JKR felt she had the money to hire lawyers for however long it was necessary, and Spurling knew even winning the lawsuit would be financially devastating. I have lawyers on retainer, and the US's defamation laws include anti-SLAPP provisions.
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It's pretty obvious that saying someone is a danger to children is grounds for a libel action. You don't care about that though.
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Replying to @paul_smortions @MFnP and
Look it up, Einstein. Opinions are not defamation under the law (either US or UK).
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"Rowling has made it clear that she can no longer be trusted around children". I was 20 years a journalist. I know, without question, that statement is over the line. It's not presented as an opinion.
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Replying to @paul_smortions @MFnP and
Whether or not someone can be trusted is an opinion.
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No it isn't. You can have an opinion on it, and you can voice that opinion. But if you state it as a fact you invite consequences. Had Spurling started with "in my opinion" or "I question whether" then she'd have been rather safer.
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Replying to @paul_smortions @Azuaron and
That's not what the honest opinion exemption says, at all
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Azuaron and
What can I tell you, that's how it works in practice. There's an old episode of HIGNFY where they start almost every sentence with allegedly to make the point.
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Replying to @paul_smortions @Azuaron and
In practice if a billionaire really really wants to sue you for libel in the UK they get whatever they want That's kind of the whole issue
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Azuaron and
Ridiculous. UK courts are nothing like the US version.
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Uh... yeah, they aren't, in that they are notoriously favorable to the plaintiff in a defamation suit
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