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Legal specialists are calling for a single publication rule to be introduced in the UK, as the trade broadly welcomed deputy prime minister Nick Clegg's announcement of a draft defamation bill in the spring.
In a speech to the Institute for Government in London last week, Clegg announced his intention to address the "high costs of defamation proceedings", and "provide a new statutory defence for those speaking out in the public interest". He also called for a halt to libel tourism.
Maddie Mogford, legal director at Little, Brown, welcomed Clegg's proposal for libel law reform, but added bringing in a single publication rule, not mentioned by Clegg, would be "a key thing for book publishers". This rule would confine the risk of a libel claim being made to within the 12 months following publication. She added: "The last defamation act was in 1996 and the way in which information is disseminated has changed greatly since then. The law needs to take account of that."
David Hooper, partner at Reynolds Porter & Chamberlain, also pressed for the single publication issue to be addressed. "The most important thing for publishers to push for is that people should not be able to bring a libel case over a year after the publication of the book," he said.
Hooper and Mogford also agreed with Clegg's call for the cost of defamation proceedings to be brought down. Hooper said: "The real damage libel has done is not in the cases brought against publishers . . . but more importantly in that publishers are put off publishing a book that is potentially libelous as it's not worth it [the legal fees are too high]."
Kevin Taylor, director of strategy and intellectual property at Cambridge University Press, said: "It will cause academic writers to feel less constrained. We're only really bringing the laws in line with other jurisdictions in which academic publishers operate, such as in America. It's time for a bit more consistency."
Independent Publishers Guild board member Jim Smith, who is also m.d. of Bloomsbury Professional, said though the proposed reforms were "broadly speaking . . . to be welcomed by small publishers", it remains to be seen if the line between protecting the freedom of the individual and "preventing large corporations from using current libel laws to scare off academics" could be navigated.
Publishers Association chief executive Richard Mollet praised Clegg's stance on libel tourism. "The book publishing sector is one of many industries that is restricted by the threat of libel claims," he said.
"We whole-heartedly support Mr Clegg's stance on costs for defamation proceedings. We aim to work with government to provide practical suggestions and solutions to these issues," he added.