Groden v. Random House, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
61 F.3d 1045 (1995)
- Written by Meagan Messina, JD
Facts
Robert Groden (plaintiff) wrote a book, High Treason, about a conspiracy theory regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Gerald Posner wrote a book titled Case Closed, refuting Groden’s conspiracy theory and other conspiracy theories. As the publisher of Posner’s book, Random House, Inc. (Random House) (defendant) promoted Case Closed with an advertisement containing names and photographs of conspiracy theorists, including Groden. The headline of the ad was “GUILTY OF MISLEADING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC,” and ended with a summary of Groden’s theory, reading: “ONE MAN. ONE GUN. ONE INESCAPABLE CONCLUSION.” Groden sued Random House under the Lanham Act, claiming the statements “guilty of misleading” and “one man-one gun” were false. The district court granted summary judgment for Random House and dismissed the complaint. Groden appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Newman, C.J.)
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