Lowell v. Wright

Summary

The court held that the plaintiff could proceed with his libel claim even though the online review had been deleted, because witness testimony supplied sufficient evidence of its substance and permitted constitutional analysis. The review concerned a matter of public concern, and the speaker’s identity and motive did not alter that conclusion; two statements were potentially actionable factual assertions, while the statement that the owner could not be trusted was opinion. The court also retained Oregon’s media/nonmedia distinction, so a private-figure plaintiff suing nonmedia defendants need not prove actual malice.