Avoiding Defamation in Your Film: A Tale of Two Documentaries
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- Опубликовано: 18 май 2024
- If you make documentary films, you’ve probably heard about the need to make sure you don’t say anything defamatory in your film to avoid being sued. But how do you avoid making defamatory statements?
At a high level, defamation means a false statement about someone that damages their reputation. But, as always in the law, the devil is in the details.
For example, I just said defamation requires a false statement. But what is a statement? That’s not 100% clear in the context of documentary films. If you take a true crime documentary, for instance, suppose the narrator is talking about the facts of a gruesome murder and a photo of a guy who didn’t commit the murder is shown on the screen while the narrator is talking.
Is that equivalent to the film saying the guy whose photo appeared committed the murder, or had something to do with it? I mean, in this example, the narrator isn’t explicitly coming out and saying this guy committed the crime, but the placement of his photo could be interpreted as making that implication.
That’s what I’m going to talk about in this video - what is a defamatory statement in the context of a documentary film, and how do you avoid making one?
I’m going to use lawsuits involving two Netflix true crime documentaries to illustrate the points I’m making in this video - Making a Murderer and The Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker.
00:00 What is defamation?
01:54 The Making a Murderer lawsuit
03:25 Music generally isn't defamatory
03:47 Shots of body language aren't defamatory
04:02 The "of and concerning" doctrine
04:32 Opinions aren't defamatory
05:38 The idea of republication
06:26 What can we learn from the ruling?
07:17 Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker lawsuit
08:39 Denial of Netflix's motion
09:34 Lessons from the ruling
10:38 Summing all this up
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Disclaimer: This channel includes only general information on commonly encountered legal issues, and does not provide legal advice. The law is a personal matter, and no general information like the kind provided on this channel can fit every circumstance. Therefore, if you need legal advice regarding a specific issue, you should consult a licensed attorney in your area. 
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Helpful information for nonfiction writers, too, especially the bit about republishing someone else's defamatory statement. Thank you!
Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful!
Great video. I have no affiliation with either the legal field or film making, but I found this info to be very interesting! Super clear explanations and great examples used.
Thanks so much! I'm glad you found it interesting.
RUclips loves law stuff and this was a very well done video, subbed and looking forward to more content!
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
But “Joe Exotic” made defamatory comments about Carol (whatever her last name is) in “Tiger King” throughout. Stating she killed her husband and fed him to her tiger (although there isn’t a shreds of evidence suggesting this). How isn’t this something that could be sued for?
I haven't looked into the legal issues surrounding Tiger King but that's a great idea for another video!
@@filmtracts I’m certain based on what you outlined in this video that the directors and Netflix likely followed the legal protocols. But, I just know there was outright accusations and innuendos
NICE WORK, KEEP IT UP!
Thanks, that's great to hear!
Truth is if you are a good documentarian on a subject that has strong opposing views you’d have the confidence to show both sides instead of doing what is really an OPED by showing only one side. It’s lazy.
Back off the camera another foot or so.