Title 20, PERSONAL RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

Every person is obligated to refrain from infringing upon the right of others not to be defamed. Source: SDC 1939, § 47.0501.

Defamation is effected by: (1) Libel; or (2) Slander. Source: CivC 1877, § 28; CL 1887, § 2527; RCivC 1903, § 28; RC 1919, § 94; SDC 1939, § 47.0502.

Libel is a false and unprivileged publication by writing, printing, picture, effigy, or other fixed representation to the eye which exposes any person to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obloquy, or which causes him to be shunned or avoided, or which has a tendency to injure him in…

Slander is a false and unprivileged publication, other than libel, which: (1) Charges any person with crime, or with having been indicted, convicted, or punished for crime; (2) Imputes to him the present existence of an infectious, contagious, or loathsome disease; (3) Tends dire…

A privileged communication is one made: (1) In the proper discharge of an official duty; (2) In any legislative or judicial proceeding, or in any other official proceeding authorized by law; (3) In a communication, without malice, to a person interested therein, by one who is als…

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 …

Before any action for libel can be brought against a newspaper or the publisher, editor, or manager thereof, the party aggrieved must at least three days before the commencement of such action serve a notice on the person or persons against whom said action is to be brought speci…

The publication of a full and fair retraction of the alleged defamatory statement as provided by § 20-11-7 shall, on the trial of an action for such libel, be held and considered a rebuttal of any and all presumption of malice attached to and growing out of such alleged libel. So…