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Group Defamation, Power, and a New Test for Determining Plaintiff Eligibility
Jeffrey Greenwood*
Note

  The full text of this Note may be found here.

28 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media &Ent. L.J. 871 (2018).

Note by Jeffrey Greenwood

ABSTRACT

[I]

n the fall of 2014, Rolling Stone Magazine published an article describing the rape of a woman at a University of Virginia fraternity house. The story turned out to be false, and members of the fraternity sued for defamation. The suit raises an interesting question: under what circumstances may anonymous individual members of the fraternity recover? This Note describes the case, related common and constitutional law, as well as differences in group defamation doctrine across jurisdictions. After detailing problems with the existing paradigm, the Note proposes a new method for performing the analysis.

*Editor-in-Chief, Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, Volume XXIX; J.D. Candidate, Fordham University School of Law, 2019; B.S., Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, Emory University, 2006. I would like to thank Benjamin Zipursky for his patient guidance during the writing process, the staff and editors of the IPLJ, and in particular Jillian Roffer for countless rounds of edits. A special thanks to my parents Anna and Ronald, friends, and Laura who provided support and useful comments throughout.