Defamation

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The Law of Defamation provides legal protection for an intangible asset which means one's reputation. Defamation occurs when a person expresses words or actions that may lower another person's reputation in the eye of public. Under the Malaysia Law which based on English Common Law liability, there are two types of defamation, libel and slander. Libel occur when word are expressed in a permanent form which can be any kind of form usually visible to the eye, for example, newspaper, book, audio record, e-mail or picture while Slander happen when such word expressed in a temporary form, such as spoken, actions and body movements. In civil cases of defamation, when an individual sues another individual for defamation, the Defamation Act 1957 is applicable.
For libel and slander, there are three main criteria which are needed to prove defamation. Firstly, the words in used or expressed must be proven as defamatory. Word are defamatory when they in use to lower the reputation of the person. Words are predicted as defamatory or not also depend on the manner they were spoken or published. T...

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