I am awaiting feedback from a tentative London 'publisher of new authors' on my 373 page draft manuscript - "Death by suicide etc." following its dispatch by email to them on 12 August 2022, just over a cupla weeks ago. I lately (viz. ten days ago) found an article ["How to avoid Libel and Defamation as an Author" by Orna Ross, from selfpublishingadvice.org] about that L & D subject. Potential liability in L & D exists in any published written material, including websites, blogs, articles, pamphlets and books, where a person or organisation alleges they were wronged.
A person / organisation is libelled if a publication:
i) discredits them in their trade, business, or profession;
ii) exposes them to hatred, ridicule or contempt;
iii) causes them to be shunned or avoided; and / or
iv) lowers them in the eyes of society.
(Ross, 2021)
The test of libel in a court is "what a reasonable reader is likely to take as [the] natural or ordinary meaning of the published content in their full context". What the writer intended, as author or publisher, is irrelevant.
Thing is my take on suicide challenges some conventional views, opinions, statements, claims and assertions. Each of these position statements may be capable of being attributed to, or stated or repeated by a person or organisation. And therein lies the rub - check Hamlet's soliloquy. If any content is found (by a publisher or later by a reader) that allegedly libels or defames a person or organisation, then the author loses [unless he proves otherwise] and will be liable to pay them damages/costs as determined by the court. Lesson: avoid at all costs. This story will run for a while. More later.
A person / organisation is libelled if a publication:
i) discredits them in their trade, business, or profession;
ii) exposes them to hatred, ridicule or contempt;
iii) causes them to be shunned or avoided; and / or
iv) lowers them in the eyes of society.
(Ross, 2021)
The test of libel in a court is "what a reasonable reader is likely to take as [the] natural or ordinary meaning of the published content in their full context". What the writer intended, as author or publisher, is irrelevant.
Thing is my take on suicide challenges some conventional views, opinions, statements, claims and assertions. Each of these position statements may be capable of being attributed to, or stated or repeated by a person or organisation. And therein lies the rub - check Hamlet's soliloquy. If any content is found (by a publisher or later by a reader) that allegedly libels or defames a person or organisation, then the author loses [unless he proves otherwise] and will be liable to pay them damages/costs as determined by the court. Lesson: avoid at all costs. This story will run for a while. More later.