Allegedly Defamatory Posts on Internet Subject to Tennessee Single Publication Rule

Tennessee’s rule that defamatory statements of widespread circulation create but a single cause of action accruing on the date of publication applied to statements posted on the internet, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee ruled March 26 (Clark v. Viacom Int’l Inc., M.D. Tenn., 3:12-cv-00675, 3/26/13).

Chief Judge William J. Haynes said that there was no good reason for excluding internet-based statements from the scope of the so-called “single publication rule” adopted by Tennessee in Applewhite v. Memphis State Univ., 495 S.W.2d 190, 194 (Tenn. 1973).

Moreover, the district court said, ...