Weeren v. Evening News Assn.
Weeren v. Evening News Assn.
Opinion of the Court
Like the three Durant Cases
All this took place in the same action with all defendants correspondingly charged with a libel of the plaintiff or actionable participation in such libel.
Had Professor Rodell been seated here for judg-. ment as the 3 Durant Cases came up, I am sure he would have hatched a cyclic new killy-loo for application of Rules 116 and 117, a legal bird with left- and right wings arranged reversibly so that all flight might go round and about rather than just backward. The reference appears in Williams v. City of Detroit, 364 Mich 231, 276, 277. To quote Rodell again:
“ ‘The law is the killy-loo bird of the sciences. The killy-loo, of course, was the bird that insisted on flying backward because it didn’t care where it was going but was mightily interested in where it had been. And certainly The Law, when it moves at all, does so by flapping clumsily and uncertainly along, with its eye unswervingly glued on what lies behind.’ Rodell, ‘Woe Unto You, Lawyers!’, ch 2,*486 p 23, Reynal & Hitchcock, p 20, Pageant Press, Inc., New York City.”
Since submission of this appeal, seven of us have seen and heard the telecast “A Bell for Okinawa.”
So much, then, for plaintiff’s claim that he is possessed of a cause for defamation. But another question, not answerable by demonstrative or documentary proof alone, remains for due process test of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Such question depends for answer upon that which may indeed be proved but yet is not; referring specifically to defendant’s key defense which, under heading “affirmative defenses,” is designated in its answer as paragraph (7). Paragraph 7 reads:
“(7) Plaintiff, while in Germany, acted to preempt the limelight as a public figure, or a celebrity, or a public personage, and, consequently, he lost his right to privacy, since: (i) he himself sought publicity and consented to it, and so he cannot now complain of such publicity; (ii) his personality and affairs already had become public, and these can*487 no longer be regarded as Ms own private business; and, (iii) television, in common with the press, has a privilege, guaranteed by the United States and Michigan Constitutions, to inform the public about those who have become legitimate matters of public interest”.4
One need but add that the affirmative defense thus pleaded may — if supported by due proof — turn out to be airtight as a matter of law. On that score see the respective opinions of Curtis Publishing Company v. Butts (Associated Press v. Walker), 388 US 130 (87 S Ct 1975, 18 L ed 2d 1094), so far as such opinions deal with Ceneral Walker’s fully tried case. But the validity of that defense may be rightfully tested only at close of all proofs, and then by motion for an instructed negative verdict as done in both Butts and Walker. As yet it has not received that exact proof-bolster which ever must precede determination of a cause by judicial judgment distinguished from jury verdict.
Upon the procedurally restricted showing now before the Court I hold that plaintiff’s cause as pleaded cannot be tested for legal sufficiency until, in the course of a due and complete trial, both parties have submitted proof for and against the proposition that the defendant telecaster actionably invaded Ms “right to be let alone” by repeating the telecast after having received from plaintiff the latter’s cease and desist letter of May 7, 1958. In such regard we find that plaintiff has alleged in his declaration, and defendant has not denied, that:
“13. Plaintiff immediately, through attorneys, caused a letter to be sent to the defendant requesting that defendant cease and desist from further*488 distribution and telecast of said film and advising the defendant that said film was false and defamatory and an invasion .of his right of privacy.
“14. Notwithstanding receipt by defendant of this letter the defendant did again, recklessly and without the knowledge or consent of plaintiff, telecast said film on or about September 2, 1958.”
Thus' far we are referred to nothing, nothing of record at all, which might tend to explain or justify defendant’s going on with the second telecast or, possibly, tend to show an “adequate” investigation, after receipt - of the cease and desist letter, upon strength of which defendant may have become immune legally from plaintiff’s charge of actionable invasion. There may indeed be such an explanation or justification. Defendant may have investigated to such extent as would satisfy the requirements of acceptable publishing standards. But that we do not yet know and will not know until defendant undertakes its quoted defense, a defense which would seem to require exemptive proof, not allegation, that defendant in proceeding with the second telecast did not depart from such standards. To quote that part of the Court’s opinion which, in Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, pp 158, 159, concluded the Walker Case:
“In contrast to the Butts article, the dispatch which concerns us in Walker was news which required immediate dissemination. The Associated Press received the information from a correspondent who was present at the scene of the events and gave every indication of being trustworthy and competent. His dispatches in this instance, with one minor exception, were internally consistent and would not have seemed unreasonable to one familiar with General Walker’s prior publicized statements on1 the underlying controversy. Considering the necessity for rapid dissemination, nothing in this*489 series of events gives the slightest hint of a severe departure from accepted publishing standards. We,¡ therefore conclude that General Walker should not be entitled to damages from the Associated Press.”
With plaintiff’s claim of defamation out of this case as a matter of law, the briefed question of privilege — qualified or unqualified — takes on a not. yet fully explored aspect of legal substance. Neither of the courts below has considered the question of privilege excepting as it applies in the context of plaintiff’s said allegation of defamation. Hence the controlling question on present appeal is whether, as against defendant’s motion for summary judgment,
The trial judge filed two opinions. Each upheld defendant’s said motion. In his first opinion the
“Here the defendant, Evening News Association, has moved for a summary judgment for a myriad of reasons which may he reduced, however, to one simple statement as follows: They move for the summary judgment because they state the defendant, as a visual broadcaster, is exempt from liability for defamation by reason of a qualified privilege absent malice.”
