Florida Statute 770.04 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XLV
TORTS

Chapter 770
DEFAMATION

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770.04 Civil liability of radio or television broadcasting stations; care to prevent publication or utterance required.—The owner, licensee, or operator of a radio or television broadcasting station, and the agents or employees of any such owner, licensee or operator, shall not be liable for any damages for any defamatory statement published or uttered in or as a part of a radio or television broadcast, by one other than such owner, licensee or operator, or general agent or employees thereof, unless it shall be alleged and proved by the complaining party, that such owner, licensee, operator, general agent or employee, has failed to exercise due care to prevent the publication or utterance of such statement in such broadcasts, provided, however, the exercise of due care shall be construed to include the bona fide compliance with any federal law or the regulation of any federal regulatory agency.

History.—s. 1, ch. 23802, 1947; s. 1, ch. 25278, 1949.

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Amendments to 770.04

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 770.04

Total Results: 3 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Thomas v. Jacksonville Television, Inc., 699 So. 2d 800 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997).

Cited 19 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1997 WL 589108

...y statements without reasonable care to determine their falsity." Boyles v. Mid-Florida Television Corp., 431 So.2d 627, 633 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), approved, 467 So.2d 282, 283 (Fla. 1985). See also Hay v. Independent Newspapers, 450 So.2d at 294-295. Section 770.04, Florida Statutes, this state's provision dealing with a radio or television broadcaster's civil liability for defamation, states in part: The owner, licensee, or operator of a radio or television broadcasting station, and the agents o...

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Davies v. Bossert, 449 So. 2d 418 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984).

Cited 14 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 10 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1838

...oadcast" (as an addition to "article"); and a reference to correction, apology, or retraction in the case of a broadcast. Section 770.03 was also amended so as to refer to broadcasting stations in general and not just to radio broadcasting stations. Section 770.04 refers specifically to the civil liability of an "owner, licensee, or operator of a radio or television broadcasting station, and the agents, or employees of any such owner, licensee or operator." Since no other section of Chapter 770...

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Comins v. Vanvoorhis, 135 So. 3d 545 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014).

Cited 4 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 42 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2021, 2014 WL 1393081, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 5318

...t” (as an addition to “article”); and a reference to correction, apology, or retraction in the case of a broadcast. Section 770.03 was also amended so as to refer to broadcasting stations in general and not just to radio broadcasting stations. Section 770.04 refers specifically to the civil liability of an “owner, licensee, or operator of a radio or television broadcasting station, and the agents, or employees of any such owner, licensee or operator.” Since no other section of Chapter...

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