32-43 Uniform Correction or Clarification of Defamation Act
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<![CDATA[CHAPTER 32-43UNIFORM CORRECTION OR CLARIFICATION OF DEFAMATION ACT32-43-01. Definitions. In this chapter:1."Defamatory" means tending to harm reputation.2."Economic loss" means special, pecuniary loss caused by a false and defamatory<br>publication.3."Person" includes any legal or commercial entity.The term does not include agovernment or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality.32-43-02. Scope. This chapter applies to any claim for relief, however characterized, fordamages arising out of defamation caused by the false content of a publication that is published<br>on or after August 1, 1995.This chapter applies to all publications, including writings,broadcasts, oral communications, electronic transmissions, or other forms of transmitting<br>information.32-43-03. Request for correction or clarification.1.A person may maintain an action for defamation only if the person has made a<br>timely and adequate request for correction or clarification from the defendant or the<br>defendant has made a correction or clarification.2.A request for correction or clarification is timely if made within the period of limitation<br>for commencement of an action for defamation. However, a person who, within<br>ninety days after knowledge of the publication, fails to make a good-faith attempt to<br>request a correction or clarification may recover only provable economic loss.3.A request for correction or clarification is adequate if the request:a.Is made in writing and reasonably identifies the person making the request;b.Specifies with particularity the statement alleged to be false and defamatory<br>and, to the extent known, the time and place of publication;c.Alleges the defamatory meaning of the statement;d.Specifies the circumstances giving rise to any defamatory meaning of the<br>statement which arises from other than the express language of the publication;<br>ande.States that the alleged defamatory meaning of the statement is false.4.In the absence of a previous adequate request, service of a summons and complaint<br>stating a claim for relief for defamation and containing the information required in<br>subsection 3 constitutes an adequate request for correction or clarification.5.The period of limitation for commencement of a defamation action is tolled during<br>the period allowed in section 32-43-06 for responding to a request for correction or<br>clarification.32-43-04. Disclosure of evidence of falsity. A person who has been requested tomake a correction or clarification may ask the requester to disclose reasonably available<br>information material to the falsity of the allegedly defamatory statement.If a correction orclarification is not made, a person who unreasonably fails to disclose the information after a<br>request to do so may recover only provable economic loss. A correction or clarification is timelyPage No. 1if published within twenty-five days after receipt of information disclosed under this section or<br>forty-five days after receipt of a request for correction or clarification, whichever is later.32-43-05. Effect of correction or clarification. If a timely and sufficient correction orclarification is made, a person may recover only provable economic loss, as mitigated by the<br>correction or clarification.32-43-06. Timely and sufficient correction or clarification.1.A correction or clarification is timely if it is published before, or within forty-five days<br>after, receipt of a request for correction or clarification, unless the period is extended<br>under section 32-43-04.2.A correction or clarification is sufficient if it:a.Is published with a prominence and in a manner and medium reasonably likely<br>to reach substantially the same audience as the publication complained of;b.Refers to the statement being corrected or clarified and:(1)Corrects the statement;(2)In the case of defamatory meaning arising from other than the express<br>language of the publication, disclaims an intent to communicate that<br>meaning or to assert its truth; or(3)In the case of a statement attributed to another person, disclaims an<br>intent to assert the truth of the statement; andc.Is communicated to the person who has made a request for correction or<br>clarification.3.A correction or clarification is published in a medium reasonably likely to reach<br>substantially the same audience as the publication complained of if it is published in<br>a later issue, edition, or broadcast of the original publication.4.If a later issue, edition, or broadcast of the original publication will not be published<br>within the time limits established for a timely correction or clarification, a correction<br>or clarification is published in a manner and medium reasonably likely to reach<br>substantially the same audience as the publication complained of if:a.It is timely published in a reasonably prominent manner in another medium<br>likely to reach an audience reasonably equivalent to the original publication or,<br>if the parties cannot agree on another medium, in the newspaper with the<br>largest general circulation in the region in which the original publication was<br>distributed;b.Reasonable steps are taken to correct undistributed copies of the original<br>publication, if any; andc.It is published in the next practicable issue, edition, or broadcast, if any, of the<br>original publication.5.A correction or clarification is timely and sufficient if the parties agree in writing that it<br>is timely and sufficient.32-43-07. Challenges to correction or clarification or to request for correction orclarification.Page No. 21.If a defendant in an action governed by this chapter intends to rely on a timely and<br>sufficient correction or clarification, the defendant's intention to do so, and the<br>correction or clarification relied upon, must be set forth in a notice served on the<br>plaintiff within sixty days after service of the summons and complaint or ten days<br>after the correction or clarification is made, whichever is later.A correction orclarification is deemed to be timely and sufficient unless the plaintiff challenges its<br>timeliness or sufficiency within twenty days after the notice is served.2.If a defendant in an action governed by this chapter intends to challenge the<br>adequacy or timeliness of a request for correction or clarification, the defendant must<br>set forth the challenge in a motion to declare the request inadequate or untimely<br>served within sixty days after service of the summons and complaint. The court<br>shall rule on the motion at the earliest appropriate time before trial.32-43-08. Offer to correct or clarify.1.If a timely correction or clarification is no longer possible, the publisher of an alleged<br>defamatory statement may offer, at any time before trial, to make a correction or<br>clarification. The offer must be made in writing to the person allegedly defamed by<br>the publication and:a.Contain the publisher's offer to publish, at the person's request, a sufficient<br>correction or clarification and to pay the person's reasonable expenses of<br>litigation, including attorney's fees, incurred before publication of the correction<br>or clarification; andb.Be accompanied by a copy of the proposed correction or clarification and the<br>plan for its publication.2.If the person accepts in writing an offer to correct or clarify made pursuant to<br>subsection 1, the person is barred from commencing an action against the publisher<br>based on the statement or, if an action has been commenced, the court shall<br>dismiss the action against the defendant with prejudice after the defendant complies<br>with the terms of the offer.3.A person who does not accept an offer made in conformance with subsection 1 may<br>recover in an action based on the statement only damages for provable economic<br>loss and reasonable expenses of litigation, including attorney's fees, incurred before<br>the offer, unless the person failed to make a good-faith attempt to request a<br>correction or clarification in accordance with subsection 2 of section 32-43-03 or<br>failed to disclose information in accordance with section 32-43-04.4.On request of either party, a court shall promptly determine the sufficiency of the<br>offered correction or clarification.5.The court shall determine the amount of reasonable expenses of litigation, including<br>attorney's fees, specified in subsections 1 and 3.32-43-09. Scope of protection. A timely and sufficient correction or clarification madeby a person responsible for a publication constitutes a correction or clarification made by all<br>persons responsible for that publication other than a republisher.However, a correction orclarification that is sufficient only under paragraph 3 of subdivision b of subsection 2 of section<br>32-43-06 does not constitute a correction or clarification made by the person to whom the<br>statement is attributed.32-43-10. Admissibility of evidence of correction or clarification.1.The fact of a request for correction or clarification under this chapter, the contents of<br>the request, and its acceptance or refusal are not admissible in evidence at trial.Page No. 32.The fact that a correction or clarification under this chapter was made and the<br>contents of the correction or clarification are not admissible in evidence at trial<br>except in mitigation of damages pursuant to section 32-43-05. If the fact that a<br>correction or clarification was made or the contents of the correction or clarification<br>are received in evidence, the fact of the request may also be received.3.The fact of an offer of correction or clarification, or the fact of its refusal, and the<br>contents of the offer are not admissible in evidence at trial.Page No. 4Document Outlinechapter 32-43 uniform correction or clarification of defamation act]]>