Phan

What happens when you receive a defamatory e-mail over the Internet and simply hit the forward icon on your computer, sending it on to someone else? Under Barrett v. Rosenthal (2006) 40 Cal.4th 33 [ 51 Cal.Rptr.3d 55 , 146 P.3d 510 ] (Barrett), you cannot be held liable for the defamation. The person who originated the e-mail can be, of course. Or, to spin the scenario around: If you are defamed in an e-mail and the person who receives the e-mail then simply forwards it on to a friend, your recourse is against the originator of the first e-mail, not the person who hit the forward icon.

That much is clear. Barrett was a case where the defendant received an e-mail containing an article from a codefendant (in fact, the article was by the codefendant). The article accused a doctor of stalking. The defendant posted a copy of the defamatory article to a newsgroup Web site. When the doctor sued the defendant for defamation, our state high court, interpreting federal law, reversed a Court of Appeal decision that had allowed the doctor to sue the defendant for the stalking accusation. The appellate court had reasoned that the federal law did not immunize the defendant as a “…