44 So. 676 | Ala. | 1907
This Avas an action for damages for the publication of a libel; one count alleging the publication in the Age-Herald, and another that the same article Avas published in the Ledger, both newspapers published in Birmingham, Ala. Demurrers were interposed to the complaint as amended, AAdiich were sustained by the court. The plaintiff declined to plead further or amend, and judgment was rendered for the defendant.
This matter is res integra, and we are left to the wording of the statute and its apparent object for our guide in its interpretation. The statute provides that the notice shall be served in writing “on the publisher or publishers of said newspaper,” and no provision is made for serving notice on any other person. The act seems to. he for the purpose of preventing litigation in regard to those articles which may have found their way into the columns, of the newspaper by inadvertence or without knowledge or careful scrutiny on the part of the publishers. We know that the modern daily paper, with its numerous reporters, gathering news from every quarter, and its busy employes, working until late into the night to place the latest news before the readers
The only other question raised is whether the publication was libelous per se. The publication in this case was libelous per se. — Iron Age Pub. Co. v. Cnudup, 85 Ala. 519, 5 South. 332; Ivey v. Pioneer Co., 113 Ala. 349, 21 South. 531; Wofford v. Meeks, 129 Ala. 349, 30 South. 625, 55 L. R. A. 214, 87 Am. St. Rep. 66; 18 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law (2d Ed.) p. 909 et seq., and notes.
The judgment of the court is reversed, and the cause remanded.