On motion for reconsideration the trial judge found that the film televised by defendant “is not defamatory as a matter of law of any of the characters it depicts.” Agreeing that that was and is true, there was and now is no question of privilege for judicial consideration excepting as that question may apply to plaintiff’s claim that his right of privacy was actionably invaded. The issue then became whether, both in circuit and upon submission to the seated panel of the Court of Appeals, plaintiff’s cause was determinable properly “on the pleadings as augmented by the exhibit of the published article and the film itself.” The quotation is taken from the concluding paragraph of the trial judge’s opinion on motion for reconsideration. The full paragraph reads:
“This court, in finding that defendant was qualifiedly privileged in televising the film, also finds as a matter of law that the film and its published prototype were in substantial and material agreement, considering* what we must recognize as limitations of photography in depicting the written word, and without allegation of express malice in such televising, defendant Evening News Association, as the television station disseminating the film, is entitled to summary judgment of no cause of action on the pleadings as augmented by the exhibit of the published article and the film itself,”
One need but read, thoughtfully, “Privacy: The Right to be Let Alone,” by Ernst and Schwartz, The Macmillan Company, 1962; the complete symposium “Privacy” appearing in the Spring 1966 issue of Duke University’s Law and Contemporary Problems (No. 2); Professor Bloustein’s “Privacy as an Aspect of Human Dignity: An Answer to Dean Prosser” (September 1966 issue of Publishing Entertainment Advertising Law Quarterly, p 166); Mr. Silver’s “Privacy and the First Amendment”, written for the May 1966 issue of Fordham Law Review, No. 4, p 553; Mr. Goldstein’s “The Constitutional Rights of Privacy — ‘A Sizable Hunk of Liberty’ ”, written for the Summer 1966 issue of
Let us examine Time v. Hill for verification of this, after having considered the prescient first paragraph of Mr. Silver’s mentioned article:
“In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the United States Supreme Court held that State tort law and its judicial enforcement is ‘State action’ within the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, where such law unduly interferes with freedom of speech or press under the First Amendment, it cannot be enforced.
“Although the Times Case arose out of a libel suit, there can be no doubt that any tort or other action cognizable in State courts will be subject to future constitutional test. The next tort action to undergo constitutional scrutiny will undoubtedly be that of invasion of privacy. Indeed, the Supreme Court has recently accepted a privacy case arising out of a judgment awarded to an individual publicized in Life magazine. As the Court stands poised at the brink of entry into yet another State domain, it would be propitious to clearly understand the problems posed by the present law of privacy and the possible resolutions to these problems.”8
Three features of Time v. Hill stand forth as of today’s stage of that yet unsettled case.
“Turning to the facts of the present case, the proofs reasonably would support either a jury finding of innocent or merely negligent misstatement by Life, or a finding that Life portrayed the play as a re-enactment of the Hill family’s experience reckless of the truth or with actual knowledge that the portrayal was false.”
The next is that two members of the Court found it necessary to join three other members provisionally “in order for the Court to be able at this time to agree on an opinion in this important case based on the prevailing constitutional doctrine expressed in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 US 254.”
The last, drawn from the first two, is that the Court simply could not have approached the writing of any opinion or opinions of substance for the case on strength of summary judgment procedures. Ear from being a precedent for summary disposition of an action for invasion of privacy, Time v. Hill stands as a unanimous determination that Hill’s cause as alleged and tried should be retried, reversible error having been discovered in the trial judge’s charge to the jury.
Now for the case at bar: Without the record of a completed trial, how may this Court decide as a matter of law that the defendant enjoyed some
Three opinions of this case have been submitted for signature. One, prepared by Justice Brennan, stands for affirmance. Another, prepared by Justice Souris, stands for reversal on ground that the question of defamation only is a triable issue of fact, it being his view that plaintiff has failed to plead a cause for invasion of privacy. I am unable to sign either opinion; hence this separate contribution.
1. The Brennan Opinion.
This opinion goes so far as to make up a finding of facts on the unique if not virginal assumption that the Court is armed with authority not only to try Mr. Weeren’s case on merit but to determine it upon findings of fact and conclusions of law as in GCR 1963, 517 provided. These findings enter our record under the unabashed declaration that “we must now tell the story of Franz J. Weeren against the Evening News Association as it can be gleaned from the words of Mr. Weeren himself and the uncontroverted exhibits, documents and pleadings in the cause.” Then comes “the story,” told with factual selections about as unfavorable to the plaintiff’s cause as one reasonably might expect in the course of a defensive jury argument, even unto histrionic demand for outright discard of plaintiff’s cease and desist letter of May 7, 1958, as having fallen “short of the mark” (the “mark” not being identified either by citation or proof).
“On summary judgment the inferences to be drawn from the underlying facts contained in such materials [“affidavits, attached exhibits, and depositions submitted below”] must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. A study of the record in this light leads us to believe that inferences contrary to those drawn by the trial court might be permissible. The materials before the district court having thus raised a genuine issue as to ultimate facts material to the rule of International Shoe Company v. Federal Trade Commission [280 US 291 (50 S Ct 89, 74 L ed 431)], it was improper for the district court to decide the applicability of the rule on a motion for summary judgment. Fed Rules Civ Proc, 56(c).”
