Courtney love cleared in first US Twitter libel case

I can't thank you enough Dongell Lawrence Finney LLP, the most incredible law firm on the planet.We won this epic battle. #justiceprevails
— Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) January 25, 2014

Courtney Love wins landmark Twitter libel case http://t.co/YzNFpsAo1x
— INFORRM (@INFORRM) January 25, 2014

We looked at the case and its implications ahead of judgement here. The Courtney Love Twitter lawsuit was described as "monumental". By ruling that the case should go to jury trial, the judge determined that tweeting in California can potentially give rise to liability under the theory of defamation.

The civil suit seeking $8 million filed by Rhonda Holmes has since concluded as Courtney Love wins a landmark Twitter libel case as an Los Angeles jury finds that she did not defame her former attorney in a tweet. A jury composed of six men and six women heard eight days of testimony and statements. Thereafter they deliberated for just three hours. They determined that although Love's statement had a natural tendency to injure Holmes' business, they did not believe she knew the statement was false.

LA Times report in full here. Lessons have been learnt. Twitter is not simply a "slot machine" as Courtney Love's attorney put it. But as Paul Tweed has said, "Twitter is likely yo be one of the key legal battlegrounds of the next decade." Under the criminal law in the UK we have learnt that tweeting abuse could mean an immediate custodial sentence, see here. Under the civil law in the UK was have learnt from the Lord McAlpine versus Sally Bercow case here that defamatory tweeters will be liable for damages.