- 29 Apr 12, 08:39#301703
Lol, well defamation is a complex area as the same comment could be considered defamatory to one person, but not to another dependent on a variety of issues, two of which would include:
- Is / are the comment / comments likely to lower that person in the expectations / estimations of others (this is especially complex as if it can be shown that the people hearing the potentially damaging comments already held the person in low esteem then it can be deemed that no damage has been done even though the comment in isolation could be considered damaging).
- Will the comments be likely to affect the defamed person's professional reputation / standing (in such a way that it's likely to affect job prospects, promotion prospects etc.). There must be a 'real' risk presented too, not just a far fetched hypothetical one.
Difficult to answer these authoritatively in cases where people are in the public eye (and thus open to 'fair comment') but also part of a professional company (different to - say - celebrities who are just famous for being famous). There are other considerations but these are two potentially relevant to the types of things we're talking about.
At what point does this thread become libelous with all these unfounded and baseless claims against McLaren and Whitmarsh?
Maybe Zurich_Allan could provide some legal advise, just incase.
Lol, well defamation is a complex area as the same comment could be considered defamatory to one person, but not to another dependent on a variety of issues, two of which would include:
- Is / are the comment / comments likely to lower that person in the expectations / estimations of others (this is especially complex as if it can be shown that the people hearing the potentially damaging comments already held the person in low esteem then it can be deemed that no damage has been done even though the comment in isolation could be considered damaging).
- Will the comments be likely to affect the defamed person's professional reputation / standing (in such a way that it's likely to affect job prospects, promotion prospects etc.). There must be a 'real' risk presented too, not just a far fetched hypothetical one.
Difficult to answer these authoritatively in cases where people are in the public eye (and thus open to 'fair comment') but also part of a professional company (different to - say - celebrities who are just famous for being famous). There are other considerations but these are two potentially relevant to the types of things we're talking about.
Favourite racing series: F1, Indycar, NASCAR, GP2, F3, Formula E, Trophee Andros, DTM, WTCC, BTCC, World Endurance... etc. etc.