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Libel Insurance > Claims Examples

Libel And Professional Indemnity Claims relating to the publishing industry

The following claims examples has kindly been provided by Royal Sun Alliance Insurance plc who are market leaders in Libel and Professional Indemnity Insurance.

1. Libel and Infringement of Copyright Claims

Newspapers and magazines with a large national circulation are most at risk of high profile, costly libel actions. However, those distributed to a local audience are not immune, as the following examples illustrate.

• A local paper reported that a husband and wife had been accused of witchcraft by a member of their family and local priest. The accusations could not be substantiated and the publishers of the newspaper were required to retract the story and issue an apology.
• A publication reported the manager of a football club as stating that he was planning to resign in view of the club's serious financial difficulties; he was accused of having misled the club's supporters. In fact, the manager had vowed to stay with the club. Substantial undisclosed libel damages and an apology were received from the publication following legal action.
• A libel claim brought against a regional newspaper by a well-known couple who had been reported erroneously to be on the brink of separation resulted in a settlement costing £40,000.
• After an audit of a recently acquired company the new directors alleged that it was in a much worse situation that had been represented to them at the time of the sale. Their claims of serious inconsistencies in the company's financial statements were widely reported. The previous directors refuted these claims and sued the new directors for libel. Substantial defence costs were paid in defending the action.
• A religious organisation published a leaflet in which defamatory statements were made concerning the activities and beliefs of one of its former members. In the subsequent libel action, damages of £55,000 were awarded against the organisation.
• A firm of general practitioners were successfully sued for libel by one of their former partners. The firm had issues a press release containing serious criticisms of the former partner's abilities and conduct. The information was subsequently printed in several local newspapers and in specialist medical publications. Damages of £50,000 plus costs were awarded against the firm.
• A book publisher was sued for breach of copyright and passing off by a fellow publisher who claimed that the title of a new book was too similar to a work already published by them. Substantial costs were incurred to defend the action.
• A number of libel actions have arisen as a result of the publication of reports of disciplinary or misconduct proceedings in the magazines of professional institutes or societies.
• The writer of an autobiography successfully defended a libel action by an individual who had claimed that suggestions in the book that they had had a relationship were unfounded. However, the author incurred irrecoverable costs in excess of £50,000.
• A publishing firm is alleged to have committed a breach of copyright by publishing extracts of a literary work the rights for which were owned by a third party. The estimated cost of the action is £10,000.