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Liar! Liar? The Defamatory Impact of “Liar” in the Modern World
Roy S. Gutterman*
ARTICLE

  The full text of this Article may be found here.

27 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 253
Article by Roy S. Gutterman*

ABSTRACT

[C]

alling someone a liar is an age-old epithet. Depending on the context, calling someone a liar could be defamatory, causing harm to a reputation. But, more often than not, calling someone a liar may be simply an expression of opinion. In some settings, litigation surrounding the publication also implicates the First Amendment. In recent years, several courts have weighed in on this issue, some with conflicting outcomes. This Article examines whether accusations of dishonesty or lying in a modern media world has a defamatory impact.

*Associate Professor of Communications Law and Journalism; director of the Tully Center for Free Speech at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. I am appreciative of the feedback and analysis provided by Tully Center Research Assistant Angela Rulffes.