. 2007).
· cites it 2× “" (Civ. Code, § 48a, subd. 4(d).) As we explained in Sanborn v.”
Condit v. Nat'l Enquirer, Inc., 248 F. Supp. 2d 945 (E.D. Cal. 2002).
· cites it 8× “Plaintiff demands an apology and a retraction to be published in the Enquirer. See id. at ¶¶ 22, 31, 39.”
Kapellas v. Kofman, 459 P.2d 912 (Cal. 1969).
· cites it 6× “" (Civ. Code, § 48a, subd. 4(b); see, e.g., Maidman v.”
Donald Newcombe v. Adolf Coors Co. Foote, Cone & Belding & Time, Inc., 157 F.3d 686 (9th Cir. 1998).
· cites it 2× “” Cal. Civ. Code § 48a. Newcombe submitted a declaration that stated he had incurred the following expenses due to the publication of the advertisement: “purchase of medications for headaches and stress, gasoline for travel to Dodger Stadium, numerous local and long distance…”
La Liberte v. Reid, 966 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2020).
““A statement can also be libelous per se if it contains a charge by implication from the language employed by the speaker and a listener could understand the defamatory meaning without the necessity of knowing extrinsic 11“‘Special damages’ means all damages that plaintiff…”
Fein v. Permanente Med. Grp., 695 P.2d 665 (Cal. 1985).
· cites it 2× “2d 121 , for example, our court applied the "rational relationship" standard in dismissing a due process attack on a statute Civil Code section 48a which permitted a plaintiff who brought a libel or slander action against a newspaper generally to obtain only "special…”
Anschutz Ent. Grp., Inc. v. Snepp, 171 Cal. App. 4th 598 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009).
· cites it 4× “INTRODUCTION Civil Code section 48a, subdivision 1 provides that a “[pjlaintiff,” in order to recover general damages in a defamation case, must serve a retraction demand.”
Werner v. S. California Associated Newpapers, 216 P.2d 825 (Cal. 1950).
· cites it 4× “[3] General damages are allowed for "loss of reputation, shame, mortification and hurt feelings" (Civ. Code, § 48a), but the extent of such injuries is difficult to determine.”
ELSENBERG v. Alameda Newspapers, Inc., 27 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2441 (Cal. Ct. App. 1999).
· cites it 2× “Civil Code Section 48a[,] and is therefore absolutely privileged under Civil Code Section 47(b).”
Vasquez v. California, 195 P.3d 1049 (Cal. 2008).
“(Civ. Code, § 48a, subd. 1.) *253 Thus, section 1021.”
— Cal. Civil Code § 48a(4) — 1 case
— Cal. Civil Code § 48a(4)(b) — 4 cases
— Cal. Civil Code § 48a(4)(d) — 3 cases
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974).
“875 , 938 (1956); Cal. Civ. Code § 48a (4) (d) (1954). In its stead, the Court requires defamation plaintiffs to show intentional falsehood or reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of the publication.”
— Cal. Civil Code § 48a(a) — 5 cases
Nunes v. Cable News Network, Inc., 31 F.4th 135 (2d Cir. 2022).
“Further, we affirm the district court’s determination that the complaint failed to state claims for defamation and civil conspiracy to defame because Nunes (1) failed to demand retraction in accordance with California Civil Code § 48a, a substantive rule of decision, and (2)…”
— Cal. Civil Code § 48a(b) — 1 case
— Cal. Civil Code § 48a(d)(1) — 1 case
— Cal. Civil Code § 48a(d)(2) — 5 cases
La Liberte v. Reid, 966 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2020).
““A statement can also be libelous per se if it contains a charge by implication from the language employed by the speaker and a listener could understand the defamatory meaning without the necessity of knowing extrinsic 11“‘Special damages’ means all damages that plaintiff…”
— Cal. Civil Code § 48a(d)(5) — 1 case
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