Glassberg's public statement on collecting.

[Stan Gorodenski]

Although Glasberg may be a member of the New York Bar, that does not
necessarily mean he has a valid legal opinion with respect to 'slander'.
What being a member does do is give him some 'bully' leverage against
those who are impressed with such credentials.

I don't think Hans Schnauber's statement is slanderous. I believe a
Plaintiff has to show a statement is false and that the Plaintiff
suffered some sort of 'damage' for it to be considered slander of the
kind that would result in some sort of court judgment against the
Defendant. I don't see how he could have suffered any kind of damage as
a result of Schnauber's statement. In fact, it could be argued that it
may have helped his organization by attracting more anti-collecting
members. I am no legal expert, and I may be wrong on this, but even if I
am, let's dissect the statements by Schnauber and Glasberg.

First, Schnauber states:
> > "Jeff Glasberg started NABA...and is presently promoting that collecting
> >  should be outlawed:"

Then Glasberg states:
> > vastly different thing. In fact, the inaugural issue of NABA's magazine,
> > American Butterflies, said that NABA was not in opposition to groups for
> > whom collecting was a legitimate function.

So, Schnauber is saying that Glasberg is promoting that collecting
should be outlawed, and in fact Glasberg agrees by saying "...NABA was
not in opposition to groups for whom collecting was a legitimate
function". Thus, he is against collecting, except 'legitimate'
collecting. What Glasberg might mean by 'legitimate' is wide open to a
variety of interpretations. I think Glasberg would be on very shaky
grounds in Court to claim that Schnauber engaged in an act of 'slander'.
Stan

 
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