To the credit of both, neither the trial judge nor the panel below undertook any such findings of fact or imfavorable-to-plaintiff forensics. For the trial judge’s restriction of decision to the question of privilege, determinable solely “on the pleadings as augmented by the exhibit of the published article and the film itself,” see the concluding paragraph of his second and final opinion, quoted ante. As for the appellate panel, the judges there disposed of plaintiff’s appeal strictly on strength “of the pleadings, film and article on which .the film was based” and proceeded to hold that defendant’s do
2. The Souris Opinion.
Justice Souris, looking upon plaintiff’s complaint as failing to allege a cause for invasion of privacy, alleges that “at this late date” the Court should not “treat it as if it were a two-count complaint alleging causes of action for defamation and also for invasion of privacy.” I reply that there is no need for consideration of such treatment, the complaint being amply sufficient under our rules of “notice pleading.” Indeed, as early as the time for answer the defendant knew that it was called upon for response to a combined complaint for defamation and invasion of privacy, both theories of recovery having arisen from the same set of facts as pleaded. Witness paragraph (7) of its answer, quoted above, pleading specially defendant’s reasons for defending against the second theory on ground that plaintiff had “lost his right to privacy.” Consider next the applicable rule as related in McDonald v. Hall, 193 Mich 50, 53, 54:
“When a single and continuous purpose runs through an entire transaction made up of various acts, each of which might alone constitute a cause of action, it is proper to set out all the facts in one count as a single cause of action. 31 Cyc, p 119, and cases cited in note.”
“It will be noted that the objection made was not that there was any technical failure to aver sufficient facts to establish a liability on the part of the defendant as owner, but the distinct point ruled was that the declaration, being in the alternative, was too uncertain in its statement to sustain a verdict. It is the settled rule that duplicity in a count cannot be made the subject of objection at the trial, but should be made the subject of special demurrer. 7 Encyclopedia Pleading & Practice pp 243, 244. See, also, Fuller v. City of Jackson, 82 Mich 480. It would have been better pleading to set out the two possible theories in separate counts; but unless the one averment negatives the other, the objection of duplicity was not good” ;
and this concurring passage of Kruk v. Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie R. Co., 249 Mich 685, 689:
“The cause of action for negligence undoubtedly was inconsistent with the charge under the hazardous employment act. The former was based upon the relation of master and servant, and the latter on the theory that the relation did not exist. Circuit Court Rule No 21, §7 [1919], permits .the joining of inconsistent causes of action in a declaration, but requires that they be charged in separate counts. The second count violated this rule. The defect, however, was in form, not in substance. It should have been challenged by motion in the nature of special demurrer, and was waived by pleading the general issue. Douglas v. Marsh, 141 Mich 209; 31 Cyc, pp 277, 278, 719.”
First: There is no precedent for the adjective posture of this case as some of the Brethren view it. Considering the process that is due, nothing beyond a judgment of remand with instructions is in order. It is a fact that, prior to trial, no one regarded the case as one for summary judgment on defendant’s motion, or as one due other than for trial of the fact and law issues of defamation and invasion of privacy. The unamended pretrial statement subscribed by Judge Wise records, under “Plaintiff’s version”:
“This is the case of the Bell for Okinawa. It is a libel and slander, invasion of privacy action by television.”
Under “Defendant’s version” defendant set forth its “summarized defenses,” suggesting nowhere that plaintiff had not pleaded a combined cause as thus averred by plaintiff. Then, under “Issues,” Judge Wise inserted the words “issues of fact and law.”
Under and in accordance with these auspices of pleading and pretrial procedure the trial went on some 7 days to the point of declared mistrial. Resort to GrCR 1963, 117 was not attempted until after the trial had proceeded to such point. Then the only affidavit offered in support of summary judgment was that of defendant’s counsel. It contained no facts such as would be admissible in evidence to establish the grounds stated in the motion. That seems to be pretty much conceded. Nonetheless, and despite the fact that both courts below were careful not to depend upon the incomplete testimonial record to bolster either the motion or the respective opinions of such courts, some here would have the court extend summary judgment practice so that one failing to move under the rule
This is not all. Until the record below arrived in this Court, defense counsel refused to recognize any part of the transcript of the trial as rightfully supporting his motion for summary judgment. To quote from defendant’s brief as submitted to the Court of Appeals:
“Counsel for appellant has printed what he deems to be favorable excerpts from the transcript of a lengthy trial under the optional provision of appellate rules, GrCR 1963, 800.12(1), which permits him, in a case originally filed in the Supreme Court, to use either an appendix or transcript.
“The trial evidence, however, is not a proper part of this appeal, since Judge Canham, in giving his opinion on reconsideration of the motion, specifically stated that he had ‘considered pleadings on file in this Court with attached exhibits and two viewings of the film.’ ”
It may be that the writer has gone into too much detail here; detail purposed toward full exposure of what the record discloses is total unemployability at present of Rule 117. But that has been deemed necessary, the better to guard against the possibility of impression that this Court is getting ready to sanction resort to part of the record of a mistried jury trial for support of a motion under Rule 117 for entry of a negative judgment.
Second: It is no secret now, the three Durant Cases considered (374 Mich 82; 375 Mich 628; 375 Mich 665), that the profession and bench of Michigan are groping for some, any, degree of certainty for ascertainment of the circumstances under which
Third: Probably the decision cited oftenest thus far in privacy cases is Pavesich v. New England Life Insurance Co., 122 Ga 190 (50 SE 68, 69 ALR 101, 2 Ann Cas 561, 106 Am St Rep 104). As other writers in this field have done,
“The right to withdraw from the public gaze at such times as a person may see fit, when his presence in public is not demanded by any rule of law1, is also embraced within the right of personal liberty. Publicity in one instance, and privacy in the other, are each guaranteed. If personal liberty embraces the right of publicity, it no less embraces the correlative right of privacy, and this is no new idea in Georgia law. In Wallace v. Georgia C. & N. R. Co., 94 Ga 732 (22 SE 579), it was said: ‘Liberty of speech and of writing is secured by the constitution, and incident .thereto is the correlative liberty of silence, not less important nor less sacred.’ The right of privacy within certain limits is a right derived from natural law, recognized by the principles of municipal law, and guaranteed to persons in this State both by the Constitutions of the United States and of the State of Georgia, in those pror visions which declare that no person shall be deprived of liberty except by due process of law.” (122 Ga 196, 197 [50 SE 70, 71].)
