U.K. Libel Laws Chill Another American Book
Without new U.S. legislation, expect many more victims.
by Rachel Ehrenfeld
Forbes.com
June 8, 2009
https://www.legal-project.org/378/uk-libel-laws-chill-another-american-book
Excerpt:
The most recent casualties of Britain's pernicious libel laws are New York-based best-selling author Michael Gross and his intriguing and well-researched book Rogues Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money That Made the Metropolitan Museum. It was published in May by Broadway Books, an imprint of Crown, which is owned by Random House.
The unauthorized book describes, among others, a New York socialite named Anne E. de la Renta, who serves on the influential boards of trustees of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Public Library.
Mrs. de la Renta did not appreciate her portrayal. She hired an international law firm in New York with offices in London and tried to suppress publication of the book, and Random House received a letter threatening a libel lawsuit it.
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