Finke wins a round vs Disney

Kevin Roderick • July 29 2003 3:46 PM

LA Weekly columnist Nikki Finke's lawsuit charging Disney with libel and unfair practices can go forward. A panel of three appeals judges found she has a "reasonable probability" of winning if the suit ever goes to trial. The court yesterday rejected most of a request by Disney to throw out the case filed last year. It all arises from Finke's dismissal as a contract writer by the New York Post, which she says followed defamatory Disney comments about stories she wrote that displeased the company. The court's opinion Monday in particular noted that statements by Disney president Rober Iger could be proven false, the Metropolitan News-Enterprise reported today.

Finke's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, issued a release today saying in part:

"The Court's decision also clarified that news reporters are not public figures merely because they are read by the public, have bylines and/or cover public issues."

This helps her case because now Finke won't have to show that Iger and Disney acted with malice.

Metro News-Enterprise follow-up story

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