Defamation, Libel Tourism and the Speech Act of 2010: The First Amendment Colliding with the Common Law

This book discusses the ostensible reasons for this legislation and examines the law in light of traditional principles of extending recognition to foreign judgments as an essential aspect of comity among nations. In order to properly evaluate the SPEECH Act and its likely implications, this study critically examines the ongoing degradation of First Amendment speech protections in the US and the developing English common law defamation privileges and reaches some startling conclusions. In this first critical study of the SPEECH Act, Harry Melkonian not only examines the specifics and likely application of this legislation as well as the underlying phenomenon of Libel Tourism but also provides a radically new perspective on the incipient convergence of US First Amendment and English common law freedom of speech and defamation principles. Uniquely, the book approaches the concept of convergence from the viewpoint of both doctrinal law and free speech theory and amalgamates the results through application of the traditional law of comity among nations. Defamation, Libel Tourism and the SPEECH Act of 2010 is an essential book for everyone involved with international legal aspects of the media including publishers, broadcasters, as well as legal professionals and academics.