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Defamation in 140 Characters or Less

Former Head of Indian Premier League (IPL) and Vice-President of the Board of Cricketing Control for India (BCCI)fined US$140,000 for Libelous Tweet.

On 5th January 2010 the Defendant, Lalit Modi, published on his official personal page of the social networking service Twitter the following words: “Chris Cairns removed from the IPL auction list due to his past record in match fixing. This was done by the Governing Council today.” Mr Cairns then sued Mr Modi for defamation in respect of the Tweet and the comment to Cricinfo. The defamatory meaning of the Tweet is obvious, namely that the Claimant had fixed cricket matches.

The court found for the plaintiff and awarded $140,000 in damages. The case cant be found here.

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Published by David

I am a the founder of a boutique intellectual property law firm based in Chicago, Illinois. In my role as a trusted advisor, I act as the primary transactional attorney for my clients, reporting directly to a company’s executive staff and/or its General Counsel. I provide advice to business units and executives on copyright, trademark, ecommerce, software/IT, media & entertainment and issues associated with creating and commercializing innovations and creative content, drafting and negotiating contracts and licenses, advising on securities laws and corporate governance and managing outside counsel. My clients frequently rely on me to successfully draft and negotiate complex commercial and intellectual property transactions such as supply/distribution agreements, IP development and license agreements and documentation related to mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.

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