“The right of privacy, however, like every other right that rests in the individual, may be waived by him, or by any one authorized by him, or by any one whom the law empowers to act in his behalf, provided the effect of his waiver will not be such as to bring before the public those matters of' a purely private nature which express law or public*502 policy demands shall he kept private. This waiver may be either express or implied, but the existence of the waiver carries with it the right to an invasion of privacy only to such an extent as may be legitimately necessary and proper in dealing with the matter which has brought about the waiver. It may be waived for one purpose, and still asserted for another; it may be waived in behalf of one class, and retained as against another class; it may be waived as to one individual, and retained as against all other persons.” (122 Ga 199 [50 SE 72].)14
Let me repeat, from the above, that “Liberty of speech and of writing is secured by the Constitution, and incident thereto is the correlative liberty of silence, not less important nor less sacred.” Now that liberty of speech and press have been thrust nationally into the right of action for defamation if not directly into the right of action for invasion of privacy (but see Warren Spahn’s Case, supra), it is a blind appellate court that cannot foresee injection into cases as at bar of that correlative right to be let alone which, in Pavesich, came to consideration and approval. This of course implies no present decision or conviction either way. It does say, right out, that all such questions should be considered by appellate courts only in the light of fully tried — not summarily truncated — actions for damages. It says also that if fully tried cases like Time v. Hill, Messner v. Spahn and Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts were too sticky and inconclusive for entry of final judgment, this summarily judged case is too much so for present entry of such a judgment.
As noted above, my vote is cast to reverse and for remand to circuit for entry of order denying this motion for summary judgment. All costs should abide the final result.
Supplement (September 25, 1967):
liefer to page 494 above, noting the then fact of submission of three opinions of this case, each variant from both of the others. There are four opinions now, Justice Adams having contributed September 21st a third view for reversal.
Looking at these circumstances of judicial paralysis, it is not out of order to observe that the profession as well as the case would be served better by scrapping all four opinions followed by entry of an order vacating both judgments below for reason that the record is not presently in shape for entry of any kind of peremptory judgment.
Durant v. Stahlin (Appeal in re King, Bashara, Merrell, and Waldron), 374 Mich 82; Durant v. Stahlin (Appeal in re Van Dusen,
Some of that “New Legality” of which we are now being told
“The concept of the new legality has not run its course. In order to achieve justice for all of the citizens of the United States, the proponents of the new legality believe that the concept must be carried down to the lowest court. It is not acceptable for the inferior eourts to mete out injustice or to continue to enforce principles that are unjust or unfair and must be corrected on appeal. The trial eourts, in whieh the majority of the citizens either achieve justice or are deprived of it, must decide the case at hand on the principles of the new legality. In other words, they must see that a just result is reached then and there; no longer can they excuse their decisions because they are bound by rulings from higher courts. They must take the example of the Supreme Court of the United States, whieh does not consider itself bound by precedent. They must deeide the real issues at hand and render a just decision.”
This was done successively in the courts below by agreement of the parties. We in turn, the parties stipulating agreeably, accept the film and its audio-visual presentation as a document forming part of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. See GCR 1963, 117.3.
Compare these pleaded asseverations with the reasoning and result of Spahn v. Messner, 18 NY2d 324 (221 NE2d 543) (remanded for further consideration, Messner v. Spahn, 387 US 239 (87 S Ct 1706, 18 L ed 2d 744).
That motion alone with affidavits for and against plus the stipulated appraisal by all 3 courts of “A Bell for Okinawa.” Such was the properly exclusive record rrpon which the trial judge based his decision. See contextual quotation of the judge’s second opinion, post.
“With the arrival of this appeal there remains but little, doubt that our fancy new rules of peremptory practice are being regularly employed — subtly and effectively — to circumvent the revered and hitherto guaranteed right to have presented issues of fact tried to and decided by juries. For attestation of such right, as it was in the beginning, is now, but — if current sly schemers do have their way— will never hence be, see United States Const Am 7; Mich Const (1850), art 6, §27; Mich Const (1908), art 2, §13 (duplicating the 1850 guaranty) ; Underwood v. People, 32 Mich 1 (20 Am. Rep 633) ; Swart v. Kimball, 43 Mich 443; Paul v. Detroit, 32 Mich 108; Risser v. Hoyt, 53 Mich 185.” (Romero v. King, 368 Mich 45, 49, 50.)
“The state of the law is still that of a haystack in a hurricane but certain words and phrases stick out. We read of the right of privacy, of invasion of property rights, of breach of contract, of equitable servitude, of unfair competition; and there are even suggestion^ of unjust enrichment.” (p 485.)
Mr. Silver’s references at the time (May, 1966) were to New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 US 254 (84 S Ct 710, 11 L ed 2d 686, 95 ALR2d 1412) and to Mill v. Hayes, 18 App Div 2d 485 (240 NYS2d 286), affirmed memorandum, 15 NY2d 986 (207 NE2d 604, 260 NYS2d 7).
