NPR ran a story today about the status of Britain's libel laws. Apparently, for many years Celebrities and other artists from all over the world, when they can, would always bring their Libel suits in British Courts. This is because the burden of proof is on the defendant, and not the plaintiff (which is opposite of what is normally found in other countries). Below is a quote from the original article:
Libel laws in many countries, including the U.S., generally require plaintiffs to prove a published article was both false and written maliciously. In Britain, the burden of proof falls on the defendant to demonstrate what it published was true.
That has led celebrities and corporations to sue in British courts, even when the case has only a tenuous connection to the U.K. — a form of "libel tourism" the government has vowed to curb.
However, not all authorities on the subject agree. it was suggested in the article that bringing this issue to the front was only a ploy to try to improve the approval polls for the current politicians, which are currently very low, which is attributed to the threat to raise university student's tuition levels.
"The U.S. is not the world, and the fact that they do not like our libel laws should not be interpreted as meaning they are an international laughing stock," said Rod Dadak, head of defamation at law firm Lewis Silkin.
The source for this article can be found HERE.
Celebrities are such cry babies. Instead of suing people who defame celebrities and artists we should be honoring them. Then they can become celebrities and other people can defame them and be made into celebrities.
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