Defamation Per Quod

General elements of Defamation:

1. Defendant intentionally publishes a statement of fact that is:
2. False;
3. Defamatory;
4. Has a natural tendency to injure or which causes special damage; and
5. The defendant’s fault in publishing the statement (negligence or actual malice, depending on the person’s status as private or public figure).

If “the defamatory meaning would appear only to readers who might be able to recognize it through some knowledge of specific facts...not discernable from the face of the publication,” then the libel is per quod. Darnaa, LLC v. Google, Inc., No. 15-CV-03221-RMW, 2015 WL 7753406, at *9 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2015), on reconsideration in part, No. 15-CV-03221-RMW, 2016 WL 6540452 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 2, 2016); see also Cal. Civ. Code § 45a (distinguishing between “libel on its face” and “[d]efamatory language not libelous on its face”).

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