Bill Text: TX SB1514 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to a correction, clarification, or retraction of incorrect information published.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-19 - Referred to State Affairs [SB1514 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-SB1514-Introduced.html
83R11079 CAE-D | ||
By: Ellis | S.B. No. 1514 |
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relating to a correction, clarification, or retraction of incorrect | ||
information published. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 73, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is | ||
amended by designating Sections 73.001 through 73.006 as Subchapter | ||
A and adding a subchapter heading to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 73, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is | ||
amended by adding Subchapter B to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER B. CORRECTION, CLARIFICATION, OR RETRACTION BY | ||
PUBLISHER | ||
Sec. 73.051. SHORT TITLE. This subchapter may be cited as | ||
the Defamation Mitigation Act. This subchapter shall be liberally | ||
construed. | ||
Sec. 73.052. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to | ||
provide a method for a person who has been defamed by a publication | ||
or broadcast to mitigate any perceived damage or injury. | ||
Sec. 73.053. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
(1) "Defamatory" means tending to harm a reputation. | ||
(2) "Person" means an individual, corporation, | ||
business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint | ||
venture, or other legal or commercial entity. The term does not | ||
include a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or | ||
instrumentality. | ||
Sec. 73.054. APPLICABILITY. (a) This subchapter applies | ||
to a claim for relief from damages arising out of harm to a personal | ||
reputation caused by the false content of a publication. | ||
(b) This subchapter applies to all publications, including | ||
writings, broadcasts, oral communications, electronic | ||
transmissions, or other forms of transmitting information. | ||
Sec. 73.055. REQUEST FOR CORRECTION, CLARIFICATION, OR | ||
RETRACTION. (a) A person may maintain an action for defamation | ||
only if: | ||
(1) the person has made a timely and sufficient | ||
request for a correction, clarification, or retraction from the | ||
defendant; or | ||
(2) the defendant has made a correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction. | ||
(b) A request for a correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction is timely if made during the period of limitation for | ||
commencement of an action for defamation. | ||
(c) A person may recover exemplary damages only if not later | ||
than the 90th day after receiving knowledge of the publication, the | ||
person requests a correction, clarification, or retraction. | ||
(d) A request for a correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction is sufficient if it: | ||
(1) is served on the publisher; | ||
(2) is made in writing, reasonably identifies the | ||
person making the request, and is signed by the individual claiming | ||
to have been defamed or by the person's authorized attorney or | ||
agent; | ||
(3) states with particularity the statement alleged to | ||
be false and defamatory and, to the extent known, the time and place | ||
of publication; | ||
(4) alleges the defamatory meaning of the statement; | ||
and | ||
(5) specifies the circumstances causing a defamatory | ||
meaning of the statement if it arises from something other than the | ||
express language of the publication. | ||
Sec. 73.056. DISCLOSURE OF EVIDENCE OF FALSITY. (a) A | ||
person who has been requested to make a correction, clarification, | ||
or retraction may ask the person making the request to provide | ||
reasonably available information regarding the falsity of the | ||
allegedly defamatory statement. Any information requested under | ||
this section must be provided by the person seeking the correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction not later than the 30th day after the | ||
date the person receives the request. A period of limitation for | ||
commencement of a claim under this subsection is tolled during the | ||
period allowed in this section. | ||
(b) If a correction, clarification, or retraction is not | ||
made, a person who, without good cause, fails to disclose the | ||
information requested under Subsection (a) may not recover | ||
exemplary damages. | ||
Sec. 73.057. TIMELY AND SUFFICIENT CORRECTION, | ||
CLARIFICATION, OR RETRACTION. (a) A correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction is timely if it is made not later than the 30th day after | ||
receipt of: | ||
(1) the request for the correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction; or | ||
(2) the information requested under Section | ||
73.056(a). | ||
(b) A correction, clarification, or retraction is | ||
sufficient if it is published with a prominence and in a manner and | ||
medium reasonably likely to reach substantially the same audience | ||
as the publication complained of and: | ||
(1) is publication of an acknowledgment that the | ||
statement specified as false and defamatory is erroneous; | ||
(2) is an allegation that the defamatory meaning | ||
arises from other than the express language of the publication and | ||
the publisher disclaims an intent to communicate that meaning or to | ||
assert its truth; | ||
(3) is a statement attributed to another person whom | ||
the publisher identifies and the publisher disclaims an intent to | ||
assert the truth of the statement; or | ||
(4) is publication of the requestor's statement of the | ||
facts, as set forth in a request for correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction, or a fair summary of the statement, exclusive of any | ||