This happened again in Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, supra. See the opinion of Mr. Justice Black, 388 US at 170.
In Diebold the Court considered the Federal rule from whence our Rules 116 and 117 were copied in near verbatim substance. Summary judgment was, of course, denied.
Notably Ernst and Schwartz, supra at 49. They say:
“THOMAS COOLEY was the author of The Elements of Torts, pub*501 lished in 1878. There, of personal immunity, he says: ‘The 'right to one’s person may be said to be a right to he let alone.’ This seems to be an instance where the definition for- a word precedes the word itself.”
As one reads contemplatively through the eases and reviews dealing with the right of action for invasion of privacy, it comes to him more and more that the defense (where there is a defense and a defense is needed) is regarded as a waiver by the plaintiff of his asserted right, not a privilege of the defendant to intrude upon or disturb that right.
It may be further noted that, upon inquiry from this Court, the attorneys for both plaintiff and defendant stated it was their desire that this Court consider the entire record in its determination of the issues presented.
Concurring Opinion
(concurring in reversal and remand for trial). I agree with Justice Black that this case should be remanded with instructions in order that the trial judge may have proper guidance as he proceeds with a trial.
I. The Motion for Summary Judgment.
Normally the time for a motion for summary judgment is before trial. In this case, a trial was begun. After seven days, it ended in a mistrial. The plaintiff’s last witness was on the stand at the time. The clear purpose of defendant’s motion was to test plaintiff’s entire case. This is disclosed in the first paragraph of the motion:
“Defendant * * * moves the court tó enter summary judgment for defendant * * * for the reasons that the pleadings heretofore filed in the above action, as well as the earlier and nearly completed trial of the cause on the merits before this court and a jury, disclose that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Defendant could not test plaintiff’s practically completed case by a motion for directed verdict. Under the circumstances, the motion' -for summary judgment could be utilized to determine whether plaintiff’s pleadings, exhibits, and witnesses had raised
While the motion for entry of summary judgment was properly made, in my view there were numerous questions of fact for determination by the jury and, consequently, it was error to grant same.
II. Did the Plaintiee Plead (1) Defamation by Libel and (2) Invasion oe Privacy?
Causes of action based upon a claim of libel and a claim of invasion of privacy were pled. The defendant was advised by letter from plaintiff’s attorneys immediately after the first showing of the film that plaintiff’s right of privacy had been invaded.
III. "Was the Film Nondeeamatory as a Matter of Law?
I agree with Justice Souris that it is not possible to determine as a matter of law that “A Bell for Okinawa” is nondefamatory. Plaintiff’s amended complaint and declaration alleged:
“10. The film as produced and telecast by defendant used plaintiff’s name and identified him with said Neukollin Eisenwerk and falsely characterized and portrayed him by name as an arrogant, unfeeling person, and as possessing a character universally associated with the Hitler Nazi party.
“11. The film as telecast further asserted that plaintiff was approached by Dr. von Scorebrand to donate a bell, but in a rude and violent manner refused to do so until compelled by his employees to do so, and then only without paying his employees for the work done, all of which was untrue.”
The film portrays a Franz Weeren
In Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 US 130 (87 S Ct 1975, 18 L ed 2d 1094), decided June 12, 1967, Justice Harlan, in an opinion in which he was joined by Justices Clark, Stewart and Fortas, observed (pp 151, 152) :
“The law of libel has, of course, changed substantially since the early days of' the Republic, and this change is ‘the direct consequence of the friction between it * * * and the highly cherished right of free speech.’ State of New Jersey v. Browne, 86 NJ Super 217, 228, (206 A2d 591, 597). The emphasis has shifted from criminal to civil remedies, from the protection of absolute social values to the safeguarding of valid personal interests. Truth has become an absolute defense in almost all cases, and privileges designed to foster free communication are almost universally recognized. But the basic theory of libel has not changed, and words defamatory of another, are still placed ‘in the same class with the use of explosives or the keeping of dangerous animals.’ Prosser, The Law of Torts (3d ed), § 108, at p 792. Thus some antithesis between freedom of speech and press and libel actions persists, for libel remains premised on the content of speech and limits the freedom of the publisher to express certain sentiments, at least without guaranteeing legal proof of their substantial accuracy.”
In a separate opinion, Chief Justice Warren wrote (p 170):
“Freedom of the press under the First Amendment does not include absolute license to destroy lives or careers.”
There was testimony upon the trial from which the jury might conclude that, due to the publication
IV. Did the Defendant Enjoy a Qualified Privilege in Televising the Film?
Both the trial court and the Court of Appeals held the defendant enjoyed a qualified privilege in televising “A Bell for Okinawa.” The trial court found the film to be a matter of public interest and, so, held that the defendant was not required to determine the truthfulness of it, hut merely to believe it to be true and publish it in good faith. The availability of privilege in libel actions is tested by the occasion and is to be determined by the court, but each occasion must be viewed in the light of its own facts. The privilege to disseminate current, topical, immediate news of public interest, or about official or public figures, is one thing. The privilege in connection with past events of possible current interest but which do not have to be transmitted to the public in a matter of hours is quite another. Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, supra. If the privilege is one of a limited or qualified nature, it may be lost through improper conduct. The test for a public figure, as stated by Justice Harlan, is (p 155):
“A ‘public figure’ who is not a public official may also recover damages for a defamatory falsehood whose substance makes substantial danger to reputation apparent, on a showing of highly unreasonable conduct constituting an extreme departure from the standards of investigation and reporting ordinarily adhered to by responsible publishers.”
