Lance Armstrong - Readers want their money back

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Of course that's what you would want, but the question that arises is whether you have any legal right to absolute truth. It's not (as far as I know) a crime to lie in an autobiography. I imagine that many autobiographies have been "embellished".

You might be able to get him for Libel (fairly strange use as it's usually used for defamatory comments, but I could see it working as, IIRC, the wording behind the law just has to state that the comments are untrue).

[WillAdams]

Certainly the news companies which Lance Armstrong sued for libel and perjured himself to win said cases would have a strong case that this biography represents libel of them --- if there's any just it will allow them to get around the statute of limitations blocks a direct suit.

[frahse]

Fools!

Don't they understand how "reality shows" work.

"Le Tour de France."

Lies, damned lies, and more damned lies!

Starring Lance Armstrong with Sheryl Crow, and a lot of growth enhanced athletes and their sponsors.

When bicycles went beyond the single speed with coaster brake, to the 3 speed English bike with hand brakes, and then to the derailleur system, corruption was bound to set in.

Get a horse, or just use your feet.

[HarryT]

I am puzzled by the fact that Mr Armstrong has not been charged with perjury. It's clear that he lied under oath on several occasions.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

You might be able to get him for Libel (fairly strange use as it's usually used for defamatory comments, but I could see it working as, IIRC, the wording behind the law just has to state that the comments are untrue).

You can't get him for libel or defamation. One of the base elements of either of those torts is that an individual (the one being sued) makes an untrue statement ABOUT ANOTHER PERSON. In the case of a public figure, the defendant had to do so with actual malice with regard to the truth or falsity of the statement. And even if he defamed some of his teammates in the book, it would only be the person defamed who could sue - none of this class action silliness.

I honestly cannot come up with a cause of action for this sort of thing, and I teach law. I am ashamed of the attorneys who filed the suit in the first place and for the California courts for not throwing it out on first sight.

The closest thing you could sue for, I would think, would be false advertising of some sort, and unless Penguin knew what they were selling was false, they cannot be held responsible anyway.

[alanHd]

The Sunday Times are suing Lance Armstrong for the money back that they paid him when he sued for libel.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...el-payout.html

[ApK]

Originally Posted by alanHd

The Sunday Times are suing Lance Armstrong for the money back that they paid him when he sued for libel.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...el-payout.html

THAT makes sense. The California suit is..well...don't get me started. There's a reason I don't opt-in to the p&r section.

[DiapDealer]

Demanding refunds for the book is silly. You were under no obligation to believe a liar.

Did James Frey get sued for lying in his memoir A Million Little Pieces?

This isn't indignant outrage in play here... this is "there's pie up for grabs here somewhere, and I want a slice of it", plain and simple.

[Catlady]

But ...

I haven't read the book, and I'm not a lawyer, but would Armstrong's book have been purchased by as many people if they knew he was a liar and a cheat?

Presumably they bought the book because they admired him and were impressed by his accomplishments, and now they've found out that his accomplishments were a result of cheating--that's a fundamental betrayal.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Catlady

but would Armstrong's book have been purchased by as many people if they knew he was a liar and a cheat?

More, as tabloids have taught us.

[jersysman]

Is there any guarantee of the full truth in any type of biography? Or, do we rely on the whims of the author of the book? Should we as potential consumers take a "buyer beware" attitude? I don't know exactly where to stand on this.

[sparklemotion]

Originally Posted by ApK

More, as tabloids have taught us.

Sad, but true.

Originally Posted by frahse

Fools!

Don't they understand how "reality shows" work.

"Le Tour de France."

Lies, damned lies, and more damned lies!

Starring Lance Armstrong with Sheryl Crow, and a lot of growth enhanced athletes and their sponsors.

When bicycles went beyond the single speed with coaster brake, to the 3 speed English bike with hand brakes, and then to the derailleur system, corruption was bound to set in.

Get a horse, or just use your feet.

I love the nice, tidy, wire free look of a bike with coaster brakes.

[jswinden]

Throughout history the victors have earned to right to record the historical record as they see fit. Most historians have thus been on the winning side, or complete suck ups to the winning side as was Josephus. So basically we have much of history recorded with a definite slant in favor of the victors and quite often with the warts and blemishes removed from their side and added to the losing side. Thankfully archaeology and other sciences have helped us uncover a more accurate history in many cases. This has little to do with Lance Armstrong or the suit against his publishers, but it does point to the fact that most histories and biographies contain accounts that should and can be questioned for accuracy. Lawsuits like this are ridiculous but common in the USA where we cannot turn on a TV without seeing a host of ads from lawyers asking us to sue somebody. If this lawsuit were to be successful, and I seriously doubt it will be, then you could sue almost every publisher who ever published a book written by the hosts of long dead historians reaching back 2500 years or more, since portions of those histories have now been shown to contain at least some inaccuracies.

[QuantumIguana]

If you could sue because a work of non-fiction contained material that wasn't true, courts would be flooded. Non-fiction and true aren't the same thing. There are books claiming the moon landing was faked. That's nonsense, but it doesn't give anyone a case for a lawsuit.

[SeaKing]

I want to sue the Kardasians just for polluting my eyeballs with all their rubbish.