S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 1544 1997-1998 Regular Sessions I N S E N A T E January 23, 1997 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HANNON, VELELLA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to enact- ing the uniform correction or clarification of defamation act The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- ______________________________________________________________________ bly, do enact as follows: _________________________ 1 Section 1. The civil practice law and rules are amended by adding a 2 new article 14-B to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 14-B ____________ 4 UNIFORM CORRECTION OR CLARIFICATION ___________________________________ 5 OF DEFAMATION ACT _________________ 6 Section 1420. Definitions. __________________________ 7 1421. Scope. ____________ 8 1422. Request for correction or clarification. ______________________________________________ 9 1423. Disclosure of evidence of falsity. ________________________________________ 10 1424. Effect of correction or clarification. ____________________________________________ 11 1425. Timely and sufficient correction or clarification. ________________________________________________________ 12 1426. Challenges to correction or clarification. ________________________________________________ 13 1427. Offer to correct or clarify. __________________________________ 14 1428. Scope of protection. __________________________ 15 1429. Admissibility of evidence of correction or clarification. _______________________________________________________________ 16  1420. Definitions. In this article: _____________________________________ 17 1. "Defamatory" means tending to harm reputation. _________________________________________________ 18 2. "Economic loss" means special, pecuniary loss caused by a false and ______________________________________________________________________ 19 defamatory publication. _______________________ 20 3. "Person" includes any legal or commercial entity. The term does not ______________________________________________________________________ 21 include a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumen- ________________________________________________________________________ 22 tality. _______ 23  1421. Scope. This article applies to any claim for relief, however ______________________________________________________________________ 24 characterized, for damages arising out of defamation caused by the false ________________________________________________________________________ 25 content of a publication that is published on or after the effective ________________________________________________________________________ 26 date of this article. This article applies to all publications, includ- ________________________________________________________________________ EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets _______ [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05685-01-7 S. 1544 2 1 ing writings, broadcasts, oral communications, electronic transmissions, ________________________________________________________________________ 2 or other forms of transmitting information. ___________________________________________ 3  1422. Request for correction or clarification. 1. A person may main- ______________________________________________________________________ 4 tain an action for defamation only if the person has made a timely and ________________________________________________________________________ 5 adequate request for correction or clarification from the defendant or ________________________________________________________________________ 6 the defendant has made a correction or clarification. _____________________________________________________ 7 2. A request for correction or clarification is timely if made within ______________________________________________________________________ 8 the period of limitation for commencement of an action for defamation. ________________________________________________________________________ 9 However, a person who, within ninety days after knowledge of the publi- ________________________________________________________________________ 10 cation, fails to make a good faith attempt to request a correction or ________________________________________________________________________ 11 clarification may recover only provable economic loss. ______________________________________________________ 12 3. A request for correction or clarification is adequate if the ______________________________________________________________________ 13 request: ________ 14 a. Is made in writing and reasonably identifies the person making the ______________________________________________________________________ 15 request; ________ 16 b. Specifies with particularity the statement alleged to be false and ______________________________________________________________________ 17 defamatory and, to the extent known, the time and place of publication; _______________________________________________________________________ 18 c. Alleges the defamatory meaning of the statement; ___________________________________________________ 19 d. Specifies the circumstances giving rise to any defamatory meaning ______________________________________________________________________ 20 of the statement which arises from other than the express language of ________________________________________________________________________ 21 the publication; and ____________________ 22 e. States that the alleged defamatory meaning of the statement is ______________________________________________________________________ 23 false. ______ 24 4. In the absence of a previous adequate request, service of a summons ______________________________________________________________________ 25 and complaint stating a claim for relief for defamation and containing ________________________________________________________________________ 26 the information required in subdivision three of this section consti- ________________________________________________________________________ 27 tutes an adequate request for correction or clarification. __________________________________________________________ 28 5. The period of limitation for commencement of a defamation action is ______________________________________________________________________ 29 tolled during the period allowed in section fourteen hundred twenty-five ________________________________________________________________________ 30 of this article for responding to a request for correction or clarifica- ________________________________________________________________________ 31 tion. _____ 32  1423. Disclosure of evidence of falsity. A person who has been ______________________________________________________________________ 33 requested to make a correction or clarification may ask the requester to ________________________________________________________________________ 34 disclose reasonably available information material to the falsity of the ________________________________________________________________________ 35 allegedly defamatory statement. If a correction or clarification