Plant Food Systems, Inc. v. Irey, 165 So. 3d 859

Plant Food Systems, Inc. (PFS) sued Michael Irey, the University of Florida Board of Trustees, and United States Sugar Corporation for defamation based on statements in a scientific article published on Elsevier’s website.
The complaint alleges the article’s authors knew Elsevier would publish the article broadly to the public via its internet journals.
Defendants moved to dismiss, arguing PFS failed to provide the pre-suit written notice required by section 770.01, Florida Statutes.
The trial court dismissed PFS’s complaint with prejudice, relying on this court’s prior decision in Comins v. Vanvoorhis to treat Elsevier’s website and the article’s authors as subjects entitled to pre-suit notice.
PFS appealed, arguing Comins was distinguishable because Comins involved a personal blog (author-owned), whereas this case involves an independent publisher’s website.
The appellate court affirmed, holding Elsevier’s website is a public “other medium” under section 770.01 and that pre-suit notice was required but not given.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether §770.01’s pre-suit notice applies to allegedly defamatory statements published on Elsevier’s website and to the article authors	§770.01 does not apply because Comins involved a personal blog owned by the speaker, not a third-party publisher’s site	Section 770.01 applies to any "other medium" that furthers free dissemination of information; Elsevier and the authors fall within that scope	§770.01 applies; Elsevier’s site and the authors were entitled to pre-suit notice and PFS’s failure to give notice justified dismissal
Whether Comins is controlling or distinguishable	Comins is distinguishable because it addressed a blog owner’s own posts rather than an independent publisher	Comins’ Ross-based standard (covers public media used for free dissemination of information or neutral commentary) governs and is applicable here	Comins controls; the Ross standard applies to public internet publishers as well as blogs, so pre-suit notice was required

Comins v. Vanvoorhis, 135 So.3d 545 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014) (applies Ross standard to internet blogs and holds §770.01 covers public mediums used to disseminate information or neutral commentary)
Ross v. Gore, 48 So.2d 412 (Fla. 1950) (establishes test whether a medium operates to further free dissemination of information or neutral commentary for §770.01 coverage)
Jews for Jesus, Inc. v. Rapp, 997 So.2d 1098 (Fla. 2008) (discusses pre-suit notice language and refers to requirement that notice be given to media defendants)