“In short, at this point 2 questions are presented. The first is whether or not the occasion upon which the words were spoken was a privileged occasion. This determination is for the court and the burden of proof is upon the defendant asserting the privilege. If, however, the privilege is qualified, a further question remains, whether or not the privilege of the occasion was abused. Here the problem is one for the jury, under proper instructions, and with respect to it the plaintiff carries the burden of proof. ‘The question whether the occasion is such as to rebut the inference of malice if the communication be bona fide is one of law for the court; but whether bona fides exist is one of fact for the jury.’ Timmis v. Bennett, 352 Mich 355, 367, quoting Bacon v. Michigan Central R. Company, 66 Mich 166, 173.”
Plaintiff established notice to defendant after the first telecast. Plaintiff claims the film deviates falsely from previous accounts. The actor who
“The fact, then, that it is determined that the occasion is conditionally privileged does not mean-that the publisher (whether newspaper or other) has carte blanche to deal recklessly with the most jealously guarded possession of a public official, or, indeed, of any citizen, his good reputation. Yet the conditional privilege does afford the publisher a degree of protection. He is not liable for absolute truth, it being required only, as we held in Powers v. Vaughan, 312 Mich 297, 305, quoting McAllister v. Detroit Free Press, 76 Mich 338, 356 (15 Am St Rep 318), that the statement made be ‘honestly believed to be true, and published in good faith.’ See, also, Howard v. Dickie, 120 Mich 238, 241; 15 MLP, Libel and Slander, § 21.” Lawrence v. Fox, supra, pp 142, 143.
Since none of the material was “hot” news that needed to be reported immediately, and since it claimed the previously published material had been falsified in the film version so as to be defamatory of the plaintiff, I would apply the test set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Curtis Publishing Co., supra, and leave the matter for determination by a jury.
V. Was There an Invasion of Right of Privacy?
Plaintiff’s claimed right of privacy poses the most difficult question but, once again, it is a question of fact for determination by a jury. The right of privacy does exist in Michigan. Pallas v. Crowley,
The right can be inferred in the early Michigan case of Demay v. Roberts (1881), 46 Mich 160 (41 Am Rep 154). In Pallas, this Court refused to follow the reservations as to the right expressed in Atkinson. Pallas involved a claimed unauthorized use by defendant of plaintiff’s photograph. The Court said (pp 416, 417):
“The general rule (to which, of course, there are exceptions) is stated thus in the American Law Institute’s 4 Restatement, Torts, § 867, p 398:
“ ‘A person who unreasonably and seriously interferes with another’s interest in not having his affairs known to others or his likeness exhibited to the public is liable to the other.’
“Doubtless the question whether the unauthorized publication of a person’s photographic likeness 'unreasonably and seriously’ interferes with such person’s right of privacy involves an issue of fact which cannot be determined on hearing a motion to dismiss, as was done in the case at bar. We conclude that there are circumstances under which one may have a right of privacy in a photographic likeness, which may give rise to an action for damages for the unauthorized publication thereof. In so holding, we do not overlook Atkinson v. John E. Doherty & Co., 121 Mich 372 (46 LRA 219, 80 Am St Rep 507), but decline to follow the same to the extent that it is inconsistent with the conclusion reached herein.”
“Notwithstanding all this, the boundaries of the tort are still anything but well defined. It appears in reality to be a complex of four more or less related wrongs. One, which has the clearest recognition, is the appropriation of the values of a name, picture or personality. A second consists of intrusion upon the plaintiff’s solitude or seclusion, as by invading his room, or tapping his telephone wires. The third consists of giving unjustifiable and embarrassing publicity to present or past facts out of the plaintiff’s life, and is apparently closely related to the intentional infliction of mental suffering. The fourth, which has made a rather amorphous appearance in half a dozen cases, involves putting the plaintiff in a false but not necessarily defamatory position in the public eye, as by attributing to him views that he does not hold, or conduct with which he cannot fairly be charged.”
Here the claimed invasions of privacy consist of “the appropriation * * * of a name, picture or personality * * * giving unjustifiable and embarrassing publicity to * * * past facts out of the plaintiff’s life, and * * * attributing to him * * * conduct with which he cannot fairly be charged.” Prosser, supra.
These are questions for a jury to determine. The proofs upon trial will of necessity include a viewing of the telecast. The language of an actor, it should be noted, is much more than words: See Gadde v. Michigan Consolidated Gas Co., 377 Mich 117, 127, text and footnote 4 re nonverbal communication. It is the way in which he speaks, the way in which he moves about, the manner in which he smiles or frowns, that tells the story. If plaintiff has been portrayed as a villain, or whatever the portrayal,
VI. In Summary
Whether plaintiff’s claims have merit, they are entitled to be tested under the existing law as to libel and as to the right of privacy. I agree that the partially completed trial should be considered in connection with the motion for summary judgment. I disagree that the film is nondefamatory as a matter of law. I would treat the complaint as a two-count complaint, (1) in libel and (2) invasion of privacy. I would remand for a trial without costs, costs to abide the final result.
“The characterization of Mr. Weeren and representation of his actions and conduct are regarded as false, defamatory and an invasion of his right of privacy.” — From letter by plaintiff's attorneys to defendant.
“13. Plaintiff immediately, through attorneys, caused a letter to be sent to the defendant requesting that defendant cease and desist from further distribution and telecast of said film and advising the defendant that said film was false and dafamatory and an invasion of his right of privacy.”
