Arizona Defamation Law

Arizona defamation law consists of statutes and case law. Defamation law in Arizona may include libel, slander, false light, intereference with business relations, and other torts.

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Below, we’ll take a look into Arizona defamation law, including Arizona statutes as well as Arizona case law regarding reputation offenses, as decided by the Arizona Courts. This page will continue to be updated as important cases are decided by the Arizona Courts and as the Arizona Legislature enacts relevant legislation. Our focus will be on how Arizona defamation laws apply when residents of Arizona are the victims or the perpetrators of defamation on the Internet.

In Arizona, a cause of action for defamation has the following elements:

a false statement concerning the plaintiff; the statement was defamatory; the statement was published to a third party; the requisite fault on the part of the defendant; and the plaintiff was damaged as a result of the statement.

Arizona Defamation Statutes

Arizona Law 12-653.01. Definitions

  1. "Actual malice" means that state of mind arising from personal spite, hatred, or ill will toward the plaintiff, but such a state of mind occasioned by a good faith belief on the part of the defendant in the truth of the libelous publication or broadcast at the time it is published or broadcast shall not constitute actual malice.

  2. "Exemplary damages" means damages which may, in the discretion of the court or jury, be recovered in addition to general and special damages for the sake of example and by way of punishing a defendant who has made the publication or broadcast with actual malice.

  3. "General damages" means damages for loss of reputation.

  4. "Magazine" or "newspaper" means any publication which may be mailed at the second-class rates established by the United States post office.

  5. "Special damages" means all damages which the plaintiff alleges and proves he has suffered in respect only to his property, business, trade, profession or occupation.

Arizona Law 12-653.02. Failure to demand or publish or broadcast correction; publication with actual malice; damages; service of demand

In an action for damages for the publication of a libel in a newspaper or magazine, or of a slander by radio or television broadcast, the plaintiff shall recover no more than special damages unless a correction is demanded and not published or broadcast, unless the plaintiff shall prove the publication or broadcast was made with actual malice. The plaintiff shall serve upon the publisher at the place of publication, or broadcaster at the place of broadcast, a written notice specifying the statements claimed to be libelous and demanding that the same be corrected. The notice and demand shall be served within twenty days after actual knowledge of the plaintiff of the publication or broadcast of the statements claimed to be libelous.

Arizona Law § 23-1325 Defamation; damages

A. A person commits defamation of an employer by doing all of the following:

  1. Maliciously making a false statement about the employer to a third party without privilege.

  2. Knowingly, recklessly or negligently disregarding the falsity of the statement.

  3. Causing damage to the employer by the false statement.

B. An employer against whom defamation is directed or who is injured by defamation may obtain injunctive relief from the defamation. A person who commits the defamation is liable to any person injured by the defamation for damages, prejudgment interest, attorney fees, the costs of litigation and punitive damages. The damages may include lost sales and business, lost profits and loss in value of the business.

C. A labor union or a subdivision or local chapter of a labor organization is bound by and liable for the acts of its agents and may sue or be sued in its common name.

Arizona Law 12-653.03. Failure to publish or broadcast correction; recovery of special and exemplary damages; malice

If a correction is demanded within the period prescribed by section 12-653.02, and is not published or broadcast in substantially as conspicuous a manner in the newspaper or magazine, or on the radio or television broadcasting station, as the statements claimed to be libelous, in a regular issue thereof published or broadcast within three weeks after service, plaintiff, if he pleads and proves the notice, demand and failure to correct, and if his cause of action is maintained, may recover general, special and exemplary damages subject to applicable rules of law governing such damages in this jurisdiction, but no exemplary damages may be recovered unless the plaintiff proves that defendant made the publication or broadcast with actual malice and then only in the discretion of the court or jury.

Arizona Defamation Cases

Subpoena case to discover the identity of the puclisher of anonymous online comments and the resulting Motion to Quash. The Court must adjudge the competing interest between the First Amendment and the Plaintiff's rights. Doe v. USAR.

Additional Arizona Defamation Law

Additional information related to defamation laws as well as consultation for Arizona attorneys related to investigations of defamation for Arizona clients can be obtained by contacting patent attorney, digital forensics, and cyber security expert Domingo J Rivera of AVM Technology, a consulting firm that assists attorneys and defamation victims uncover the culprits of cyber defamation in Arizona and throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe.