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Coal Boss Files Total SLAPP Suit Against John Oliver & HBO
From: "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 13:39:09 +0000
---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org> Date: Thu, Jun 22, 2017 at 6:57 AM Subject: Coal Boss Files Total SLAPP Suit Against John Oliver & HBO To: Infowarrior List <infowarrior () attrition org> Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Coal Boss Files Total SLAPP Suit Against John Oliver & HBO from the let's-talk-anti-slapp,-john dept This one is clearly no surprise at all, given that -- as we wrote about just a couple days ago -- Bob Murray and his company Murray Energy were threatening John Oliver with a SLAPP suit if Oliver's satirical report about the coal industry was used to "defame, harass, or otherwise injure Mr. Murray or Murray Energy." Of course, Oliver's report did no such thing... but, alas, Murray has now sued Oliver, HBO, Time Warner... and the writers of the story. The lawsuit was filed in West Virginia state court. In my original post, I suggested it might be filed in Ohio, where Murray Energy is headquartered, but it does also have operations in West Virginia as well. Either way, as with Ohio, West Virginia is a state with no anti-SLAPP law. Unfortunately, I don't have the full lawsuit. The Daily Beast, which first wrote about the case has chosen -- for whatever reason -- not to post the document, which is pretty lame. However, having watched the John Oliver piece multiple times, I can't see how any of it comes anywhere even remotely near defamatory. It falls into a variety of clearly protected categories, including opinion, satire and rhetorical hyperbole. The idea that there were materially false and defamatory statements that were put forth knowing they were false (or with reckless disregard for the truth) is laughable. There is no way that this lawsuit succeeds -- but, as we've been pointing out -- that's not really the point of most of these kinds of lawsuits. SLAPP lawsuits are designed to create a chill on free speech, by making that speech costly. Obviously, HBO/Time Warner can afford this, and have access to great lawyers, so there's almost no chance that Murray wins the lawsuit, but that's not the point. It will still cost money and lots of time to deal with the lawsuit and that's a hassle. Murray Energy put out a bizarre statement that does little to support the idea that Murray has an actual case here: < - > https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170621/23430137644/coal-boss-files-total-slapp-suit-against-john-oliver-hbo.shtml ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/18849915-ae8fa580 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125 Unsubscribe Now: https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4&post_id=20170622093928:348BAFDC-5750-11E7-A291-A9260EDEB3E3 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- Coal Boss Files Total SLAPP Suit Against John Oliver & HBO Dave Farber (Jun 22)