“This is the ease of the Bell for Okinawa. It is a libel and slander, invasion of privacy aetion by television.”
“(h) that this Court erred in holding as a matter of law that
It should be noted that one of the prime issues in this ease is whether or not the Franz Weeren of the TV film and plaintiff are one and the same or whether persons viewing the film would be likely to think they were.
Dissenting Opinion
{dissenting). This case comes to us as a result of a judgment rendered by the trial court on motion for summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117. GCR 1963, 117.2(3) provides that a motion for summary judgment may be made on the ground “that except as to the amount of damages there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and the moving party is therefore entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” GCR 1963, 117.3 provides, among other things, that “Judgment shall be rendered forthwith if * * * the affidavits or other proof show that there is no genuine issue of fact.”
The first matter which we consider in connection with this ruling is whether the affidavit supporting the motion for summary judgment is sufficient. GCR 1963, 117.3 says that a motion based upon subrule 117.2(3) shall be supported by affidavits. GCR 1963, 117.3 further says that such affidavits shall be governed by the provisions of subrules 116.4, 116.5, and-116.6. GCR 1963, 116.4 requires a supporting affidavit to be made on personal knowl
GCR 1963,117.3 says that such affidavits, together with the pleadings, depositions, admissions, and documentary evidence then filed in the action or submitted by the parties, shall be considered by the court at the hearing on the motion. The purpose of the affidavits required by GCR 1963, 116.4 is to present to the court the nature of the evidence that would be brought out at trial in order to demonstrate whether there are genuine issues of fact to be tried. Where the pleadings, depositions, admissions, and documentary evidence then on file in the action are sufficient to satisfy the trial judge that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, the moving party ought not to be required to comply strictly with the requirements of GCR 1963, 116.4 in the affidavit which supports his motion.
The second question presented is this: On what was the motion for summary judgment based? That is to say, what were the pleadings, depositions, admissions, and documentary evidence which the trial judge could consider in arriving at his decision on
We can see no distinction between admissions made by the plaintiff in a pretrial discovery deposition and admissions made by him from the witness stand in the presence of the court and the jury. If his admissions disclose that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, in either case, the court ought to be allowed to act upon that disclosure. We see no distinction between exhibits attached to an affidavit given pursuant to GCR 1963, 116.4 and exhibits which have been marked and filed and identified and admitted to evidence in the process of a partially completed trial. All of these things must clearly be considered as having been submitted by the parties, in compliance with the court rule. Neither plaintiff’s counsel nor defendant’s counsel urged that this Court should close its eyes to the matters which were contained in the record in this case and confine itself to a consideration of the pleadings and the abbreviated affidavits in support of and in opposition to the motion, or pick and choose among the items of documentary evidence that were submitted to the trial court and considered by it in ruling on the motion. We hold, therefore, that the phrase in GCR. 1963, 117.3, “depositions, admissions, and documentary evidence then filed in the action or submitted by the parties,” may include testimony given in a partially completed trial before the same judge who hears the motion for summary judgment, and these things may be considered by the trial judge where the parties treat the partially completed trial as supporting their respective positions on the motion.
After the bell was cast, it was donated to Dr. von Scorebrand in a ceremony which took place around the airlift memorial in Berlin. Present were the acting mayor of Berlin, Protestant and Catholic clergymen and a Rabbi. The plaintiff was present, but did not participate in the ceremony, and his father, who was ill, was not present. Newspaper men and representatives of the wire services were present at this ceremony, and newsmen had been present at a previous test ringing of the bell, which was conducted at the factory itself. Newspaper articles regarding the donation of the bell to the leper colony by the Weeren Iron Works, appeared at the time. Some three years later, there appeared in a German Lutheran publication called Christ Und Welt an article by a man named Bruce Bliven, Jr. This article purported to tell the story of the donation of the bell by the ironworks to the leper colony. The article appeared on the 7th of April, 1955, and it was marked and received as an exhibit at the trial.
Plaintiff testified that when the article was published he discussed it with his father and his mother, that they agreed there were inaccuracies in the Bliven story, but that it was not malicious. Plain
On April 20, 1958, the defendant, Evening News Association, through its television station WWJ-TV, Channel 4, in Detroit, Michigan, televised an hour-long dramatic presentation entitled “A Bell for Okinawa” on a television program called the Readers Digest Hour. The film was made by Bernard L. Schubert, Inc., and was leased to the defendant for two showings by Telestar Films, Inc. By this time, the plaintiff, Franz J. Weeren, was living in Oak Park, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In his amended complaint, the plaintiff stated that the film as produced and telecast by the defendant used plaintiff’s name and identified him with the ironworks and falsely characterized and portrayed him by name as an arrogant unfeeling person, and as possessing a character universally associated with the Hitler Nazi party. He further alleged that the film as telecast asserted that plaintiff was approached by Dr. von Scorebrand to donate a bell, but in a rude and violent manner he had refused to grant the request until compelled by his employees to do so, and then only without paying his employees for the work done, all of which was untrue, He further
“ALLEN, HAASS AND SELANDER
Attorneys and Counselors
Dime Building
Detroit 26
May 7, 1958.
“Evening News Association,
615 Lafayette Building,
Detroit 26, Michigan.
“Gentlemen:
“The writer and Jack Moskowitz, attorney, at law,of Hazel Park, Michigan, have been retained 'by Franz J. Weeren in connection with your recent television broadcast ‘A Bell for Okinawa’ on station WWJ-TV. The characterization of Mr. Weeren and. representation of his actions and conduct are re-' garded as false, defamatory and an invasion of his right of privacy. Mr. Weeren and his family have already suffered severe damages as a result of the telecast for which you and others will be required to respond.
