Study On The Defence Against News Tort

Along with the development of our news media industry,cases caused by news tort are becoming more and more common.The news media is facing the risk of being charged with infringement all the time.On the one hand,freedom of the press is a sort of constitutional rights,on the other hand,personal right is also protected by the constitution.The former is as important as the the latter.So a lot of people begin to focus on the problem about how to balance the freedom of the press and the protection of personal right.In fact,compared with the sound law on the protection of civil rights,laws enacted to protect the news media is far from maturation.So our news media is in a disadvantageous position now.Therefore the author hopes to find out a way to coordinate them by studying on the defence against news tort.This article has four parts except the prelude and postscript.The first part,general theory of the defence against news tort.First,the article gives a brief review of the appearance and the development of the cases caused by the news tort,summarizes characteristics of the four waves and predicts how they will be in the new era.Second,it introduces the debate about if the concept of news tort exists.A majority of scholars hold the view that the concept exists because of its own unique components such as the specific subject,public works,the concrete object,illegal content and defendant’s faults.Third,the article introduces implications and the theoretic basis of the defence against news tort.It emphasizes value of the institution at last.The second part,our reality of the application.Through analysis of some cases,the article introduces some common defence such as truthfulness of news,fair comment,public figure,privilege and consent.Then it points out problems by comparing these cases,so as to pave the way for the following passage.The third part,the research status of Chinese jurisprudential circle.Different doctrines forms for the the distinction between the invasion of reputation and privacy.As for the former,they are the three element theory,the four element theory and the six element theory.As for the latter,they are the three element theory and the four element theory.Then the author proposes his own opinion.He thinks that some means of relief can be regarded as defence.The fourth part,the institution of foreign countries.This section expatiates the development and the current statement of the institution in the USA,the UK,Germany and Japan.It analyses the similarities and differences between these countries both in legislation and juridical practice by comparing them.At last it introduces systems and principles specific to each country.The fifth part,the establishment and vision of our news infringement defence.On the basis of the instruction of foreign institution and the analysis of ours,the author suggests that we should introduce the rule of public figure,improve the rule of privilege and establish a liability waiver system for works which were reproduced so as to consummate our institution.At last,this article appeals for the promulgation of the press law to guide juridical practice and provide materials for legal scholars.