Blatty

I cannot join in the majority’s conclusion that the “of and concerning” requirement applicable to defamation actions is a constitutionally required element of a cause of action for intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, whenever the alleged intentional tort is effectuated through a media publication. A hypothetical example may be helpful in exposing the fallacy of the majority’s broad holding.

Suppose that the New York Times, after conducting its normal survey of representative bookstores throughout the country, found that Blatty’s novel was, indeed, the top selling book for a particular week based on its own statistics. Suppose further that, despite this information, the Times purposefully substituted one of its own publications for Blatty’s book at the top of its best seller list in order to enhance its own book’s sales, and entirely omitted Blatty’s book from the list.

Under the majority’s analysis, Blatty would have no cause of action against the New York Times for intentional interference with prospective economic advantage under these hypothetical facts, because nothing in the false best seller list would have indicated to the reading public that the…

The fundamental question in this case is whether a newspaper can be held liable for failing to include a book in its list of “best sellers.” As we shall explain, we conclude that the answer is no.

I

Plaintiff William Peter Blatty brought this action for damages against defendant New York Times Company, publisher of the New York Times. Four causes of action are asserted in the original complaint: negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, negligence, and trade libel.

The allegations underlying each of these causes of action may be summarized as follows: Blatty is the author of a number of works of fiction *1037 including The Exorcist and a recently published hardback novel entitled Legion-, the Times publishes a weekly list “purporting to rank best selling books . . . based on actual sales”; because many new books are published each year, authors whose hardback books appear on this list benefit by greater sales of the books themselves and an increased value of paperback and film rights; although the list purports to rank books on the basis of sales and expresses no opinion on their merits,…

The fundamental question in this case is whether a newspaper can be held liable for failing to include a book in its list of "best sellers." As we shall explain, we conclude that the answer is no.

Plaintiff William Peter Blatty brought this action for damages against defendant New York Times Company, publisher of the New York Times. Four causes of action are asserted in the original complaint: negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, negligence, and trade libel.

The allegations underlying each of these causes of action may be summarized as follows: Blatty is the author of a number of works of fiction including The Exorcist and a recently published hardback novel entitled Legion ; the Times publishes a weekly list "purporting to rank best selling books ... based on actual sales"; because many new books are published each year, authors whose hardback books appear on this list benefit by greater sales of the books themselves and an increased value of paperback and film rights; although the list purports to rank books on the basis of sales and expresses no opinion on their merits,…