 | This article needs to be updated. (May 2018) |
| Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit |
| Full case name | Obsidian Finance Group, LLC and Kevin D. Padrick v. Crystal Cox |
| Decided | January 17, 2014 |
| Case history | |
| Prior actions | District Court hold that Cox is denied protection under Oregon's media shield statutes and retraction statutes because she is not a journalist. |
| Subsequent action | New trial on the blog post at issue. |
| Holding | |
| First Amendment negligence standard for private defamation actions is not limited to cases with institutional media defendants and Cox as a blogger could not be held liable for defamation unless she acted negligently. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Arthur Alarcón, Milan Smith, and Andrew D. Hurwitz |
| Keywords | |
| Defamation Law, Media Shield Law | |
Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox is a 2011 case from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon concerning online defamation. Plaintiffs Obsidian Finance Group and its co-founder Kevin Padrick sued Crystal Cox for maintaining several blogs that accused Obsidian and Padrick of corrupt and fraudulent conduct. The court dismissed most of Cox's blog posts as opinion, but found one single post to be more factual in its assertions and therefore defamatory. For that post, the court awarded the plaintiffs $2.5 million in damages. This case is notable for the court's ruling that Cox, as an internet blogger, was not a journalist and was thus not protected by Oregon's media shield laws,[1] although the court later clarified that its ruling did not categorically exclude blogs from being considered media and indicated that its decision was based in part upon Cox offering to remove negative posts for a $2,500 fee.[2] In January 2014 the Ninth Circuit Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's judgment awarding compensatory damages to the bankruptcy trustee.[3] It also ordered a new trial on the blog post at issue.[3]
- ^ Curtis Cartier (December 6, 2011). "Crystal Cox, Oregon Blogger, Isn't a Journalist, Concludes U.S. Court--Imposes $2.5 Million Judgement on Her". Seattle Weekly Blogs.
- ^ "Obsidian Finance Group, LLC, and Kevin D. Padrick V. Crystal Cox" (pdf). Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- ^ a b Arthur L. Alarcón; Milan D. Smith Jr.; Andrew D. Hurwitz (January 17, 2014). "United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit case Obsidian Finance Group LLC and Kevin Padrick vs. Crystal Cox (12-35238)" (PDF). United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit case. Retrieved February 2, 2014.