portion that is defamatory of another, obscene, or otherwise | ||
improper for publication. | ||
(c) If a request for correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction has specified two or more statements as false and | ||
defamatory, the correction, clarification, or retraction may deal | ||
with the statements individually in any manner provided by | ||
Subsection (b). | ||
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction is published with a prominence and in | ||
a manner and medium reasonably likely to reach substantially the | ||
same audience as the publication complained of if: | ||
(1) it is published in a later issue, edition, or | ||
broadcast of the original publication; | ||
(2) publication is in the next practicable issue, | ||
edition, or broadcast of the original publication because the | ||
publication will not be published within the time limits | ||
established for a timely correction, clarification, or retraction; | ||
or | ||
(3) the original publication no longer exists and if | ||
the correction, clarification, or retraction is published in the | ||
newspaper with the largest general circulation in the region in | ||
which the original publication was distributed. | ||
(e) If the original publication was on the Internet, a | ||
correction, clarification, or retraction is published with a | ||
prominence and in a manner and medium reasonably likely to reach | ||
substantially the same audience as the publication complained of if | ||
the publisher appends to the original publication the correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction. | ||
Sec. 73.058. CHALLENGES TO CORRECTION, CLARIFICATION, OR | ||
RETRACTION OR TO REQUEST FOR CORRECTION, CLARIFICATION, OR | ||
RETRACTION. (a) If a defendant in an action under this subchapter | ||
intends to rely on a timely and sufficient correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction, the defendant's intention to do so, | ||
and the correction, clarification, or retraction relied on, must be | ||
stated in a notice served on the plaintiff on the later of: | ||
(1) the 60th day after service of the citation; or | ||
(2) the 10th day after the date the correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction is made. | ||
(b) A correction, clarification, or retraction is timely | ||
and sufficient unless the plaintiff challenges the timeliness or | ||
sufficiency not later than the 20th day after the date notice under | ||
Subsection (a) is served. If a plaintiff challenges the timeliness | ||
or sufficiency, the plaintiff must state the challenge in a motion | ||
to declare the correction, clarification, or retraction untimely or | ||
insufficient served not later than the 30th day after the date | ||
notice under Subsection (a) is served on the plaintiff or the 30th | ||
day after the date the correction, clarification, or retraction is | ||
made, whichever is later. | ||
(c) If a defendant intends to challenge the sufficiency or | ||
timeliness of a request for a correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction, the defendant must state the challenge in a motion to | ||
declare the request insufficient or untimely served not later than | ||
the 60th day after the date of service of the citation. | ||
(d) Unless there is a reasonable dispute regarding the | ||
actual contents of the request for correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction, the sufficiency and timeliness of a request for | ||
correction, clarification, or retraction is a question of law. At | ||
the earliest appropriate time before trial, the court shall rule, | ||
as a matter of law, whether the request for correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction meets the requirements of this | ||
subchapter. | ||
Sec. 73.059. EFFECT OF CORRECTION, CLARIFICATION, OR | ||
RETRACTION. If a correction, clarification, or retraction is made | ||
in accordance with this subchapter, regardless of whether the | ||
person claiming harm made a request, a person may not recover | ||
exemplary damages unless the publication was made with actual | ||
malice. | ||
Sec. 73.060. SCOPE OF PROTECTION. A timely and sufficient | ||
correction, clarification, or retraction made by a person | ||
responsible for a publication constitutes a correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction made by all persons responsible for | ||
that publication but does not extend to an entity that republished | ||
the information. | ||
Sec. 73.061. ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE OF CORRECTION, | ||
CLARIFICATION, OR RETRACTION. (a) A request for a correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction, the contents of the request, and the | ||
acceptance or refusal of the request are not admissible evidence at | ||
a trial. | ||
(b) The fact that a correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction was made and the contents of the correction, | ||
clarification, or retraction are not admissible in evidence at | ||
trial except in mitigation of damages under Section 73.003(a)(3). | ||
If a correction, clarification, or retraction is received into | ||
evidence, the request for the correction, clarification, or | ||
retraction may also be received into evidence. | ||
(c) The fact that an offer of a correction, clarification, | ||
or retraction was made and the contents of the offer, and the fact | ||
that the correction, clarification, or retraction was refused, are | ||
not admissible in evidence at trial. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act applies only to information published | ||
on or after the effective date of this Act. Information published | ||
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in | ||
effect when the information was published, and the former law is | ||
continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |