1. Publicity to Private Facts
Three elements of the private facts tort:
There must be publicity to private facts about an individual
The revelation of this material must be highly offense to a reasonable person
The material is not of legitimate public concern or interest

2. Publicity to Private Facts
Publicity - the communication of information to a large number of people

3. Publicity to Private Facts
Private facts - the plaintiff must prove the information was indeed private before there was publicity

4. Naming Rape Victims
Someone who is sexually assaulted is assaulted 3 times
Victims often judged as guilty, what did they do to ‘provoke’ the rape
Failure to report rapes due to the previous 2 issues

5. Publicity to Private Facts
Offensive Material
The material must be offensive to a reasonable person, not someone who is overly sensitive
Offensive or embarrassing information will not be considered an invasion of privacy if the material is of legitimate public concern

6. Publicity to Private Facts
Legitimate Public Concern
Stories that are of great interest
Stories about both voluntary and involuntary public figures
Must provide a connection between the private facts and newsworthy aspects of the story

7. False Light Privacy Three elements of False Light Privacy:
Publication of the material must place an individual in a false light
The false light would be offensive to a reasonable person
The publisher of the material was at fault

8. False Light Privacy Fictionalization
One common source of false light privacy suits is a drama that adds fictional material to an otherwise true story
The use of fictional rather than real names in such a drama will not normally preclude a successful false light suit

9. False Light Privacy Highly Offensive Material
Reasonable person standard
Ex: Cibenko v. Worth Publishers (1981)

10. False Light Privacy The Fault Requirement
Since the U.S Supreme Court ruling in Time v. Hill (1967), plaintiffs have been required to prove fault in false light cases
This fault requirement is very much like the one applied in libel cases

11. False Light Privacy
Most false light cases result from the publication of false information about a person in a news or feature story