is not ________________________________________________________________________ 36 made, a person who unreasonably fails to disclose the information after ________________________________________________________________________ 37 a request to do so may recover only provable economic loss. A correction ________________________________________________________________________ 38 or clarification is timely if published within twenty-five days after ________________________________________________________________________ 39 receipt of information disclosed under this section or forty-five days ________________________________________________________________________ 40 after receipt of a request for correction or clarification, whichever is ________________________________________________________________________ 41 later. ______ 42  1424. Effect of correction or clarification. If a timely and suffi- ______________________________________________________________________ 43 cient correction or clarification is made, a person may recover only ________________________________________________________________________ 44 provable economic loss, as mitigated by the correction or clarification. ________________________________________________________________________ 45  1425. Timely and sufficient correction or clarification. 1. A ______________________________________________________________________ 46 correction or clarification is timely if it is published before, or ________________________________________________________________________ 47 within forty-five days after, receipt of a request for correction or ________________________________________________________________________ 48 clarification, unless the period is extended under section fourteen ________________________________________________________________________ 49 hundred twenty-three of this article. _____________________________________ 50 2. A correction or clarification is sufficient if it: _____________________________________________________ 51 (i) Is published with a prominence and in a manner and medium reason- ______________________________________________________________________ 52 ably likely to reach substantially the same audience as the publication ________________________________________________________________________ 53 complained of; ______________ 54 (ii) Refers to the statement being corrected or clarified and: ______________________________________________________________ 55 (A) Corrects the statement; ___________________________ S. 1544 3 1 (B) In the case of defamatory meaning arising from other than the ______________________________________________________________________ 2 express language of the publication, disclaims an intent to communicate ________________________________________________________________________ 3 that meaning or to assert its truth; or _______________________________________ 4 (C) In the case of a statement attributed to another person, disclaims ______________________________________________________________________ 5 an intent to assert the truth of the statement; and ___________________________________________________ 6 (iii) Is communicated to the person who has made a request for ______________________________________________________________________ 7 correction or clarification. ____________________________ 8 3. A correction or clarification is published in a medium reasonably ______________________________________________________________________ 9 likely to reach substantially the same audience as the publication ________________________________________________________________________ 10 complained of if it is published in a later issue, edition, or broadcast ________________________________________________________________________ 11 of the original publication. ____________________________ 12 4. If a later issue, edition, or broadcast of the original publication ______________________________________________________________________ 13 will not be published within the time limits established for a timely ________________________________________________________________________ 14 correction or clarification, a correction or clarification is published ________________________________________________________________________ 15 in a manner and medium reasonably likely to reach substantially the same ________________________________________________________________________ 16 audience as the publication complained of if: _____________________________________________ 17 (i) It is timely published in a reasonably prominent manner in another ______________________________________________________________________ 18 medium likely to reach an audience reasonably equivalent to the original ________________________________________________________________________ 19 publication or if the parties cannot agree on another medium, in the ________________________________________________________________________ 20 newspaper with the largest general circulation in the region in which ________________________________________________________________________ 21 the original publication was distributed; _________________________________________ 22 (ii) Reasonable steps are taken to correct undistributed copies of the ______________________________________________________________________ 23 original publication, if any; and _________________________________ 24 (iii) It is published in the next practicable issue, edition, or ______________________________________________________________________ 25 broadcast, if any, of the original publication. _______________________________________________ 26 5. A correction or clarification is timely and sufficient if the ______________________________________________________________________ 27 parties agree in writing that it is timely and sufficient. __________________________________________________________ 28  1426. Challenges to correction or clarification. 1. If a defendant ______________________________________________________________________ 29 in an action governed by this article intends to rely on a timely and ________________________________________________________________________ 30 sufficient correction or clarification, the defendant's intention to do ________________________________________________________________________ 31 so, and the correction or clarification relied upon, must be set forth ________________________________________________________________________ 32 in a notice served on the plaintiff within sixty days after service of ________________________________________________________________________ 33 the summons and complaint or one hundred eighty days after the ________________________________________________________________________ 34 correction or clarification is made, whichever is later. A correction or ________________________________________________________________________ 35 clarification is deemed to be timely and sufficient unless the plaintiff ________________________________________________________________________ 36 challenges its timeliness or sufficiency within twenty days after the ________________________________________________________________________ 37 notice is served. _________________ 38 2. If a defendant in an action governed by this article intends to ______________________________________________________________________ 39 challenge the adequacy or timeliness of a request for correction or ________________________________________________________________________ 40 clarification, the defendant must set forth the challenge in a motion to ________________________________________________________________________ 41 declare the request inadequate or untimely served within sixty days ________________________________________________________________________ 42 after service of the summons and complaint. The court shall rule on the ________________________________________________________________________ 43 motion at the earliest appropriate time before trial. _____________________________________________________ 44  1427. Offer to correct or clarify. 