Sherwood Webster v. Sun Company, Inc. Webster-Heise Corporation v. Sun Company, Inc.

TAMM, Circuit Judge:

Appellants Sherwood Webster and the Webster-Heise Corporation contest the district court’s summary judgment dismissing their libel claims. The district court found that the allegedly defamatory statements were protected by the common law privilege for communications preliminary to a legislative proceeding. Because the district court erred in defining the scope of the common law privilege, we vacate the summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.

I. Background

Sherwood Webster and Richard Heise invented a device that allegedly reduces the octane requirement of…