20-11-1      Obligation to refrain from defamation.
20-11-2      Classes of defamation.
20-11-3      Libel defined.
20-11-4      Slander defined.
20-11-5      Privileged communications--Malice not inferred from publication.
20-11-6      Radio and television stations not liable if due care exercised.
20-11-7      Retraction notice to newspaper--Punitive damages avoided by retraction--Candidates for office.
20-11-8      Newspaper retraction as rebuttal of presumption of malice.

20-11-1. Obligation to refrain from defamation.

Every person is obligated to refrain from infringing upon the right of others not to be defamed.

Source: SDC 1939, § 47.0501.

20-11-2. Classes of defamation.

Defamation is effected by:

(1)    Libel; or

(2)    Slander.

Source: CivC 1877, § 28; CL 1887, § 2527; RCivC 1903, § 28; RC 1919, § 94; SDC 1939, § 47.0502.

20-11-3. Libel defined.

Libel is a false and unprivileged publication by writing, printing, picture, effigy, or other fixed representation to the eye which exposes any person to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obloquy, or which causes him to be shunned or avoided, or which has a tendency to injure him in his occupation.

Source: CivC 1877, § 29; CL 1887, § 2528; RCivC 1903, § 29; RC 1919, § 95; SDC 1939, § 47.0502.

20-11-4. Slander defined.

Slander is a false and unprivileged publication, other than libel, which:

(1)    Charges any person with crime, or with having been indicted, convicted, or punished for crime;

(2)    Imputes to him the present existence of an infectious, contagious, or loathsome disease;

(3)    Tends directly to injure him in respect to his office, profession, trade, or business, either by imputing to him general disqualification in those respects which the office or other occupation peculiarly requires, or by imputing something with reference to his office, profession, trade, or business that has a natural tendency to lessen its profit;

(4)    Imputes to him impotence or want of chastity; or

(5)    By natural consequence, causes actual damage.

Source: CivC 1877, § 30; CL 1887, § 2529; RCivC 1903, § 30; RC 1919, § 98; SDC 1939, § 47.0502.

20-11-5. Privileged communications--Malice not inferred from publication.

A privileged communication is one made:

(1)    In the proper discharge of an official duty;

(2)    In any legislative or judicial proceeding, or in any other official proceeding authorized by law;

(3)    In a communication, without malice, to a person interested therein, by one who is also interested, or by one who stands in such relation to the person interested as to afford a reasonable ground for supposing the motive for the communication innocent, or who is requested by the person interested to give the information;

(4)    By a fair and true report, without malice, of a judicial, legislative, or other public official proceeding or of anything said in the course thereof.

In the cases provided for in subdivisions (3) and (4) of this section, malice is not inferred from the communication or publication.

Source: CivC 1877, § 31; CL 1887, § 2530; RCivC 1903, § 31; RC 1919, § 99; SDC 1939, § 47.0503.

20-11-6. Radio and television stations not liable if due care exercised.

The owner, licensee, or operator of a visual or sound radio broadcasting station or network of stations, and the agents or employees of any such owner, licensee, or operator, shall not be liable for any damages for any defamatory statement published or uttered in or as a part of a visual or sound radio broadcast, by one other than such owner, licensee, or operator, or agent or employee thereof, unless it shall be alleged and proved by the complaining party, that such owner, licensee, operator, or such agent or employee, has failed to exercise due care to prevent the publication or utterance of such statement in such broadcast.

Source: SL 1949, ch 206; SDC Supp 1960, § 47.0506.

20-11-7. Retraction notice to newspaper--Punitive damages avoided by retraction--Candidates for office.

Before any action for libel can be brought against a newspaper or the publisher, editor, or manager thereof, the party aggrieved must at least three days before the commencement of such action serve a notice on the person or persons against whom said action is to be brought specifying particularly the statement or statements claimed to be false and defamatory. If on the trial it appears that such statement or statements were written or published in good faith and with the belief founded upon reasonable grounds that the same were true, and a full and fair retraction of the erroneous matter correcting any and all misstatements of fact therein contained was published in the next issue of the paper, or in the case of a daily paper within three days after the mistake was brought to the attention of the publisher, editor, or manager in as conspicuous type as the original statement and the same position in the paper, the plaintiff will be entitled to recover no punitive damages. But if the libel is against a candidate for office the retraction must also be made editorially in the case of a daily paper at least three days and in the case of a weekly paper at least ten days before the election.

Source: SL 1915, ch 153, § 1; RC 1919, § 96; SDC 1939, § 47.0504; SL 1979, ch 149, § 9.

20-11-8. Newspaper retraction as rebuttal of presumption of malice.

The publication of a full and fair retraction of the alleged defamatory statement as provided by § 20-11-7 shall, on the trial of an action for such libel, be held and considered a rebuttal of any and all presumption of malice attached to and growing out of such alleged libel.

Source: SL 1915, ch 153, § 2; RC 1919, § 97; SDC 1939, § 47.0505.