“The purpose of this letter is to inform you -of Mr. Weeren’s position and to request that you refrain from any retelecast- or other action which*524 would further damage Mr. Weeren, his family and business.
“Yours very truly,
“Allen, Haass and Selander
“/&/ James C. Allen
“JCA/eab”
Plaintiff further alleged in his amended complaint, that notwithstanding receipt by defendant of this letter, defendant did again recklessly and without the knowledge and consent of the plaintiff telecast said film on or about September 2, 1958.
, Defendant concedes receipt of the letter and concedes that there was a further telecast of the film on or about September 2, 1958. The trial judge who viewed the film on two occasions has this to say about it:
“First, it is my finding that the film, ‘A Bell for Okinawa,’ is not defamatory as a matter of law of any of the characters it depicts. About this conclusion, in my opinion, the minds of reasonable persons would not disagree. I should remark here that in the published articles and the film there is an obvious confusion of names occurring, probably in the translation from German to English. Plaintiff’s father is Dr. Fritz Weeren. ITis grandfather, founder, was Franz Weeren. The foundry is known as the Franz Weeren Iron Works or Eisenwerk Franz Weeren. Plaintiff was never known as Dr. Franz Weeren. He entered the United States in September, 1956, under the name of Franz J. Weeren.
“Consideration of the film if the pleading of the plaintiff is to be followed suggests that the public will asume that he is the portly, middle-aged German portrayed as Dr. Franz Weeren, rather than the slim, youthful-looking person who was shown to this court in pictures exhibited at the trial, but there is nothing defamatory about portliness or middle-aged which the film portrayal of Dr. Franz Weeren depicted, There was certainly nothing to suggest*525 Nazi characteristics. He was both a person and an ancestor of whom one conld be proud.
“This court, therefore, is of the opinion, and it so finds that the criticism of the film as pleaded and voiced by plaintiff’s counsel at the time of oral argument is of a hypercritical, supersensitive nature and not such as would he remotely objectionable to an ordinary reasonable person.”
This Court has viewed the film and agrees with the trial court’s description of it.
No one could doubt that a television broadcaster is not the insurer of the truth of every quasi-historical dramatic presentation it broadcasts, and there is clearly a privilege extended a television broadcaster which will shield it from civil liability for libel in the absence of a positive showing of both falsity and malice in the publication.
The only possible question of fact we can see on this issue of libel is whether the Evening News Association, having received the letter described above, as exhibit 2, was obligated to investigate the truth of the representations made in the film before rebroadcasting it. If the letter of May 7, 1958, sought to accomplish that purpose, it falls short of the mark. The letter does not even indicate to the Evening News Association that the Mr. Weeren, whom the lawyers represented, was or claimed to he in any way connected with the Eisenwerk Franz Weeren described in the film. There are no details in the letter indicating in what particulars the film is alleged to he false or defamatory. All the defendant could possibly have been expected to do under the circumstances was to view the film again and arrive at some reasonable conclusion as to whether it was false and defamatory on its face. This they did, and apparently arrived at the same conclusion as the trial judge that the film would not be remotely objectionable to an ordinary reasonable person.
The Franz Weeren Iron Works was in the business of making bells. It donated a bell to a leper colony in Okinawa, and it obtained the benefit of considerable publicity in connection with that act of charity. Public relations and institutional publicity for business establishments are as common and accepted in our day as any other fact of modern life. Neither a company nor the owner of a company nor the son of an owner of a company ought to be permitted to complain if publicity sought and obtained creates more than a ripple on the waters of public notice. From the minute a newspaper man walked in the front door of the ironworks in the company of Dr. von Scorebrand and the story of the donation of the bell voluntarily released to him, the entire story and the participation of the plaintiff in it became part of the public domain. Repetition of the story in other news media, condensations of it, retellings of it, dramatizations of it were the expected and desired result, and it ill behooves the
The judgment of the trial court should he affirmed, with costs to defendant.
Concurring Opinion
(concurring in reversal and remand for trial). I cannot subscribe Mr. Justice Brennan’s opinion for affirmance but, instead, for reasons to be stated, I vote for reversal and remand for trial.
Summary disposition of plaintiff’s defamation claim because the televised film “is not defamatory as a matter of law”, as the circuit judge concluded
Plaintiff’s amended complaint, as I read it and as it was read by the parties themselves in the trial court, by the circuit judge, and by the Court of Appeals, purports to allege a cause of action only for defamation. Its 15 numbered paragraphs, comprising a single count, set forth allegations of fact appropriate for, and typical of, a defamation cause. Only in two paragraphs is there any suggestion of a claim by plaintiff that defendant’s action invaded his privacy. In one, the suggestion appears in his factual recital that a letter was sent by his attorneys to defendant requesting that it cease and desist from rebroadcasting the television film because it “was false and defamatory and an invasion of his right of privacy.” In the other, plaintiff simply alleged that the conduct of the defendant not only defamed him, but also subjected him to “inquisitive notice of the public.” Considering the contents and form of the amended complaint, and the way in which the parties themselves and the judges who heretofore have passed upon it have construed it, I do
I east my vote to reverse the circuit judge’s summary judgment and to remand for trial of the defamation cause alleged in plaintiff’s amended complaint, not for trial of an invasion of privacy cause. Plaintiff should be allowed to tax his costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Weeren v. Evening News Association
- Cited By
- 20 cases
- Status
- Published