Hartmann v. Winchell

This motion to dismiss the further amended complaint presents the question of whether utterances of defamatory matter over the radio, when read from a prepared script, are governed by the law of slander or by the law of libel. Decisions in various jurisdictions and text writers are in disagreement on the subject. In Locke v. Gibbons (164 Misc. 877, affd. 253 App. Div. 887) the question was discussed but not actually determined. There the utterance, in question was not made from a prepared script. However, Mr. Justice Pécora, who wrote the opinion below, expressly refrained from deciding…