Sue S. Crump v. Beckley Newspapers, Inc.

Summary

The court reversed summary judgment for Beckley Newspapers because the juxtaposition of Crump's photograph with an article about harassment of women miners created genuine factual disputes concerning reference, implication, falsity, privilege, and abuse of privilege. It held that the photograph did not support an appropriation claim as a matter of law because it was used incidentally to depict a woman coal miner rather than to exploit Crump's identity or associated value, but her defamation and false-light claims required trial. The court adopted negligence as the fault standard for a private individual's nonprivileged false-light claim against a media defendant, while retaining an actual-malice standard where a privilege applies. Justice Neely, concurring in part and dissenting in part, criticized the majority's treatment of privacy protections and its inconsistent handling of the photograph's connection to Crump.