1. If a timely correction or ______________________________________________________________________ 45 clarification is no longer possible, the publisher of an alleged defama- ________________________________________________________________________ 46 tory statement may offer, at any time before trial, to make a correction ________________________________________________________________________ 47 or clarification. The offer must be made in writing to the person ________________________________________________________________________ 48 allegedly defamed by the publication and: _________________________________________ 49 a. Contain the publisher's offer to publish, at the person's request, ______________________________________________________________________ 50 a sufficient correction or clarification and to pay the person's reason- ________________________________________________________________________ 51 able expenses of litigation, including attorney's fees, incurred before ________________________________________________________________________ 52 publication of the correction or clarification; and ___________________________________________________ 53 b. Be accompanied by a copy of the proposed correction or clarifica- ______________________________________________________________________ 54 tion and the plan for its publication. ______________________________________ 55 2. If the person accepts in writing an offer to correct or clarify ______________________________________________________________________ 56 made pursuant to subdivision one of this section, the person is barred ________________________________________________________________________ S. 1544 4 1 from commencing an action against the publisher based on the statement ________________________________________________________________________ 2 or if an action has been commenced, the court shall dismiss the action ________________________________________________________________________ 3 against the defendant with prejudice after the defendant complies with ________________________________________________________________________ 4 the terms of the offer. _______________________ 5 3. A person who does not accept an offer made in conformance with ______________________________________________________________________ 6 subdivision one of this section may recover in an action based on the ________________________________________________________________________ 7 statement only damages for provable economic loss and reasonable ________________________________________________________________________ 8 expenses of litigation, including attorney's fees, incurred before the ________________________________________________________________________ 9 offer, unless the person failed to make a good faith attempt to request ________________________________________________________________________ 10 a correction or clarification in accordance with subdivision three of ________________________________________________________________________ 11 section one thousand four hundred twenty-two of this article or failed ________________________________________________________________________ 12 to disclose information in accordance with section one thousand four ________________________________________________________________________ 13 hundred twenty-three of this article. _____________________________________ 14 4. On request of either party, a court shall promptly determine the ______________________________________________________________________ 15 sufficiency of the offered correction or clarification. _______________________________________________________ 16 5. The court shall determine the amount of reasonable expenses of ______________________________________________________________________ 17 litigation, including attorney's fees, specified in this section. _________________________________________________________________ 18  1428. Scope of protection. A timely and sufficient correction or ______________________________________________________________________ 19 clarification made by a person responsible for a publication constitutes ________________________________________________________________________ 20 a correction or clarification made by all persons responsible for that ________________________________________________________________________ 21 publication other than a republisher. _____________________________________ 22  1429. Admissibility of evidence of correction or clarification. 1. ______________________________________________________________________ 23 The fact of a request for correction or clarification under this arti- ________________________________________________________________________ 24 cle, the contents of the request, and its acceptance or refusal are not ________________________________________________________________________ 25 admissible in evidence at trial. ________________________________ 26 2. The fact that a correction or clarification under this article was ______________________________________________________________________ 27 made and the contents of the correction or clarification are not admis- ________________________________________________________________________ 28 sible in evidence at trial except in mitigation of damages pursuant to ________________________________________________________________________ 29 section one thousand four hundred twenty-four of this article. If the ________________________________________________________________________ 30 fact that a correction or clarification was made or the contents of the ________________________________________________________________________ 31 correction or clarification are received in evidence, the fact of the ________________________________________________________________________ 32 request may also be received. _____________________________ 33 3. The fact of an offer of correction or clarification, or the fact of ______________________________________________________________________ 34 its refusal, and the contents of the offer are not admissible in ________________________________________________________________________ 35 evidence at trial. __________________ 36  2. This act shall take effect immediately.