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Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 18-2868, Document 279, 08/09/2019, 2628231, Page9 of 37
In the face of this uninterrupted line of New York state (and federal) cases dating back to
the nineteenth century powerfully establishing a bright line rule regarding republication liability,
plaintiff Giuffre manages what amounts to a—frivolous—murmur of opposition. She claims
there are “[t]wo standards” in New York law: one “older,” and one “more modern.” Resp. 28.
The “older” standard, plaintiff says, is represented by the legion of cases we have cited. The
“more modern formulation”—where can it be found? Why, in one place: a treatise on
defamation. /d. (citing Sack on Defamation § 2.7.2, at 2-113 to -114 (4" ed. 2016)). It surely is
frivolous to argue that a treatise creates a republication-liability standard that is separate from,
“more modern” than, and supersedes the New York Court of Appeals’ 2010 decision in Geraci
and this Court’s 2012 decision in Egiazaryan.
Trying to build on this start, plaintiff argues, “New York appellate courts have repeatedly
held than an individual is liable for the media publishing that individual’s defamatory press
release.” Resp. 28 (emphasis supplied). Even if we accept plaintiff's mischaracterization of the
January 2015 statement as a “press release,” her argument still would be meritless. To begin
with, when plaintiff says the New York appellate courts have “repeatedly” supported her claimed
tule of law, she means . . . twice. And an examination of those two cases reveals she is quite
wrong and, worse, has advanced a seriously misleading argument. Neither case involved, as here,
a motion for summary judgment. In both cases, the New York appellate division affirmed the
denial of a motion to dismiss under the state’s equivalent of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
12(b)(6). See Levy v. Smith, 18 N.Y.S.3d 438, 439 (2d Dep’t 2015); National Puerto Rican Day
Parade, Inc. v. Casa Pubs. (“NPR”), 914 N.Y.S.2d 120, 122-23 (1 Dep’t 2010).
°As discussed in This Reply, at 16-19, the January 2015 statement would be a strange
“press release,” as it threatened to sue the very press to which it was “releasing” information.
Extracted Information
Dates
Document Details
| Filename | DocumentCloud_Epstein_Docs_p00791.png |
| File Size | 314.2 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.1% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,147 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04 12:26:19.743601 |