N.Y. Civil Rights Law Section 75
Defamation by radio or television


1.

The owner, licensee or operator of a visual or sound radio broadcasting station or network of stations, and the agents or employees of any such owner, licensee or operator, shall not be liable for any damages for any defamatory statement published or uttered in or as a part of a visual or sound radio broadcast, by any legally qualified candidate for public office whose utterances, under rules and regulations of the federal communications commission may not be subject to censorship by such owner, licensee or operator of such visual or sound radio broadcasting station or network of stations, or their agents or employees.

2.

A “legally qualified candidate” means any person who has publicly announced that he is a candidate for nomination by a convention of a political party or for nomination or election in a primary, special, or general election, municipal, county, state or national, and who meets the qualifications prescribed by the applicable laws to hold the office for which he is a candidate, so that he may be voted for by the electorate directly or by means of delegates or electors and who (a) has qualified for a place on the ballot or (b) is eligible under the applicable law to be voted by writing in his name on the ballot, or other method, and who has been nominated by a political party which is commonly known and regarded as such or makes a substantial showing that he is a bona fide candidate for nomination or office, as the case may be.

3.

In order to be absolved from liability for damages for any utterance by a legally qualified candidate as herein defined in or as part of a visual or sound radio broadcast, the owner, licensee or operator of such visual or sound radio broadcasting station or network of stations, or the agents or employees thereof, shall announce, in substance, at the beginning and end of each such political broadcast of more than five minutes duration, and at the beginning of each such political broadcast of five minutes duration or less, that the remarks about to be made, or made, as the case may be, by the speaker are not to be construed as reflecting the opinions or beliefs of the station, its ownership or management.

Source: Section 75 — Defamation by radio or television, https://www.­nysenate.­gov/legislation/laws/CVR/75 (updated Sep. 22, 2014; accessed Mar. 23, 2024).

70
Vexatious suits
70–A
Actions involving public petition and participation
70–B
Unlawful interference with protected rights
71
Damages in action for suing in name of another
72
Term of imprisonment of civil prisoner
73
Code of fair procedure for investigating agencies
74
Privileges in action for libel
75
Defamation by radio or television
76
Action for libel: evidence, separate verdicts
76–A
Actions involving public petition and participation
77
Special damages in action for slander of a woman
78
Mitigating circumstances in action for libel or slander
79
Forfeiture of office and suspension of civil rights
79–A
Consequence of sentence to imprisonment for life
79–B
Forfeiture of property on conviction abolished
79–C
Convict protected by law
79–D
Creditor of convict
79–E
Right to breast feed
79–F
Liability for acts of persons assisting police officers
79–G
Filing of certificates of honorable discharge with county clerks
79–H
Special provisions relating to persons employed by, or connected with, news media
79–I
Discrimination against person who refuses to perform certain act prohibited
79–J
Confidentiality of records in multi-state information system
79–K
Civil immunity for certain persons assisting in emergency situations
79–L
Confidentiality of records of genetic tests
79–M
Criminal interference with health care services, religious worship, funeral, burial or memorial service
79–N
Bias-related violence or intimidation
79–N*2
Funeral or bereavement leave
79–O
Closed captioning in places of public accommodation, resort or amusement
79–P
Recording certain activities
79–P*2
Gender neutral single-occupancy bathroom facilities
79–Q
Collection of gender or sex designation information by state agencies

Accessed:
Mar. 23, 2024

Last modified:
Sep. 22, 2014

§ 75’s source at nysenate​.gov

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