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A person, a not for profit organisation or a company that employs fewer than 10 people (and is not related to anther corporation nor is a public company).
In order for a statement to satisfy the legal definition of defamation, the statement must be untrue. Someone has said simply something about you to which you take offence, is not necessarily defamatory.
For a statement to be deemed ‘published’; it must have been communicated to a third person either intentionally or unintentionally.
The defamatory statement must identify you specifically or be reasonable taken to be about you.
If the defamatory statement you take issue with has not injured your reputation, then it will most likely not satisfy the legal definition of defamation. For example, if someone has spread a false rumour about you that you are a terrible dancer, you are unlikely to have recourse.
The first step in pursuing an action in defamation is sending a Concerns Notice. A Concerns Notice is a written letter sent to the person who made the defamatory statement adequately describing the alleged defamatory material and seeking a remedy (including an apology).
If you have received a Concerns Notice, you could write an offer to make amends such that it is in writing and is readily identifiable as an offer to make amends. The letter could include:
– an offer to publish, or join in publishing, a reasonable correction of the matter in question;
– an offer to pay the expenses reasonably incurred by the aggrieved person; and
– an offer to publish an apology in relation to the alleged defamatory publication.
If you accept the offer to make amends, you cannot sue the maker of the defamatory statement as the matter is then deemed resolved.
If an apology made by the person who made the defamatory statement, it does not constitute an express or implied admission of fault or liability.
If someone alleges that you have made a defamatory statement, you could rely on the following:
