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PUBLIC FIGURE

TheLaw.com Law Dictionary & Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed.

A famous person, someone in the public limelight who is of great interest to the general public, for example a politician, a movie actor, a sports star. The commercial press is given additional liberties to report about public figures as protected by the First Amendment and is only liable for libel where the person or party making the inaccurate statement had actual malice (malicious intent or gross negligence) with regard to the statement.

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