Removal of Usmanov Article
Last week, we published a blog post discussing the new investor in Arsenal, Uzbeki steel magnate Alisher Usmanov. I quoted extensively from an article by Craig Murray (former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan) on his website, craigmurray.co.uk. That article has now been removed “at the instigation of Schillings, lawyers retained by Usmanov.”
This morning I also received notice from Schillings of London that unless I removed the article, his client would reserve the right to issue legal proceedings for libel. I have, reluctantly, complied with their request.
More to come on this soon.
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UK libel laws are much more stringent than US libel laws (that is, they favor the person who claims to have been libeled, whereas US law favors the publisher of alleged libelous comments, especially if that someone is a public figure, like Mr. Usmanov)…so if there’s any nexus with the UK (that is, any chance they could sue you there, instead of in the US), you’re stuck with the sad reality of having to pull the article. If it’s a US issue (here the truth is an iron-clad defense to libel suits), then it’s a lot easier to tell someone to go stuff it. Of course, when that someone has billions to spend on attorneys fees, the sad truth is that it’s easy for them to intimidate you into self-censorship.
You should note that Tom Cruise has successfully sued tabloids in the UK for libel, but not in the US…for similar legal reasons, the DaVinci code plagiarism case was brought in the UK, not the US, where it would have been laughed out of court before even making it to trial (in the UK, it made it through trial before being laughed out of court).