Both are defamation: a false statement of fact about you, communicated to someone else, that harms your reputation. Libel is written or published, which covers almost everything online, and slander is spoken and not recorded. Libel that is defamatory on its face generally presumes harm, while slander usually requires proof of a specific financial loss unless it falls in a per se category such as accusing you of a serious crime; either claim must be brought within one year (CPLR 215(3)).
Both are defamation: a false statement of fact about you, communicated to someone else, that harms your reputation. The difference is the medium, and in New York the medium decides how much you have to prove.
Libel is defamation in a fixed form: writing, print, an online post, an email, a text message forwarded to others, a video, a photograph with a caption. Slander is defamation that is spoken and not recorded: a comment to your boss, a remark at a board meeting, a rumor passed at a party.
Almost everything that happens online is libel. A Google review, a Facebook post, a tweet, an Instagram story, a Reddit thread, a message in a group chat, all written or published, all libel. People often search "slander" for something that was posted, and the law treats it as libel, which is usually to the victim's advantage.
New York treats libel as the more serious of the two because writing lasts and spreads. In a libel case where the words are defamatory on their face, harm to reputation is generally presumed: you don't have to prove a specific financial loss. (If the statement was made publicly about a matter of public interest, you must also show the speaker knew it was false or recklessly disregarded the truth.) In a slander case, you generally must prove special damages: an actual, quantifiable loss, like a lost contract or a lost job, caused by the statement, unless the statement is slander per se.
The four per se categories apply to both: a false statement that charges a serious crime, injures you in your trade or profession, imputes a loathsome disease, or imputes unchastity, an old category courts apply narrowly (a false accusation of sexual assault counts as a serious crime). A spoken accusation in one of those categories is slander per se and damages are presumed, same as libel. So the practical rule is: if it's written and defamatory on its face, or spoken and in a per se category, you generally don't need proof of financial loss. Otherwise, you do.
Libel (presumed damages): a former client posts that your firm "forged documents"; an ex writes to your employer that you "have a drug problem"; a competitor's Yelp review says your restaurant "gave my family food poisoning and hid the inspection report."
Slander per se (presumed damages): a co-worker tells your manager you've been "stealing from the register"; a neighbor tells the co-op board you're "not really a licensed therapist."
Slander requiring special damages: someone tells a mutual friend you're "unreliable and always late." Insulting, probably not actionable without a provable loss, and likely opinion in any event.
Libel comes with its own evidence: the post, the email, the screenshot. Slander depends on witnesses, who heard it, when, exactly what was said. That is why a slander demand letter has to do two things a libel letter doesn't: identify the listener, and pin the words down before memories fade. The intake for our letter asks for both, and the letter demands a written retraction to the same audience that heard the original statement.
Both claims must be brought within one year of publication in New York (CPLR 215(3)). And for both, the proportionate first move is a cease and desist letter that quotes the statement, names the category, demands a stop and a retraction, and preserves the evidence. For written and online statements it also names each URL and demands deletion. The attorney-signed defamation cease and desist ($499 flat) is drafted for the medium, slander, libel, or online, and screened first so that opinion, honest reviews, and protected speech never become a letter you regret sending. The anatomy of the letter is explained in what every line of a cease and desist letter does.
Libel. Anything written or published in a fixed form, posts, reviews, comments, messages sent to third parties, is libel in New York, even if it's informal.
Usually yes, unless the spoken statement falls into a per se category: accusation of a serious crime (sexual assault included), injury to your trade or profession, a loathsome disease, or the rarely used unchastity category. Then damages are presumed.
A voicemail left only for you is not defamation, because no one else heard it. New York courts have treated broadcasts as libel; for a recording played or sent to others the law is less settled. Either way, you have the evidence.
For slander, find out before sending anything. Ask the person who heard it to write down, as precisely as they can, the words and the date. A demand letter that can't quote the statement is a weak letter.
Yes. The letter lists each statement with its date and medium, demands deletion of the written ones and a retraction of the spoken ones, and directs preservation of everything.