han go to court. That's part of doing business." A good example was Sinatra v. National Enquirer and Clinic La Prairie. Frank Sinatra sued the Enquirer and a Swiss clinic in federal court in Los Angeles for statements to the effect that Sinatra had been treated at the clinic with youth rejuvenation drugs. The Enquirer settled with Sinatra in 1988.
At common law, defamation, the making of false statements which have the effect of injuring the plaintiff's reputation, were actionable. Defendants were strictly liable for untrue statements and had the burden of proving their statements were true. The Supreme Court case of New York Times v. Sullivan in 1963 reversed the common law in cases involving public figures. The holding in that case was that defamation actions would lie against public figures unless the plaintiffs could prove that the defendant had acted out of malice-i.e. knowingly or in reckless disregard of the truth. In that case, the New York Times had published inaccurate statement
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